Colin B. Foote Act

Defendant appealed from the hearing magistrate’s decision accepting the Defendant’s guilty plea to violation of R.I.G. L. 1956 § 31-14-2 (prima facie limits) and imposing an enhanced sentence under R.I.G.L. § 31-27-24 (Colin B. Foote Act).  The defendant argued that the hearing magistrate failed to make a finding of fact that the defendant’s continued driving would constitute a “substantial traffic safety hazard” as required by the Act.  The Panel noted that, in his decision, the magistrate warned Defendant that her license would be suspended under the Act if she plead guilty, advised her to seek counsel, and imposed the sentence because of Defendant’s “continuing violation of the law,” and not “because of anything other than your own driving.”  The Panel held that the magistrate’s statements to Defendant amounted to sufficient findings of fact to satisfy the Act and that the sentence did not constitute an abuse of discretion.  Accordingly, the Panel sustained the charged violation.

State of Rhode Island v. Iole Ribizzi-Akhtar, C.A. No. T12-0012 (April 25, 2012).pdf