RI District Court and Traffic Tribunal Case Law

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City of East Providence v. Cheryl Fogarty, No. T15-0024 Amended (February, 2016)

Defendant appealed the decision of the trial magistrate sustaining the violation of R.I.G.L. 1956 § 31-14-2 (prima facie limits). The Defendant argued that the radar reading was interrupted by “electromagnetic interference” from radio transmitters in East Providence, and thus not accurate. Following State v. Sprague, 322 A.2d 36,26 (R.I. 1974), the Appeals Panel held that an officer must be trained to use a radar device and the device must have been calibrated within a reasonable time. Here, the Officer testified that he had been trained in the use of a radar device at the Academy and that his radar device had been properly calibrated, testimony that the trial magistrate found to be “most credible.” The Appeals Panel found no abuse of the trial magistrate’s discretion. Accordingly, the Appeals Panel affirmed the decision of the trial magistrate sustaining the violation against the Defendant.

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