4th Amendment

Defendant appealed the decision of the trial court sustaining the violation of R.I.G.L. 1956 § 31-3-1 (“operation of an unregistered motor vehicle”) and § 31-38-4 (“inspection sticker required”). Defendant argued that the officer had no probable cause to conduct a traffic stop. The officer testified that he drove by the defendant and saw that the vehicle had an expired registration sticker because the sticker was the wrong color. The Appeals Panel held that officer had probable cause to conduct the traffic stop because the officer had a reasonable belief that the defendant was operating his vehicle with an expired inspection sticker. Accordingly, the trial court’s decision was affirmed.

Town of Cumberland v. Rusek Wojciech, No. T15-0045 (June 14, 2016).pdf