Felony Hit and Run Involving Death or Injury

California Vehicle Code 20001 VC

 

Our California felony hit and run criminal defense attorneys have local law offices in San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles, and all surrounding Southern California areas.

A California hit and run takes place if you leave the scene of an accident without first identifying yourself to the other party or parties involved. If no one else was hurt and only property was damaged in the accident, you would be charged with California misdemeanor hit and run. If, however, a person (other than yourself) was injured or killed, the charge would rise to a felony hit and run.

In this article, our Newport Beach DUI attorneys will provide a comprehensive guide to understanding California felony hit and run law by addressing the following topics:

California Felony Hit and Run Involving Death or Injury -- California Vehicle Code 20001 VC

How Does the Prosecutor Prove that I Committed a California Felony Hit and Run?

What are the Defenses to California Felony Hit and Run Under California Vehicle Code 20001 VC?

Penalties and Punishment for California Felony Hit and Run

If after reading this article, you have additional questions, feel free to contact us anytime.

California Felony Hit and Run Involving Death or Injury -- California Vehicle Code 20001 VC

If you are involved in an accident where someone (other than yourself) is injured or killed, California Vehicle Code 20001 VC requires you to do the following:

1. Immediately stop your car at the scene;



2. Provide your identifying information (along with the identifying information of any of your injured passengers) to the other involved party/parties and to any on-scene law enforcement officers. This information includes names and current addresses, the vehicle's registration number, and the name and current address of the car's owner (if you were driving someone else's car);



3. Provide reasonable assistance to any injured person(s) in order to help secure medical attention. This includes transporting (or arranging transportation for) any injured person who obviously needs or requests medical help. And,



4. Upon request, provide your driver's license and the driver's license or other identification of your injured passengers to the other involved party/parties and/or to any on-scene law enforcement agency.
   
   With respect to an accident involving death, once you have fulfilled the above obligations, you are additionally required to



5. Immediately contact your local police department or California Highway Patrol office with the above information if there is no on-scene law enforcement agency.

These requirements apply to every accident involving injury or death regardless of:

• Who is at fault for the accident¹, or



• The seriousness of the injury/injuries.

This means that even if the other driver is 100% responsible for the accident and/or only suffers a cut or bruise, you could be prosecuted for this offense if you don't adhere to these requirements.

It also means that you have these duties to your own passengers if they are injured or killed. Fleeing the scene after your passengers are injured will subject you to prosecution under this law.²

With respect to your duties, the first one causes the most concern from a public policy standpoint. If you immediately leave the scene of a significant accident without first checking to see if anyone was hurt, you will invite an aggressive hit and run prosecution.

Although the second duty -- the duty to provide your identifying information -- requires little explanation, it provides a perfect segue to a related issue.

Providing your insurance information isn't specifically mentioned under California Vehicle Code 20001 VC. This is because this information (along with your vehicle identification number) must always be exchanged between drivers who are present at the scene of any accident under California Vehicle Code 16025 VC.

Failing to do so is an infraction, punishable by a maximum $250 fine.

The term "reasonable assistance" -- used in defining the third duty under this law -- means that you must (1) determine what assistance is necessary to help the injured person(s), and (2) ensure that that assistance will be provided by you or another.

Although you are not required to provide assistance if someone else is actively doing so, you will not be excused from this requirement simply because others are present and able to do so.

How Does the Prosecutor Prove that I Committed a California Felony Hit and Run?

In order to prove that you violated California Vehicle Code 20001 VC, the prosecutor must prove the following facts (otherwise known as "elements of the crime"):

1. That you were involved in an accident that resulted in injury or death to another,



2. that you knew an accident had occurred,



3. that you knew either:


(a) someone (other than yourself) was injured or killed, or

(b) that the accident was of such a nature that it was probable that another was injured or killed, and


4. that you willfully failed to perform one or more of the duties outlined above.

This last element is another key difference between a California felony hit and run and a California misdemeanor hit and run.

In order to obtain a misdemeanor hit and run conviction, the prosecutor must prove that you failed to perform all of the above duties (but with respect to property damage instead of injury). However, you can be convicted of felony hit and run for failing to perform even one of the above acts.³

On that note, the jury will be told that before they can convict you, they must unanimously agree that you failed to perform one or more of these duties. They will additionally be instructed that they must unanimously agree on at least one particular duty that you failed to perform.⁴

If death or a permanent serious injury occurred, the jury must also determine that the accident was a cause of the resulting injury or death before they can vote guilty. It bears repeating that this instruction will be given regardless of whether the accident was your fault.

