SERIES 2100 VEHICLE OFFENSES
F 1240 NOTES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
F 2140 Note 1 Failure To Perform Duty Following Accident: Death Or Injury—Defendant Driver—CALCRIM Cross-References And Research Notes
F 2140 Note 2 Hit And Run Enhancement: Failure To Stop Must Proximately Cause Permanent And Serious Injury
F 2140 Note 3 Hit And Run: Prior Flight From Scene Inadmissible
F 2140 Note 4 Hit And Run: Requirement That Person Identify Himself As Driver Does Not Violate Fifth Amendment Right Against Self-Incrimination
F 2140 Note 5 Hit And Run: Bodily Injury Caused By Original Impact Is Not A Serious Felony Under PC 1192.7(c)(8)
F 2140 Note 6 Hit And Run: Applicability To Person Who Did Not Commit The Underlying Offense
F 2140 Note 7 Felony Hit And Run: Definition Of Accident (VC 20001)
Return to Series 2100 Table of Contents.
F 2140 Note 1 Failure To Perform Duty Following Accident: Death Or Injury—Defendant Driver—CALCRIM Cross-References And Research Notes
CALCRIM Cross-References:
CALCRIM 2141 [Failure To Perform Duty Following Accident: Death Or Injury — Defendant Nondriving Owner Or Passenger In Control]
CALCRIM 2142 [Failure To Perform Duty Following Accident: Lesser Included Offense]
Research Notes:
See CLARAWEB Forum, Vehicle Offenses—Series 2100.
F 2140 Note 2 Hit And Run Enhancement: Failure To Stop Must Proximately Cause Permanent And Serious Injury
VC 20001(b)(2) provides for enhancement penalties for hit and run in violation of VC 20001(a) in situations where the violation results in death or permanent serious injury. However, the enhancement does not apply unless the defendant’s failure to comply with VC 20001(a) caused permanent, serious injury to another person. (People v. Braz (1998) 65 CA4th 425; see also People v. Wood (2000) 83 CA4th 862 [hit and run doesn’t become “serious felony” just because victim’s injuries are serious]; see also FORECITE F 12.70 n9.)
NOTE: VC 20001(b)(2) was amended (urgency legislation effective 10/8/99) to provide that “if the accident described in” VC 20001(a) results in death or permanent, serious injury of a person, the defendant is subject to felony or misdemeanor punishment. The statute no longer provides that it is the “violation” of VC 20001(a) itself that must “result” in the death or permanent injury. For crimes committed prior to the operative date of the statute ex post facto principles preclude application of the new legislation if it increases punishment or expands criminal liability. (See In re Baert (1988) 205 CA3d 514, 517-18; see also Calder v. Bull (1798) 3 US 386 [1 LEd2d 648].)
CALJIC NOTE: See FORECITE F 12.70 n5.
F 2140 Note 3 Hit And Run: Prior Flight From Scene Inadmissible
See FORECITE F 375 Note 13.
CALJIC NOTE: See FORECITE F 12.70 n6.
F 2140 Note 4 Hit And Run: Requirement That Person Identify Himself As Driver Does Not Violate Fifth Amendment Right Against Self-Incrimination
(See People v. Kroncke (1999) 70 CA4th 1535 (VC 20001 and VC 20003).) Kroncke relied on Byers v. Justice Court (1969) 71 C2d 1039 [and California v. Byers (1971) 402 US 424 [29 LEd2d 9; 91 SCt 1535], which held that VC 20002(a) did not violate the 5th Amendment by requiring a driver involved in an accident causing property damage to stop and identify himself. (71 C2d at 1041-42.) Kroncke also relied on Banks v. Commonwealth (VA 1976) 230 SE2d 256 [217 Va. 527], which noted that California v. Byers did not consider whether the reporting requirement violated the 5th Amendment. Nevertheless, Banks held that “when we balance the public interest, on the one hand, and the individual’s constitutional claim, on the other, the additional requirement of police reporting does not tip the scales in favor of the accused.” (230 SE2d at 259; see also People v. Samuel (NY 1971) 327 NYS2d 321, 328 [277 NE2d 381] [“If the purpose of the statute is to incriminate, it is no good. If its purpose is important in the regulation of lawful activity to protect the public from significant harm, especially to the person but also to property, and only the incidental effect is occasionally to inculpate, then the statute is good within constitutional limitations”].)
CALJIC NOTE: See FORECITE F 12.70 n7.
F 2140 Note 5 Hit And Run: Bodily Injury Caused By Original Impact Is Not A Serious Felony Under PC 1192.7(c)(8)
Hit and run (VC 20001) is not a serious felony under PC 1192.7(c)(8) unless the serious injuries are caused by the flight rather than the impact. (People v. Wood (2000) 83 CA4th 862, 867; see also FORECITE F 12.70 n5.)
CALJIC NOTE: See FORECITE F 12.70 n9.
F 2140 Note 6 Hit And Run: Applicability To Person Who Did Not Commit The Underlying Offense
See People v. Calhoun (2006) 40 C4th 398.
F 2140 Note 7 Felony Hit And Run: Definition Of Accident (VC 20001)
In People v. Jiminez (1992) 11 CA4th 1611, 1628, the court concluded that the term “accident,” as used in VC 20001, has a technical meaning peculiar to the law which is broader than the commonly understood definition of the term. (I.e., the term applies to “all injury-producing events involving vehicles.”)
CALJIC NOTE: See FORECITE F 12.70 n1.
