Procedure

The State appealed the trial magistrate’s decision to dismiss the charged violation of R.I.G.L. 1956 § 31-27-2.1 (refusal to submit to chemical test). The State argued that the trial magistrate misinterpreted the Appeals Panel’s prior order by treating it as an implied reversal of his earlier decision sustaining the refusal charge and, therefore, improperly dismissed the violation. The prior Appeals Panel remanded the case for the trial magistrate to make specific findings on the issue of probable cause and to issue a ruling on the Defendant’s motion to dismiss. This Panel held that the trial magistrate’s original disposition was unaffected by error and that the trial magistrate’s decision to dismiss the charged violation on remand warranted reversal. Accordingly, the Panel reversed the trial magistrate’s decision on remand to dismiss the violation and upheld the trial magistrate’s original decision to sustain the charged violation.

State of Rhode Island v. Edward Perez, C.A. T08-0099 (August 27, 2008).pdf