Daren Post (age 54), of Johnston, was found guilty on January 30, 2020 by Newport County Superior Court Jury on one count of breaking and entering a dwelling without consent of the owner. The jury returned the verdict after a four-day trial. Associate Justice William Carnes released the defendant on bail until the date of the motion for a new trial, scheduled for February 24, 2020.
"This was a complicated case that involved a lengthy investigation by the team," said Attorney General Peter F. Neronha. "Breaking and entering cases are difficult to prove and often go unsolved. I commend the work of the Jamestown Police here for following through and bringing this case to justice."
During the trial, the State proved beyond reasonable doubt that, on January 25, 2018 at around 11:15 a.m., Carl Williams returned from working outside at his residence in Jamestown and heard noises coming from the second floor. Williams grabbed his rifle and went upstairs, where he observed an unknown individual walking out of his wife's dressing room and into the hallway. The individual was wearing a mask covering his face and a blue baseball cap.
Williams ordered the subject not to move, but the subject ran into a front room, jumped out of a window, and ran away. While jumping out of the window, the subject's baseball hat fell off and landed on the floor of the front room.
Detective Derek Carlino of the Jamestown Police submitted the hat to the Rhode Island Department of Health for DNA testing and the hat came back with a match to the defendant. Additionally, Detective Carlino obtained phone records for the defendant, first to locate him and then to find any potential GPS data for the date of the crime. Detective Carlino was able to use GPS data from the phone to plot a map on Google Earth, which showed the defendant in the area of the victim's house at the time of the crime.
Further analysis of the phone's data by Providence Police Detective Theodore Michael showed the defendant's phone to be within a small radius, which included an area close to the victim's house, at about 11:18 am on January 25, 2018. Detective Carlino also obtained a search warrant for a buccal swab of the defendant that was found to be a match to the DNA on the hat.
Jamestown Police Detective Derek Carlino led the investigation into the case. Assistant Attorney General Roger Demers and Special Assistant Attorney General Amanda Jacober prosecuted the case on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General.