As far as I'm aware, you legally can't stop on a sidewalk, the white line in the intersection or a crosswalk. There are of course exceptions and most times these things aren't necessarily enforced. But recent events have made me wonder about the right of way in such cases.

The other day I was walking along the sidewalk and a car was coming out of the mall, stopped with his front tires on the sidewalk and was waiting for traffic to let him in. I continue walking on the sidewalk as there was still room for me to do so and he got really upset that I stopped him from going. I calmly said that he was stopped illegally on the sidewalk and what he should have done was back up to let me pass. There was no car behind him to prevent this but he still insisted that because I could have walked around him this is what I should have done. I'm not a slow walker and it wasn't like had he waited another 10 seconds he could have been able to merge. I guess he was just being impatient for whatever reason.

Not any of it really matters now, but who was right in this case? Am I right in thinking that I have the right of way, or is he right that since I had room to walk behind the car I should have done so.

Legally, you would have the right to walk across without being impeded in this situation.

Personally, if there's no one behind the vehicle and they're waiting for an opportunity to merge, i'll just walk behind them.