RI District Court and Traffic Tribunal Case Law

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State of Rhode Island v. Andrew Thomson, No. M16-0011 (February 8, 2018)

Defendant appealed the decision of the East Providence Municipal Court sustaining Defendant’s charged violation of R.I. Gen. Laws 1956 §31-17-4 (failure to yield). Defendant, driving a motorcycle, had gotten into a motor vehicle accident with a tractor-trailer. At trial, two witnesses testified that Defendant had not obeyed the yield sign immediately prior to the accident. Defendant testified on his own behalf. On appeal, Defendant argued that the Trial Judge did not state the underlying reasons for his rejection of Defendant’s uncontradicted and unimpeached testimony, and that such testimony must be taken as fact under Supreme Court precedent in Jackowitz v. Deslauriers, 162 A.2d 528, 530-31 (1960). The Appeals Panel, however, noted that the two eyewitness accounts directly contradicted Defendant’s testimony, which rendered Jackowitz inapplicable. As a result, the Trial Judge was not required to give his reasons for rejecting Defendant’s testimony. Accordingly, the Appeals Panel denied Defendant’s appeal and upheld the charged violation.

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