2016 Rhode Island Criminal Justice Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

Colonel Brendan Doherty, Rhode Island State Police (Ret.)

Colonel Brendan P. Doherty began his career with the Rhode Island State Police in June 1980.  He served for six years as a uniformed trooper and was then promoted to the Intelligence Unit of the Detective Bureau, where he worked primarily on organized crime cases.  He was also assigned as the Lieutenant/Officer-in-Charge of the Financial Crimes Unit, Assistant Detective Commander and then Captain/Detective Commander.  He was promoted to Inspector/Professional Standards Unit, Major/Administrative Services, and Major/Field Operations Officer, the second-in-command of the Division.  

With the rank of Major, he retired from the State Police in 2004 with twenty-four years of exemplary service.  He then served as Director of Public Safety at T.F. Green Airport and as Director of Public Safety for Roger Williams University.  He also served on the Board of Beacon Mutual Insurance from February 2006 to April 2007.  

Brendan Doherty returned to the Rhode Island State Police as the Superintendent in April 2007.  During his tenure he began the Community Outreach Program.  This program consists of mentoring, leadership, and athletics for inner-city youth.  He also oversaw the construction of the new state-of-the-art Rhode Island State Police/Department of Public Safety Headquarters Building as well as upgrades to entire headquarters complex in North Scituate.  

A strong believer in giving back to the community, Doherty volunteered for Special Olympics and Big Brothers of Rhode Island, and coached basketball for the Boys and Girls Clubs.  

During his distinguished 28-year career with the Rhode Island State Police, he received 20 commendations and four special commendations, including one for saving a life.  He has also received the Cesar Chavez Award, the NAACP Humanitarian Award, Big Brothers Humanitarian Award, and the Neil J. Houston Justice Assistance Award.  

Doherty is currently the Director of the Special Investigations Unit at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island.   

He resides in South Kingstown with his wife Michele. 

The Honorable Joseph Rodgers, Presiding Justice (Ret.), Rhode Island Superior Court

Presiding Justice of the Rhode Island Superior Court since 1991, the Honorable Joseph F. Rodgers, Jr., became the youngest judge in modern history to be appointed to both the District and Superior Courts.  He was appointed Associate Judge of the District Court in 1974, followed by his appointment as Associate Justice of the Superior Court in 1976. 

When he retired from the bench in 2009, he served on the Superior Court, the state’s main trial court, for 33 years, longer than any Superior Court Justice in Rhode Island history. 

His list of accomplishments are numerous and include organizing the nation’s first Gun Court, the development and implementation of the Superior Court’s Judicial Evaluation Program, the revision of the Rhode Island Sentencing Benchmarks and the Superior Court Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure, the initiation of a Mediation Program and expansion of the Arbitration Program, and the creation of the successful Drug Court.  In addition, as a member of the Rhode Island Justice Commission, he chaired the State’s Commission on Judicial Tenure and Discipline from 1980 to 1986, and served as chair of the National Trial Judges’ Association 1992 Committee on Discovery Reform.  

Prior to his appointment to the Judiciary, Rodgers was a member of the Rhode Island Senate from 1967 to 1974, serving as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Vice Chairman of the Senate Labor Committee. 

A native of Providence, Rodgers resides in Saunderstown with his wife Donna. 

Dennis Hilliard

Director of the Rhode Island State Crime Lab, Dennis Hilliard has more than 30 years of experience and is considered one of the foremost experts in the nation (?) on fire debris analysis, hair and fiber analysis, DNA analysis, and breath and blood alcohol analysis. 

As the Director of the Rhode Island State Crime Laboratory and an Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Rhode Island, Mr. Hilliard’s current responsibilities center on the analytical and educational missions of the State Crime Laboratory, located in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Rhode Island.  In addition to the administration of the State Crime Laboratory, his work includes analysis of evidence and court testimony in the areas of fire debris analysis, hair and fiber analysis, DNA analysis, and breath and blood alcohol analysis.

Hilliard has worked in the forensic field since 1980. He was appointed Acting Director of the State Crime Laboratory in 1992, and was appointed to the Director’s position in 1995 and has held a position in the University’s College of Pharmacy as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences since 1994. 

In 2007, Rhode Island’s Laboratory was granted accreditation under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 17025 standard for latent prints, firearms, and trace analysis.

Since 1977, Mr. Hilliard has lectured in over 150 program and class forums for law enforcement, law schools, primary and secondary education schools, legal and scientific organizations, and community groups. 