Let me expand on a few of the terms used in the above elements to help you better understand their meanings.

• That you were "involved" in an accident

"Involved" in an accident means being connected to the accident in a logical or natural manner. It doesn't necessarily mean that you actually made contact with another car or property, only that your driving contributed to the collision.⁵

• That you "knew" about the accident and either knew or reasonably should have known about the injury/death

Your "knowledge" about the accident will be presumed if you, at any time, made any statements that indicated you knew there was an accident. If it is concluded that you knew about the accident, the severity of the accident will determine whether you at least "should have known" that someone was likely injured or killed as a result.

"Knowledge" may also be assumed if your car was damaged in the felony hit and run accident. This may occur, for example, if an investigator claims that the damage to the car you were allegedly driving was consistent with the damage that was sustained by the other involved party/parties.

"Knowledge" is therefore a crucial element to both the prosecution's case and the defense case. Knowledge as a defense will be addressed under the "defenses" section of this article.

• That you "willfully" failed to perform at least one of your required duties

A "willful" act doesn't mean that you necessarily intended to break the law. It simply means that you intended to act as you did (or that you intended not to act). If you knowingly left the scene of an accident, didn't exchange information, and/or didn't attempt to render "reasonable assistance" intending to do so, you acted willfully.

It should also be noted that California felony hit and run can be charged against both the driver and the owner of the car (if he/she was a passenger in the car).⁶ This may be the case when the owner either encourages or advises the driver to violate this law.⁷

What are the Defenses to California Felony Hit and Run Under California Vehicle Code 20001 VC?

A California felony hit and run defense lawyer may argue several defenses on your behalf, depending on the facts of your specific case. The following is a brief summary of some examples.

• It wasn't you

If someone else had access to your car, or if your car had been stolen (and you had filed a police report about your stolen car before the hit and run allegation), you might present this defense. This defense would most likely apply if there were no eyewitnesses to identify you.

According to John Murray, one of the top Newport Beach DUI Attorneys, the prosecution bears the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused was the hit and run driver. Even if his/her car was the hit and run car, that alone doesn't prove that the owner of the car was the driver when the accident occurred.

With respect to a stolen car defense, it must be noted that filing a false police report is its own crime and should NEVER be done to try to escape liability for another offense. This claim would only work if a valid report had been filed prior to the hit and run allegation.

• Lack of knowledge

If you didn't know that you were involved in an accident, you can't be convicted of this crime. Similarly, if you didn't know there were any injuries (or didn't have reason to suspect that there were any injuries), you can't be convicted of felony hit and run.

There are a few ways that this defense would typically come into play.

The first would be in a situation where your car wasn't involved in the actual collision. If your driving caused others to collide, you were still "involved" (defined above) in the accident for purposes of this law. However, you wouldn't necessarily know you were involved if the accident took place behind you, for example.

The second situation would arise if, for instance, you were driving a large SUV, but you backed into a compact car. Although someone in that car may have been slightly injured, you might not have realized you had hit the car.

A third way for this defense to apply would be if you knew you were involved in an accident, but had no reason to know there were any injuries.⁸ If, for example, you knew you were in an accident, but (1) you weren't hurt, (2) the other driver said no one else was hurt, and (3) you then drove off before providing your information, you couldn't be convicted of this offense.even if it was later alleged that the other party's passengers did sustain injuries.

• Fleeing the scene or failing to leave your information wasn't willful

There may be times when it simply isn't safe for you to remain at the scene long enough to comply with your duties. If, for example, you hit a pedestrian, and an angry mob formed, you may have been forced to flee before you gave your information.

If the evidence supports this claim, your California felony hit and run attorney might be able to negotiate a reduced charge (misdemeanor hit and run, for example). It would depend on what efforts you took take to comply with this law. For example, did you immediately call the police after feeling the scene of the accident?

• You were the only person injured in the accident

If you were the only person injured in the accident, the requirements under California Vehicle Code 20001 VC do not apply. Both the code section and the jury instructions specify that the driver has these duties when someone (other than him or herself) suffers an injury.

