RI District Court and Traffic Tribunal Case Law

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Andrew Krichak v. City of Providence, A.A. No. 15-55 (October 9, 2015)

The Defendant appealed the decision of the Appeals Panel to uphold the trial magistrate’s verdict adjudicating him guilty of the charged violation of R.I.G.L. 1956 § 31-51-2.2 (stopping for school bus required). The Defendant argued that the trial magistrate erred by crediting the Officer’s testimony over his own. Here, the Officer testified that he watched a video recording that depicted a vehicle registered to the Defendant pass a school bus and then introduced the video of the incident as evidence. The Defendant testified that though the vehicle in the video was the make and type that he owns, he could not admit that the vehicle in the video was his because he could not read the first number on the license plate. The Court noted that the law, pursuant to The School Bus Safety Enforcement Act, presumes the owner to have been operating the vehicle. The Court held that the Officer’s testimony and the accompanying video were sufficient evidence to support the trial magistrate’s decision to find the Defendant guilty. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the Appeals Panel’s decision to uphold the trial magistrate’s decision to adjudicate the Defendant as guilty of the charged violation.

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