She broke new ground for women in Rhode Island legal circles, becoming the first female prosecutor in the state attorney general’s office and later, in 1969, becoming the state’s first female District Court judge.
PROVIDENCE — Former Superior Court Judge Corinne P. Grande, who broke new ground for women in Rhode Island legal circles, becoming the first female prosecutor in the state attorney general’s office in 1960 and later, in 1969, the state’s first female District Court judge, died Friday. She was 89.
Judge Grande, who retired from the bench in 1993, presided over such high-profile cases as the 1985 retrial of British socialite Claus von Bulow, who was acquitted of trying to murder his wife, Martha, in Newport.
She was also the judge in the 1984 murder conspiracy trial of Ralph DeMasi, an ex-convict charged with hiring two men to kill another Superior Court judge, Eugene G. Gallant. A jury acquitted DeMasi, who served as his own lawyer. Afterward, he stood up in the courtroom and praised Judge Grande for "really being a fair and thorough judge.”
At the time of her retirement, her colleagues on the bench described her as a judge with a strong work ethic and strict manner on the bench.
"She didn't take any baloney from anybody," said the late Chief District Court Judge Albert R. DeRobbio, who had known Grande from their years together at Providence's Classical High School in the 1940s.
"She was a brilliant jurist. She knew her law and she had a heart and compassion," said DeRobbio.
Former Gov. Frank Licht named her the first woman of Rhode Island’s District Court in 1969, which was also her second year as a Cranston city councilwoman. In 1977, former Gov. J. Joseph Garrahy elevated her to the Superior Court, a court on which only one other woman had served at the time.
While on the District Court, her interpretation of a state law made it easier for battered women to file assault charges against their spouses. She chaired a state Committee on Women in the Courts and served on the Judicial Discipline and Tenure Commission.
During a 1985 interview with The Journal, Judge Grande eschewed being branded a "feminist."
"I'm an equal-opportunity person" who is a fervent advocate of "equal rights for all," she said.
Judge Grande was the daughter of William G. and Gemma Grande. In 1993, she swore in her then 82-year-old father to become Providence’s newest municipal court judge after 60 years practicing law.
Corinne Grande graduated from Northeastern University Law School in 1952 and then worked for her father’s practice for seven years, frequently taking on criminal cases.
A year prior to her retirement Grande had been considered a top contender for Rhode Island’s Supreme Court. But as lawmakers were considering nominations, Grande said she had changed her mind about serving on the state's highest court and asked to have her name withdrawn.
Upon her retirement the next year, she said, "Maybe now I'll get my golf handicap down a stroke or two."
Her obituary is published in Monday's Journal on A9 and on providencejournal.com