Operating an Unregistered Vehicle

Defendant appealed the decision of the trial magistrate sustaining the violation of R.I.G.L. 1956 § 31-3-1 (operation of unregistered vehicle).  Defendant argued that he presented the Officer with a valid registration for the dealer plate that was affixed to the vehicle, which he claimed was registered to the company he was working for.  The Panel noted that the trial magistrate adopted the Officer’s testimony.  The Officer testified that he ran several checks on both the dealer plate and the vehicle and found both to be unregistered.  The Panel held that the Defendant’s testimony failed to rebut the Officer’s testimony that the dealer plate and vehicle were unregistered, and therefore the Defendant was knowingly operating an unregistered vehicle in violation of the statute.  Accordingly, the Panel sustained the charged violation.

City of Cranston v. Louis Depina, C.A. No. T12-0018 (August 20, 2012).pdf