Judge Frank Caprio questions red-light ticket after daughter says she was driving

PROVIDENCE — A Municipal Court of Providence hearing reviewed a red-light citation issued to Susan Camera Cook after her daughter, Michaela, told the court she was the driver at the time the ticket was issued. The court viewed video of the intersection and heard a technical argument about how long the traffic signal registered red as the vehicle crossed the sensor.

Judge Frank Caprio called the case and identified the defendant, noting that Cook had brought her daughter to court. Michaela, 19, told the judge she was a second-year student at Rhode Island College studying medical imaging and said, “I was driving the car.” The judge and courtroom attendees watched video footage of the signal at Pleasant Valley Parkway and Valley Street.

An attorney who had viewed the video told the court that Michaela had been traveling at or below the speed limit in inclement weather and had not accelerated through the light. He argued that, because the vehicle maintained a safe speed, the red phase registered for only three-tenths of a second when the car crossed the sensor and referenced a court-stated tolerance of two-tenths of a second for the red phase.

“The focus on driving safely and not accelerating . . . should be rewarded,” the attorney argued, asking the court to give the driver the benefit of any timing ambiguity. Judge Caprio responded that for the one-tenth-of-a-second difference he would "give the benefit of the doubt," and praised the defendant’s daughter for her conduct in court.

At one point the judge introduced his son, who was present and described as an attorney, to assist; the judge later acknowledged a potential conflict of interest in relying on his son and indicated the son would excuse himself from acting as counsel in the case.

The transcript contains cordial exchanges—some light-hearted family talk and praise from the bench—but does not record a formal ruling, disposition, fine amount, or any written order. The most recent recorded court remarks were the judge’s closing encouragement to "drive carefully" and well-wishes to the family.

The hearing focused on evidence review and judicial discretion in a traffic-enforcement matter; the transcript does not show a final adjudicative outcome or whether the citation was dismissed or continued.