Mr. Hilliard has testified over 100 times in the state and federal courts of Rhode Island.  He has been qualified by the court as an expert witness to give opinion evidence in the fields of: fire debris analysis for accelerants, basic serology, DNA testing, hair and fiber analysis, and blood alcohol.

He resides in Wakefield.

The Honorable Alice B. Gibney, Presiding Justice, Rhode Island Superior Court

The Honorable Alice B. Gibney graduated from Rhode Island College with a Bachelor of Arts degree and from Catholic University with a Juris Doctor.  She began her legal career as a law clerk for Superior Court Judge Florence K. Murray and later practiced as an associate with Anderson, Henning & Anderson in Providence.  In 1978, she served as an Assistant United States attorney before returning to private practice at the law firm of Boyer, Reynolds & Demarco.  In 1984 Governor Joseph Garrahy appointed Gibney as an Associate Justice for the Rhode Island Superior Court.  In 2009, upon the recommendation of retiring Presiding Justice Joseph Rodgers and many other colleagues, Governor Donald L. Carcieri appointed her to serve as Presiding Justice of the Rhode Island Superior Court, only the second woman to hold that position. 

Testifying in her favor before the Judicial Nominating Commission, Justice Rodgers told the screening panel that Gibney is the "most respected and beloved" justice in his court, including "yours truly."

During her tenure on the Superior Court, Justice Gibney has received many honors including an Honorary Doctor of Law degree from Rhode Island College, the Charles B. Willard Achievement Award from Rhode Island College, a Public Service Award from the Rhode Island Trial Lawyers Association, Award of Excellence from the Rhode Island Women’s Bar Association, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kent County Bar Association, and the Florence K. Murray Award in recognition of Exemplary Achievement in Advancement of Women in Law. 

She is a member of the Rhode Island Bar Association, the Kent County Bar Association, the Rhode Island Women Lawyer’s Association, the Buttonwoods Beach Association, and the Rhode Island Trial Judges Association, and has previously served on the Board of Directors for the Sargent Rehabilitation Center. 

As Presiding Justice, Gibney has overseen the Court’s massive transition to a completely electronic filing system.  In addition to the administrative duties of the office, she continues to preside over cases, primarily civil litigation matters, including the long-running asbestos lawsuit cases, which continue to this day.  She goes beyond the duty of being the judge in those cases by travelling to the homes of those too sick to appear in Court.  

Presiding Justice Gibney is held in high regard by many for her judicial temperament and sense of humor.

She and her husband Robert Parrillo reside in Warwick. 

Randall White, Assistant Attorney General (Ret.), Rhode Island Office of Attorney General

After receiving his bachelor of arts from Bates College and his juris doctor from Suffolk University Law School, Randy White started his long and distinguished legal career in Massachusetts, where he served as the Executive Director for the Adult Mediation and Restitution Program for the Trial Court of Massachusetts. 

After a short stint in the private sector, Randy White started as a Special Assistant Attorney General with Rhode Island Office of Attorney General in 1982.   

He worked within in the Juvenile Prosecution Unit for the first three years, and following his years in the Juvenile Prosecution Unit, Randy spent the next four years in Providence County, prosecuting criminal jury trials and supervising and managing the Providence County Grand Jury Unit before taking charge of the Criminal Division’s operations in various counties.  Randy guided the Criminal Division’s operations in the Kent, Washington, and Newport counties throughout the decade of the 1990s.  During this time, Randy prosecuted major felony cases, which included numerous high-profile felonies, including homicides.

From 1999 to his retirement in 2014, Randy held the position of Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, where he supervised attorneys assigned to the trial calendar and likewise the assignment of cases to each particular prosecutor. 

Randy’s administrative duties as Chief Deputy pale in comparison to his role as a mentor and as a true icon of the legal profession.  Randy would spend hour upon hour each day “brainstorming” strategies for cases with prosecutors whom he supervised, some who weren’t even born when Randy began his employment with the Office. 

Every prosecutor within the Office looked to Randy when seeking wisdom on trial tactics and the varied legal issues that arise before and during trial.  Every day, Randy provided guidance to prosecutors regarding trials, jury selection, defense motions, evidentiary issues, cross examination, and jury instructions, among others.  Without fail, Randy would take the time to thoroughly discuss, analyze, and resolve the issues in the most professional and ethical manner possible. 

Randy has contributed to the professional growth of every attorney he has mentored by instilling in them both confidence and the integrity to do what is right in order to assure justice is served. 

