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Arrested R.I. prosecutor Devon Flanagan Hogan pleads no contest
The trespassing case could ultimately be dismissed if Flanagan stays out of further trouble.
A Rhode Island prosecutor who told Newport police they would “regret” arresting her in a now-viral bodycam video has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor trespassing charge.
Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan entered the “nolo contendere” plea during her arraignment Wednesday, court records show. In doing so, Flanagan essentially agreed not to fight the charge.
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Court records indicate Flanagan — whose full name is Devon Flanagan Hogan — received a six-month filing, meaning the case could ultimately be dismissed if she stays out of trouble. The 34-year-old was also ordered not to return to the Clarke Cooke House, the Newport restaurant where she was arrested Aug. 14.
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Flanagan’s attorney declined to comment Wednesday.
The prosecutor’s plea comes just days after Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha placed Flanagan on unpaid leave for six months and encouraged her to “reflect on the seriousness of her conduct” and make “corrective changes.”
Newport police arrested Flanagan on a charge of willful trespassing after receiving a call about an “unwanted party” at Clarke Cooke House Aug. 14. Officers spoke with Flanagan and her friend, 34-year-old Veronica Hannan, during a brief but tense exchange outside the restaurant.
“I want you to turn your bodycam off,” Flanagan says in the video. “Protocol is that you turn it off if a citizen requests … to turn it off.” Neronha’s office later clarified that police body-worn cameras can be turned off at an officer’s discretion upon the request of a victim or witness.
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Flanagan also invokes her title several times in the bodycam footage, repeatedly telling officers, “I’m an AG.”
“You’re going to regret it. I’m an A—” Flanagan says in the video as an officer leads her to a police cruiser and closes the door.
Hannan was also arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, willful trespassing, and resisting arrest. Court records show she entered a plea of nolo contendre on the resisting arrest charge Wednesday, and prosecutors dismissed the two other counts.
Like Flanagan, Hannan was ordered to stay away from the restaurant and was given a six-month filing.
“Today was Veronica’s first opportunity to take responsibility for her conduct, and she did just that,” her attorney, John Grasso, said in an email. “Veronica admitted to resisting a lawful or unlawful arrest and the court filed the matter for a period of 6 months. Veronica apologizes to the members of the Newport Police Department for her reaction to being taken into custody.”
Video of the arrests quickly spread across social media, making national headlines and prompting an internal review within the AG’s office.
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Flanagan “mistreated the Newport Police Department and embarrassed herself, the Office, and frankly me,” Neronha said in a statement Monday. “We hold our attorneys to the highest personal and professional standards, and Ms. Flanagan plainly did not meet those standards here.”
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