Colin B. Foote Act

Defendant appealed decision of the trial judge subjecting Defendant to enhanced penalties under the Colin B. Foote Act. Defendant argued that the trial judge erred by “calculating the eighteen month statutory period using the date that [Defendant] received the citations” instead of the date of Defendant’s convictions. In State of Rhode Island v. Jacob Botella, the District Court held that “the opening date—for purposes of calculating the [] Colin Foote Law window—[is] in fact the date of [the] first conviction and not the date of the first citation.” The District Court also noted that the “operative date applied for the new offense (for which the defendant is being sentenced) is the date of offense, not the date of conviction.” Here, Defendant’s fourth violation occurred within eighteen months of her first conviction. Accordingly, the Appeals Panel affirmed the decision of the trial judge.

NOTE: This holding directly contradicts the court’s holding in Town of North Kingstown v. Philip Dey, C.A. No. T13-0008, where the Appeals Panel held that the relevant date for the qualifying event is the date of conviction, not the date of offense.

City of Providence v. Anna Kyriakides, No. T18-0001 (August 3, 2018).pdf