(a) When the death of any person other than the operator ensues as a proximate result
of an injury received by the operation of any vehicle, the operator of which is under
the influence of any intoxicating liquor, toluene, or any controlled substance as
defined in chapter 28 of title 21, or any combination of these, the person so operating the vehicle shall be guilty
of “driving under the influence of liquor or drugs, resulting in death”.
(b) Any person charged with the commission of the offense set forth in subsection (a)
of this section shall, upon conviction, be punished as follows:
(1)(i) Every person convicted of a first violation shall be punished by imprisonment in the
state prison for not less than five (5) years and for not more than fifteen (15) years,
in any unit of the adult correctional institutions in the discretion of the sentencing
judge, by a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) nor more than ten
thousand dollars ($10,000) and his or her license to operate a motor vehicle shall
be revoked for a period of five (5) years. The license privilege shall not be reinstated
until evidence satisfactory to the administrator of the division of motor vehicles
establishes that no grounds exist which would authorize the refusal to issue a license,
and until the person gives proof of financial responsibility pursuant to chapter 32
of this title.
(ii) In addition, the person convicted may be required to successfully complete alcohol
or drug treatment in a program of their choice, at their own expense, as authorized
by a judge of the superior court, and may successfully complete the program before
any license to operate a motor vehicle is renewed.
(2) Every person convicted of a second or subsequent violation within a five (5) year
period in this state or any other state, provided the out-of-state conviction was
based on the same blood-alcohol concentration as set forth in § 31-27-2 shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than ten (10)
years and for not more than twenty (20) years, in any unit of the adult correctional
institutions in the discretion of the sentencing judge, by a fine of not less than
ten thousand dollars ($10,000) nor more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) and
his or her license to operate a motor vehicle shall be revoked for a period of five
(5) years. In addition, the person convicted may be required to successfully complete
alcohol or drug treatment, at their own expense, in a program established by the director
of the department of corrections. The license privilege shall not be reinstated whether
the convictions occurred in this or any other state until evidence satisfactory to
the superior court, following a hearing establishes that no grounds exist which would
authorize the refusal to issue a license, and until the person gives proof of financial
responsibility pursuant to chapter 32 of this title.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
15
cases, 1986–2012 · leading case:
State v. DiStefano, 764 A.2d 1156 (R.I. 2000).
State v. DiStefano, 764 A.2d 1156 (R.I. 2000).
· cites it 75× “1986), should R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-27-2(c) be interpreted to preclude, in a case involving an alleged violation of R.”
State v. Benoit, 650 A.2d 1230 (R.I. 1994).
· cites it 34× “1956 (1982 Reenactment) § 31-27-2.2, as amended by P.L. 1983, ch.”
State v. DiCicco, 707 A.2d 251 (R.I. 1998).
· cites it 11× “At issue are G.L.1956 § 31-27-2.2, “Driving under the influence of liquor or drugs, resulting in death,” and § 31-27-2, “Driving under influence of liquor or drugs.”
State v. Graff, 17 A.3d 1005 (R.I. 2011).
· cites it 13× “The Ruling of the Hearing Justice In rendering his ruling on defendant’s motion to modify sentence, the hearing justice emphasized that he was relying on G.L.1956 § 31-27-2.2 9 (the statute which, inter alia, establishes the sentencing parameters for the crime to which defendant…”
Hassett v. State, 899 A.2d 430 (R.I. 2006).
· cites it 5× “Hassett subsequently was charged by criminal information with one count of driving under the influence (DUI), death resulting, in violation of G.L.1956 § 31-27-2.2; one count of driving so as to endanger, death resulting, in violation of § 31-27-1; two counts of DUI, resulting…”
State of Iowa v. Jonathan Q. Adams, 810 N.W.2d 365 (Iowa 2012).
· cites it 2× “The clear intent of the legislature is to punish and thereby to 13R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-27-2.2(a) (1982) (“When the death of any person other than the operator ensues as a proximate result of an injury received by the operation of any vehicle, the operator of which is under the…”
State v. DeOliveira, 972 A.2d 653 (R.I. 2009).
· cites it 3× “In due course, defendant was indicted for driving while intoxicated, death resulting, in violation of G.L. 1956 § 31-27-2.2. II The Motions to Suppress Prior to trial, defendant moved to suppress certain statements that he made while speaking with police officers — both prior to…”
State v. Presler, 731 A.2d 699 (R.I. 1999).
· cites it 4× “Following his conviction by a Superior Court trial jury on one charge of driving under the influence of liquor or drugs, death resulting, G.L.1956 § 31-27-2.2, and one charge of driving so as to endanger, death resulting, § 31-27-1(a), and after sentence and entry of final…”
Reise v. State, 913 A.2d 1052 (R.I. 2007).
· cites it 2× “1994), we came to this same conclusion regarding § 31-27-2.2(a), which deals with driving under the influence resulting in death.”
State v. Hubbard, 751 So. 2d 552 (Fla. 1999).
· cites it 2× “R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-27-2.2(a) (1983) (emphasis supplied).”
State v. Timms, 505 A.2d 1132 (R.I. 1986).
· cites it 2× “Furthermore, in addition to the already-enacted §§ 31-27-1 and 31-27-2, the Legislature subsequently created § 31-27-2.2, “Driving under the influence of liquor or drugs, resulting in death.”
Gushlaw v. Milner, 42 A.3d 1245 (R.I. 2012).
“1956 § 31-27-2, regulating the act of driving while under the influence of liquor or drugs; § 31-27-2.2, governing the same act resulting in death; and § 31-27-2.”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-27-2.2(a) — 6 cases
State v. Benoit, 650 A.2d 1230 (R.I. 1994).
“1956 (1982 Reenactment) § 31-27-2.2, as amended by P.L. 1983, ch.”
State of Iowa v. Jonathan Q. Adams, 810 N.W.2d 365 (Iowa 2012).
“The clear intent of the legislature is to punish and thereby to 13R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-27-2.2(a) (1982) (“When the death of any person other than the operator ensues as a proximate result of an injury received by the operation of any vehicle, the operator of which is under the…”
Reise v. State, 913 A.2d 1052 (R.I. 2007).
“1994), we came to this same conclusion regarding § 31-27-2.2(a), which deals with driving under the influence resulting in death.”
State v. Hubbard, 751 So. 2d 552 (Fla. 1999).
“R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-27-2.2(a) (1983) (emphasis supplied).”
State v. DiCicco, 707 A.2d 251 (R.I. 1998).
“At issue are G.L.1956 § 31-27-2.2, “Driving under the influence of liquor or drugs, resulting in death,” and § 31-27-2, “Driving under influence of liquor or drugs.”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-27-2.2(b)(1) — 1 case
State v. Graff, 17 A.3d 1005 (R.I. 2011).
“The Ruling of the Hearing Justice In rendering his ruling on defendant’s motion to modify sentence, the hearing justice emphasized that he was relying on G.L.1956 § 31-27-2.2 9 (the statute which, inter alia, establishes the sentencing parameters for the crime to which defendant…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.