Manner of Turning

Defendant appealed a decision by a Pawtucket Municipal Court Trial Judge sustaining a charged violation of R.I.G.L. 1956 § 31-17-2 (Vehicle turning left or right). Defendant turned left onto a road and was struck by a police officer’s cruiser that had been approaching from the opposite direction. At trial, Defendant testified that he had not seen any cars coming, so he pulled out of the intersection and turned left without stopping. An eyewitness testified that both he and the officer were on the road Defendant turned off of and that the officer was traveling at a speed he believed to be “almost 50 miles per hour.” Two police officers testified, stating that the accident was consistent with both vehicles going at a rate of about 30 to 35 miles per hour, and that Defendant had failed to yield the right of way in turning left, thus resulting in the accident. Defendant argued that the Trial Judge committed error because the Trial Judge did not make any findings of fact regarding the location of the vehicles at the time Defendant began turning or the speed of the officer’s vehicle at the time Defendant began turning. The Appeals Panel, however, noted that it was not free to substitute its own opinion on the credibility of the testifying witnesses. The Appeals Panel further noted that the Trial Judge had made the determination that the officer’s cruiser posed an “immediate hazard” to Defendant, requiring Defendant to yield the right of way, based on the testimony of all the witnesses in the case. Accordingly, the Appeals Panel found that the Trial Judge’s decision was properly supported by findings of fact and conclusions of law and affirmed the Trial Judge’s decision.

City of Pawtucket v. Robert Goff, No. M16-0008 (April 24, 2018).pdf