Justices Say Knowledge Is Key In Hit-And-Run Case Convictions
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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - The Florida Supreme Court ruled, unanimously, motorists have to know they were involved in a crash in order to be convicted in a hit and run case.
The ruling stemmed from a Palm Beach County case in which motorist Zachariah Dorsett hit a teen who fell in the road while riding a skateboard.
Dorsett, who was driving a heavy pickup truck, was stopped by police about three miles from the accident and was later charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving an injury.
Dorsett said he didn't know he hit the teen, arguing that his windows were rolled up, his air conditioner and windshield wipers were on and that a radio was playing at full volume, according to the Supreme Court opinion.
A circuit-court jury found Dorsett guilty, and he was subsequently sentenced to two years in prison.
The 4th District Court of Appeal later reversed the conviction, after Dorsett's attorney argued that jurors should have been instructed that state law requires "actual knowledge of the accident."
The Supreme Court, in a 13-page opinion written by Justice Charles Canady, agreed with the appeals court.
"Although (the section of state law) does not expressly state that actual knowledge is required for a violation, the law does expressly provide that a felony criminal violation requires that the driver 'willfully' violate the statute,'' the opinion said. "For the reasons we explain, we conclude that a willful violation can be established only if the driver had actual knowledge that a crash occurred."
(The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.)