Care in Starting from Stop

The Defendant appealed the trial judge’s decision to sustain the charged violation of R.I.G.L. 1956 § 31-16-1 (care in starting from start). The Defendant argued that the trial judge erred in finding that he operated his vehicle without reasonable safety. Here, the Patrolman testified that he observed the Defendant accelerate at a high rate of speed, endangering the safety of a nearby driver.  The Panel held that the trial judge was not clearly erroneous in finding that the Patrolman’s testimony was more credible than the Defendant’s testimony. Accordingly, the Panel upheld the trial judge’s decision to sustain the charged violation.

State of Rhode Island v. Brandon Gorgone, C.A. T08-0103 (September 10, 2008).pdf