Defendant appealed a decision of the trial judge sustaining a violation of G.L. 1956 § 31-26-5 (duty in accident resulting in damage to highway fixtures). The police responded to a call stating that a vehicle had struck a road sign. Defendant’s vehicle matched the description, and her vehicle had damage consistent with striking a road sign, so the police pulled her over and, despite her denials, issued Defendant a summons. At trial, the prosecution presented the officer who issued the summons, a police officer who observed damage to the road sign, and a witness who saw “a vehicle” hit the road sign. Defendant argued, among other things, that the trial judge improperly admitted hearsay testimony when he allowed the police officer to testify about the call made to the police station, which described the accident and the vehicle involved. The Rhode Island Supreme Court has held that “an officer may testify about a message received through dispatch when ‘[t]he entire purpose of [the] testimony [is] to show why [an officer] apprehended [a] defendant[,] . . . because the radio message [is] not offered to prove the defendant’s guilt.’” The Appeals Panel held that the testimony was not hearsay because it was not offered to prove Defendant’s guilt. Instead, “the testimony was offered to establish that [the officer] was on notice of the accident and the suspect vehicle’s description.” Having found that way, however, the Appeals Panel proceeded to find the evidence against Defendant sufficient to prove that she was the operator of the vehicle in the accident because the officer “testified that ‘the vehicle behind [Appellant] point[ed] toward [Appellant’s] vehicle,’ and that Appellant’s ‘vehicle matched a description called in by one of the witnesses.’” Accordingly, the Appeals Panel affirmed the decision of the trial judge.
State of Rhode Island v. Carol Brown, No. T17-0031 (August 3, 2018)
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