RI District Court and Traffic Tribunal Case Law

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State of Rhode Island v. Robert Plasse, C.A. No. T10-0081 Inference

Defendant appealed the decision of the trial court sustaining the violation of R.I.G.L. 1956 § 31-3-12 (visibility of plates). The Court held that Arden Engineering Co. v. E. Turgeon Const. Co., 197 A.2d 743, 746 (R.I. 1964), required that reviewing courts accept reasonable inferences drawn from the original trier of facts. Although no numerical distance was provided by the officer as to how far he was when he was unable to read the defendant’s license plate, the trial magistrate inferred from the testimony presented that the defendant’s display of plates violated the statute. Therefore, Court sustained the violation.

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