Opinion ID: 1944839
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Aerial Photograph

Text: In the present case, the only evidence of access to the Lawrence land from Sunderland Drive at the time of severance is an aerial photograph taken in 1939 that shows a light-colored rectangle in the area where defendant constructed the driveway. The defendant's reliance on this photograph is misplaced; even if the light-colored area is a driveway, of which we are not convinced, the photograph was taken three years before the creation of the subdivision. Therefore, we cannot agree that the photo supplies clear and convincing evidence that, at the time the subdivision was declared, there was a driveway across the Hilley land. The defendant claims that the trial justice erroneously overlooked evidence contained in the aerial photograph when she decided this case. This Court previously has stated that a trial justice need not engage in extensive analysis and discussion of all the evidence. Even brief findings and conclusions are sufficient if they address and resolve the controlling and essential factual issues in the case. Donnelly v. Cowsill, 716 A.2d 742, 747 (R.I. 1998) (quoting Anderson v. Town of East Greenwich, 460 A.2d 420, 423 (R.I.1983)). After a review of the record and the trial justice's decision, we are satisfied that she considered the evidence presented by both parties sufficiently in order to resolve the essential questions of fact and that her failure to refer to an aerial photograph taken years before the land was subdivided was not error.