Defendant appealed the judgment of the Appeals Panel upholding the trial magistrate’s decision to suspend his driver’s license for three months and requiring him to complete a four hour driver re-training program based upon a speeding violation. The Defendant argued that the trial magistrate erred in relying on the broad sentencing authority of R.I.G.L. § 31-41.1-6(c) to suspend his license for three months because R.I.G.L. § 31-41.1-4(b)(1), providing that a license “may be suspended up to thirty (30) days” for the speeding offense at issue, was the more specific sentencing provision. The Court determined that the use of the word “may” in § 31-41.1-4(b) provides the legal authority to impose a penalty that is not explicitly enumerated in § 31-41.1-4(b) so long as it is a penalty “provided by law.” The Court held that the trial magistrate’s sanctions were “provided by law” because §§ 31-11-5 and 31-41.1-6(c) provide a judge or magistrate with “unlimited discretion when suspending the licenses of those drivers adjudicated to have violated one or more sections within Title 31, unless the specific section that the driver violated” explicitly limits that discretion. Accordingly, the Court held that the trial magistrate did not abuse his discretion and upheld the Appeal Panel’s decision to sustain the trial magistrate’s sanctions.
Philip Dey v. State of Rhode Island, A.A. No. 14-124 (September 21, 2015)
Case Index
- Refusal to Submit
- Anonymous Tips
- Arrest
- Availability of a Breathalyzer Machine/ Operator
- Burden of Proof
- Coercion by Officer
- Collateral Estoppel
- Constitutional Issues
- Constructive Refusal to Submit
- Credibility Determinations
- Default Judgment
- Deficient Sample
- Discovery
- Dismissal
- Double Charging
- Evidence
- Fellow-Officer Rule
- Field Sobriety Tests
- Identifying the Defendant
- Inability to Cure a Refusal by Subsequently Submitting
- Jurisdiction of Police Officers
- Knowing and Voluntary Decision
- Missing or Incomplete Transcript
- Motion to Vacate
- Operation of Motor Vehicle
- Penalty
- Physical Inability to Submit to a Chemical Test
- Preliminary Breath Test
- Preliminary Suspension
- Procedure
- Reasonable Grounds/Probable Cause
- Reasonable Suspicion to Stop
- Right to an Independent Medical Examination
- Right to Appeal
- Right to Counsel
- Rights for Use at Station
- Rights for Use at the Scene
- Summons
- Sworn Report
- Telephone Call
- Trial Judge's Findings of Facts
- Traffic Violations
- Aggressive Driving
- Airport Regulations
- Appellate Procedure
- Axle Restriction
- Bailee Plates
- Bolstering
- Burden of Proof
- Care in Starting from Stop
- Clearance for Overtaking
- Colin B. Foote Act
- Collateral Estoppel
- Commercial Motor Vehicle Violation
- Conditions Requiring Reduced Speed
- Constitutional Issues
- Cost and Fees
- Credibility
- Crosswalk Violation
- Default Judgment
- Discovery
- Dismissal
- Double Jeopardy
- Due Care by Drivers
- Evidence
- Failure to Maintain Control
- Failure to Prosecute
- Good Driving Statute
- Hearsay
- Identification
- Immediate Notice of Accident
- Inspection Laws
- Interval between Vehicles
- Issuance of License
- Judicial Notice
- Jurisdiction
- Jurisdiction of Police Officers
- Laned Roadway Violation
- Leaving the Scene
- License on Person
- Manner of Turning
- Newly Discovered Evidence
- Obedience to Devices
- Obedience to Police Officers
- Open Container
- Operating an Unregistered Vehicle
- Operating without Insurance
- Operation by person other than Lessee
- Overtaking on Right
- Overtaking on the Left
- Parking or Stopping Prohibited
- Parties to an Offense
- Passing
- Pedestrians on Freeways
- Penalties
- Places Where U-Turns Prohibited
- Procedure
- Salvage Laws
- School Bus Violations
- Scituate Town Ordinance 7.2(a)
- Seat Belt Use
- Speeding
- Stop sign
- Summons
- Text Messaging While Driving
- Toll Violation
- Traffic Control Signals
- Transporting Animals
- Turn Signal Required
- Unauthorized Practice of Law
- Venue
- Visibility of Plates
- Weight Restrictions