The criminal traffic charge of Leaving the Scene of an Accident (LSA) or Hit and Run from a crash involving a death is a serious felony.
Leaving The Scene Of Crash Involving Death - Actual Knowledge Required
Columbia County Traffic Tickets
The firm represents individuals who have received traffic tickets or criminal accusations in Columbia County, Florida, located in North Florida. Several people receiving citations in Columbia County are from out of state. This is because Interstate 75 and Interstate 10, both heavily traveled by tourists and visitors to Florida, intersect just north of Lake City in Columbia County. The Florida Highway Patrol or FHP monitors traffic along both I-75 and I-10 corridors.
Traffic Crashes Involving a Death
It appears that Tony Stewart's crash which killed another driver will be investigated by law enforcement. A few minutes into the business day and I am already being asked "for what?" While some feel this is an incident for which Mr. Ward waived any civil actions by assuming the risk of death when he exited his vehicle and tried to confront a race car, there are others that want our police state to investigate all incidents of death with an eye towards prosecution.
Hit and Run - Leaving the Scene of an Accident
In Florida, the criminal offense of Hit and Run is called Leaving the Scene of an Accident. The severity of this crime sometimes referred to as LSA, as do so many other criminal traffic charges, depends upon the nature and the extent of the damage.
Leaving the Scene of an Accident - Did you know or should you know?
The law on Leaving the Scene of an Accident (LSA), aka Hit and Run, with injury or death had been interpreted to require that the accused knew or should have known that an injury occurred. There is a knowledge requirement to LSA with injury or death because they are a criminal traffic offenses that are felonies. LSA with property damage is a misdemeanor. The requirement of knew or should have known has been applied to the injury element of the offense even if there is a death. However, the Florida Supreme Court had said in the opinion that led to the standard jury instructions that "knowledge of the accident is an essential element of the offense". State v. Mancuso, 652 So. 2d 370 (Fla. 1995). In addition, the court wrote that "one cannot 'willfully' leave an accident without awareness that an accident has occurred". Id.
What if You Forgot to Pay Your Traffic Ticket?
What happens when you forget to pay your traffic ticket? A new traffic law went into effect on January 1, 2013 that changed what can happen if a person forgets to pay or otherwise act upon the traffic ticket or citation. Under former law, once 30 days passed, the driver would be convicted or adjudicated, points were assessed and the license was suspended and that was it.
