Jurisdiction

Defendant appealed a decision of the West Warwick Municipal Court, sustaining a violation of R.I. Gen. Laws § 1956 31-17-2 (vehicle turning left or right). The allegation was that the Defendant turned left into ongoing traffic when he was required to yield. Defendant argued that the West Warwick Municipal Court did not have jurisdiction to adjudicate the violation because the alleged accident that Defendant was involved in happened in Warwick, not West Warwick. The evidence suggested that the side of the street on which the Defendant had been driving was in West Warwick, but the side of the street onto which he turned and where the accident took place was in Warwick. The Appeals Panel noted that the Trial Judge relied on the evidence presented by two witnesses at trial to decide the case, including the testimony of the citing officer, that established that the failure to yield before turning, which constituted the violation, occurred in West Warwick. Therefore, the Appeals Panel found that the Town of West Warwick maintained the authority to issue the citation, as well as adjudicate the matter in West Warwick Municipal Court. Accordingly, the Appeals Panel denied Defendant’s appeal and sustained the charged violation.

Town of West Warwick v. John D. Vieira, No. M17-0004 (April 12, 2018).pdf