Penalties and Punishment for California Felony Hit and Run

California Vehicle Code 20001 VC has two different sentencing schemes: one for injury and one for death or permanent, serious injury.

If convicted of California felony hit and run involving injury, you face the following:

• A fine of $1,000 to $10,000, and either



• Up to one year in a county jail (if the prosecutor knocks the offense down to a misdemeanor), or



• Sixteen months or two or three years in the California State Prison,



• Restitution (only if the "victim's" injuries were caused or exacerbated by the fact that you left the scene)⁹, and



• Per the California DMV, two points on your driving record.

If convicted of California felony hit and run involving death or permanent, serious injury (which is defined as a loss or permanent impairment to one's body)¹⁰, you face the following:

• The same fine, and either



• Between 90 days and one year in a county jail (again, if the prosecutor reduces the charge to a misdemeanor), or



• Two, three, or four years in the California State Prison,



• Restitution (under the same facts mentioned above), and



• The same point count on your California DMV record.

If you are convicted of fleeing the scene after committing gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated or gross vehicular manslaughter, you will be sentenced to a five-year state prison term in addition to and consecutive with the sentence you receive in that case.

If you have additional questions or would like to confidentially discuss your case, please don't hesitate to contact us. We have local criminal law offices located throughout Southern California, including Ventura, Rancho Cucamonga, Orange County, Santa Monica, and all surrounding areas.

Charged with Hit & Run in Nevada?

Penalties for violating misdemeanor Nevada Hit & Run law are very similar to those in California. If you're facing this charge, our Las Vegas criminal defense attorneys at 702-DEFENSE (702-333-3673) may be able to help get your case reduced to a lesser charge or thrown out without you having to come into court. Read more about the crime and possible punishments at our page on Nevada Hit & Run law.

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Legal References:

¹People v. Bammes, (App. 3 Dist. 1968) 265 Cal.App.2d 626 (Duties under this law are imposed on a driver regardless of whether he/she is responsible for the accident.)

²People v. Lobaugh, (App. 1 Dist. 1971) 18 Cal.App.3d 75 (Defendant fled scene without attempting to "reasonably assist" any of his injured passengers.)

³People v. Bautista (App. 1 Dist. 1990) 265 Cal.Rptr. 661, 217 Cal.App.3d 1 (Failing to perform even one of the required acts constitutes a violation of this section.)

⁴California Jury Instructions -- Criminal: Section 12.70 -- Felony Hit and Run

⁵People v. Sell, (1950) 96 Cal.App.2d 521 ("It seems clear that the word 'involved' is there used in the sense of being connected with (an accident) in a natural or logical manner. The statute relates to a driver thus involved in such accident and is in no way made dependent upon whether or not control of a vehicle is retained or lost, or upon who may ultimately be found to be most at fault.")

⁶People v. Rallo (App. 3 Dist. 1931), 119 Cal.App. 393 ("We are therefore of the opinion that the owner of a machine who is riding therein having the control of its operation at the time of an accident may be deemed to be the driver thereof, for the purposes of this section, even though another person may be actually seated at the steering-wheel."

⁷People v. Madison (App. 4 Dist. 1966) 242 Cal.App.2d 820 ("A passenger may be liable for a violation of this section 20001, Vehicle Code, if he exercises control or has the right to control the operation of the vehicle and advises or encourages the actual driver to leave the scene-to commit the crime.")

⁸People v. Carter, (1966) 243 Cal.App.2d 239 ("The personal injuries were minor and the collision was not of sufficient magnitude to compel the conclusion that injuries had probably occurred.")

⁹People v. Escobar, (App. 6 Dist. 1991) 235 Cal.App.3d 1504 ("The gravamen of a section 20001 offense, however, is not the initial injury of the victim, but leaving the scene without presenting identification or rendering aid. Thus, a plea of guilty to a "hit-and-run" offense admits responsibility for leaving the scene but not for causing injury. Restitution is proper only to the extent that the victim's injuries are caused or exacerbated by the offender's leaving the scene.")

¹⁰Cal Vehicle Code 20001(d) - "As used in this section, "permanent, serious injury" means the loss or permanent impairment of function of a bodily member or organ."

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