R.I. R. Evid. 307

(a) Scope. Except as otherwise

provided by statute, in criminal cases, presumptions or inferences against an

accused, recognized at common law or created by statute, including statutory

provisions that certain facts are prima facie evidence of other facts or of guilt, are

governed by this rule.

(b) Submission to Jury. All presumptions and inferences in criminal cases are

permissive. The trier of fact is free to accept or reject the presumption or inference

in each case, and the judge is not authorized to direct the jury to find a fact against

the accused. When a fact that is the subject of a statutory or common law

presumption or inference (the “presumed fact”) establishes guilt or is an element of

the offense or negatives a defense, the judge may submit the question of guilt or of

the existence of the fact to the jury, if, but only if, a reasonable juror on the evidence

as a whole, including the evidence of the basic facts, could find guilt or the presumed

fact beyond a reasonable doubt. When the presumed fact has a lesser effect, its

existence may be submitted to the jury if the basic facts are supported by substantial

evidence, or are otherwise established, unless the evidence as a whole negatives the

existence of the presumed fact.

(c) Instructing the Jury. The court should avoid charging in terms of a

presumption. Whenever the existence of a presumed fact against the accused is

submitted to the jury, the judge shall give an instruction that the law declares that

the jury may reasonably infer the presumed fact from the basic facts but does not

require it to do so. In addition, if the presumed fact establishes guilt or is an element

of the offense or negatives a defense, the judge shall instruct the jury that its

existence must, on all the evidence, be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.