How to Beat Hit-and-Run Charges

The prosecution rate for hit-and-run offenders is very low. Only about 10 percent of these cases make it to court. However, that statistic is not much consolation if you’re among that 10 percent. Fortunately, the same aspects of hit-and-run that keep these cases from going to court makes it easier to defend them in court.

A good Marietta criminal defense lawyer leverages these defenses at trial and during pretrial negotiations. Success at trial is a process, just like a favorable plea bargain is a process. Diligent students who do their homework usually do well on tests. Likewise, diligent attorneys who do their homework usually secure successful results.

What the Law Says

LSA (Leaving the Scene of an Accident) rules vary significantly by state. Georgia’s version of this law, which is found in Section 40-6-270 of the Georgia Code, imposes the following responsibilities on both drivers (irrespective of fault for the accident):

• Write down and give the other driver his/her name, address, and vehicle registration number (emailing or texting such information is usually sufficient),
• “Exhibit” the person’s drivers’ license (show it to someone or write down the DL number if the vehicle isn’t occupied),
• Take injured people to hospitals, or arrange for such transportation, and
• Call 9-1-1 if a victim is “is unconscious, appears deceased, or is otherwise unable to communicate.”

Drivers must remain at the scene until they do these things. They don’t have to wait for emergency responders to arrive or wait for emergency responders to release them.

Usually, non-injury hit-and-run is a misdemeanor, serious injury hit-and-run (someone went to the ER) is a felony, and catastrophic (life-threatening) injury, or fatal injury, hit-and-run is a serious felony.

Many local municipalities tack on additional hit-and-run penalties, like a community service requirement or an additional fine.

Driver Identification

Inability to identify the driver, at least beyond a reasonable doubt, is probably the number one reason so many hit-and-run investigations go nowhere.

Law enforcement attitudes about hit-and-run, especially nonfatal hit-and-run, come into play as well. To many officers, all car accidents, including hit-and-runs, are civil matters that insurance companies must resolve on their own.

A hit-and-run case won’t hold up in court unless the state produces a credible witness who saw the defendant behind the wheel at or near the time of the wreck.

Hit-and-run witnesses, credible or not, are few and far between. For various reasons, many people don’t loiter at accident scenes and give voluntary statements to police officers. Furthermore, investigators often don’t search for witnesses very diligently, for the reasons outlined above.

Even if a witness comes forward at the scene, there’s a good chance that the witness may be unavailable at trial. The delay between arrest and trial in a criminal case is usually at least a year. Most people relocate at least once over such a long period of time, and they usually don’t give prosecutors their new addresses.

Most hit-and-run witnesses are legally credible. They don’t have any affiliation with anyone in the case and don’t have an axe to grind against any particular person. However, many witnesses have serious racial or other such prejudices against groups of people. These individuals have usually ranted online.

Finding a witness who saw the defendant behind the wheel isn’t like finding a needle in a haystack. It’s like finding a needle in a stack of needles. Especially if the accident occurred at night, which is a strong possibility, no one probably got a good look at the driver, or even a good look at the vehicle for that matter.

Police Investigation

Since it’s so hard to find a quality witness, many police investigators don’t even try. Instead, they launch their own investigations based on the limited physical evidence at the scene. Sometimes, they’re lucky enough to find a dripping oil trail or other yellow brick road. Generally, however, they review nearby surveillance videos and look for vehicles with crash damage consistent with the hit-and-run accident.

When investigators close in, they often ask questions before they inform people of their Fifth Amendment rights. If a defendant gives a confession or any other statement before being apprised of this right, that statement is inadmissible. Anything related to that statement, like physical evidence, is fruit from a poisonous tree and also inadmissible.

Everyone should know that the law in this area significantly changed in 2010. The Supreme Court ruled that people waive their Fifth Amendment rights unless they specifically invoke them. Simply keeping your mouth shut, which makes sense, is an implied waiver.

Plea Bargaining

Since good evidence is so hard to acquire in these cases, prosecutors are usually willing to make favorable deals. That’s especially true in non-catastrophic injury hit-and-run cases. Most prosecutors readily agree to a reckless driving reduction.

If a person was catastrophically injured or killed, favorable plea bargains are harder to negotiate. The victim’s family is usually out for blood and usually has a say in the process. Additionally, no prosecutor wants to be the lawyer who let a dangerous hit-and-run driver get away with a “slap on the wrist.”

We should mention the evidence issues in an injury hit-and-run case. Generally, prosecutors rely on medical records to prove such injuries. Frequently, an alleged victim goes to a hospital, gets tired of waiting, and leaves. In these situations, sufficient medical documentation may be unavailable.

Hit-and-run charges rarely hold up in court. For a free consultation with an experienced Marietta criminal defense lawyer, contact The Phillips Law Firm, LLC. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we start working for you.