(a) Every person who shall willfully and maliciously or mischievously injure or destroy
or write upon, paint, or otherwise deface the property of another, or obstruct the
use of the property of another, or obstruct another in the prosecution of his or her
lawful business or pursuits, in any manner, the punishment of which is not specifically
provided for by statute, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not exceeding
one thousand dollars ($1,000) and/or be imprisoned not exceeding one year, and shall
be liable to make restitution for the injury or damage caused. Every person convicted
of a first offense under this section shall be required to perform up to one hundred
(100) hours of public community restitution work, and for a second or subsequent conviction
shall be required to perform up to two hundred (200) hours of public community restitution
work. Provided, further that every person who shall willfully and maliciously or mischievously
injure or destroy or write upon, paint or otherwise deface government property, or
obstruct the use of that property, shall be punished in accordance with this statute.
Jurisdiction for matters involving government property shall be concurrent with the
district court or the respective city or town police or municipal court.
(b) Where the provisions of The Domestic Violence Prevention Act, chapter 29 of title 12, are applicable, the penalties for violation of this section shall also include the
penalties as provided in § 12-29-5.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
12
cases (
2 in the last 5 years), 1976–2025 · leading case:
State v. Juan Soler, 140 A.3d 755 (R.I. 2016).
State v. Juan Soler, 140 A.3d 755 (R.I. 2016).
· cites it 5× “As the trial justice pointed out, the affirmative defense of accident would have been the appropriate justification defense for this charge against the defendant. Our holding with respect to the felony assault conviction does not affect the defendant’s conviction for vandalism.”
State v. Linda A. Diamante, 83 A.3d 546 (R.I. 2014).
· cites it 2× “1956 § 11-5-2 (Count One) and willful or malicious injury to property in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-44-1 (Count Two). In July of 1995, Count One was dismissed in consideration of defendant pleading nolo contendere to Count Two.”
State v. Furtado, 774 A.2d 38 (R.I. 2001).
· cites it 3× “The defendant was convicted of one count of malicious destruction of property in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-44-1 and G.L.1956 § 12-29-5 and one count of disorderly conduct in violation of G.”
State v. Champa, 494 A.2d 102 (R.I. 1985).
· cites it 3× “1956 (1981 Reenactment) § 11-44-1 and trespass in violation of a North Kingstown town ordinance.”
In the Matter of Hunter, 980 A.2d 755 (R.I. 2009).
· cites it 2× “1956 § 12-29-5; and one misdemeanor count of malicious injury to property, in violation of G.L. 1956 § 11-44-1 and § 12-29-5. 1 Upon acceptance of his plea of nolo conten-dere the Superior Court sentenced the respondent as follows.”
State v. Edwards, 478 A.2d 972 (R.I. 1984).
“1956 (1981 Reenactment) § 11-39-1, and one count of malicious damage to property in violation of § 11-44-1. As to counts 2 and 3, assaulting a police officer in violation of § 11-5-5, the defendant was acquitted.”
State v. Joel Najera, 211 A.3d 938 (R.I. 2019).
· cites it 2× “1956 § 11-5-2 (count 1), and one count of malicious injury to property, to wit, a car window and basement window, in violation of G.L. 1956 § 11-44-1 (count 2). A five-day jury trial commenced on October 30, 2017, in Providence County Superior Court.”
Corr v. Mattheis, 407 F. Supp. 847 (D.R.I. 1976).
· cites it 2× “The disruptive activity described above which occurred on University property is contrary to the laws of the state of Rhode Island including but not limited to the following statutes: Section 11 — 11—1, Section 11 — 11-A, and Section 11-44-1. In directing me to intervene in the…”
State v. Murray, 44 A.3d 139 (R.I. 2012).
· cites it 2× “In May 2009, he was convicted of misdemeanor assault in violation of § 11-5-3 and § 12-29-5, and malicious damage in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-44-1 and § 12-29-5. Here, the information alleged that defendant called the victim ten times from the Adult Correctional Institutions.”
State v. Sickles, 470 A.2d 220 (R.I. 1984).
“1956 (1981 Reenactment) § 11-44-1, which prohibits the willful and malicious injury to property and provides for punishment by a fine not exceeding $500 or imprisonment not exceeding one year.”
State v. Irving Johnson (R.I. 2025).
“1956 § 11-44-1 and one count of willful trespass in violation of § 11-44-26 for an incident that occurred on July 12, 2020.”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-44-1(a) — 1 case
State v. Juan Soler, 140 A.3d 755 (R.I. 2016).
“As the trial justice pointed out, the affirmative defense of accident would have been the appropriate justification defense for this charge against the defendant. Our holding with respect to the felony assault conviction does not affect the defendant’s conviction for vandalism.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.