A prosecutor at heart, in addition to his managerial duties, Randy insisted on maintaining his own caseload of cases.  And, his name is associated with some of the highest profile criminal cases in the state, including the murder trials of Charles Smith, Devon Tucker, Chester Briggs, John Pacheco, and Russell Burrell, just to name a few. 

On one of his last days before retirement, Randy was in the courtroom – the place he enjoyed the most – and gave one of the most compelling and persuasive closing arguments in his career as colleagues past and present looked on in awe and respect.  

Randy White retired after 32 years of exemplary service to the State of Rhode Island, and has left a gap that cannot be filled.  His integrity, service, and excellence will have a lasting impact upon the Rhode Island legal community. 

Randy resides in Jamestown. 

Captain Thomas Dolan 

Captain Thomas Dolan has spent his entire career protecting and serving the public, both in law enforcement and the military.  After 10 years in which he served as a correctional officer for the New York State Department of Corrections Services, and as a patrol officer for the New York City Housing Authority Police Department, Thomas Dolan served honorably in the United States Navy, first as a recruiter and then as a signalman First Class.  During his time in the US Navy, he was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal with two Gold Stars.  

After leaving the Navy, Captain Dolan chose to serve in the Rhode Island Air National Guard as a military policeman.  He was deployed in February 2003 to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Throughout his 15-year career in the Air National Guard, he was awarded many honors including the Bronze Star, a Medal for Valor, and two Bronze Stars for the Iraqi campaign.

His military career did not end there though.  In November 2007, he joined the United States Army Reserves.  In 2009, he was once again deployed to Iraq where he served as non-commissioned officer in charge on Joint Security Station Shield in Baghdad.  His service in Iraq earned him several awards including the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and three Bronze Stars.

In December 1994, Thomas Dolan joined the Johnston Police Department.   Throughout his 22-year career with the Department, he has risen through the ranks, starting out as a Patrol Officer, and serving as Patrol Sergeant, Patrol Lieutenant, Detective Lieutenant, and Captain, a rank he continues to hold today. 

While his life-long patriotism and commitment to protect and serve the public and his country are more than enough to be inducted into the Criminal Justice Hall of Fame, it was the strength and bravery Captain Dolan showed during an incident as a Patrol Officer for the Johnston Police Department in 1998 for which he was nominated.  

In August of 1998, then-Patrolman Dolan was on his way into work for the 12 to eight shift. Driving his personal vehicle, and in uniform, he encountered a suspicious male person running west on Hartford Avenue.  He stopped to offer assistance and investigate, where upon the male party turned and opened fire on him.  Patrolman Dolan was hit by a bullet to the face and one in the vest that covered his lower stomach area.  He returned fire through the windshield of his personal vehicle, striking the assailant who then fled.  The assailant was subsequently located and shot in a second exchange of gunfire with other responding officers.  He sustained critical injuries and died at the hospital.  

An incident of this nature can usually end an officer’s career because of the injuries sustained.  Thomas Dolan, however, is a different type of officer.  He not only returned to work once he recovered, but he also continued to serve with distinction.  He further went on to complete both a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Roger Williams University.       

This nominee’s professional and community recognition includes a long list of honors: The Johnston Police Department’s Medal of Valor, Order of the Purple Heart Medal, Chief of Police Medal.  He was selected to receive the National Association of Police Officers 1999 Top Cop Award.  He received the Governor of Rhode Island’s Letter of Recognition, the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Senate Citation, the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Attorney General Official Citation, the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Town of Johnston, Johnston Town Council Official Commendation “Award of Merit,” and The Town of Johnston Resolution of the Town Council.

The evidence of contributions Thomas Dolan has made in advancing the mission of the police department include a certification by the Federal Bureau of Investigations Hostage Negations/Crisis Intervention Training Division, Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) year-long program of study conducted by the University of Rhode Island, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Commander’s Course (FEMA), and Certification as an Accident Reconstruction Specialist. 

Dolan is an active member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the New England Crisis Negotiators Association, and the Rhode Island Bureau of Criminalists Association.

Captain Dolan currently coordinates the Johnston Police Explorers Post #405, whose members perform various acts to support the Johnston community and include participating in events such as the Christmas Toy Drive collection, wrapping gifts for less fortunate children of the community, assisting the disabled and elderly during snow storms by shoveling their driveways and walkways so that they can leave their homes safely, and providing assistance with the Town of Johnston Holiday Ceremonies, Exhibitions, Festivals, and Road Races conducted in or around the Town’s War Memorial Park.