Traffic accident and hit-and-run, successful defense results in probation.
Recently, A received a judgment from a district court in T City, Anhui Province. The court sentenced A to three years in prison, suspended for four years, for the crime of causing a traffic accident. Thus, a criminal and civil case that I had defended for nearly half a year was successfully concluded.
[1] Case Overview
[2] A, an employee of a car rental company, was driving his small motor vehicle one morning in October 2019 when he collided with an elderly man crossing a zebra crossing on the outskirts of the city. After the incident, A impulsively called his wife B to the scene and discussed having B falsely claim to the traffic police that she was the driver, to take responsibility for him. A and B remained at the scene together and followed the ambulance to the hospital. By noon that day, the elderly man died from severe injuries. Meanwhile, A reported the truth to the police, admitting he was the driver responsible for the accident. The traffic police determined that A was speeding and caused a fatal traffic accident, holding him fully responsible. The victim's family, emotionally agitated, demanded that A compensate them 1 million yuan within three days. Due to financial constraints, A could not meet this demand. The victim's family then filed a review of the initial accident report with the higher traffic police department. A few days later, the higher department ordered the original department to reissue the report, stating that A was speeding and had someone else take the blame and flee, causing a fatal accident, and held him fully responsible. This meant A would face aggravated criminal liability for a traffic accident and civil liability, with insurance refusing to pay, leaving him personally responsible. At this point, A retained me to represent him in this criminal and civil case.
[3] Representation Process and Experience
[4] After taking the case, as it had reached the prosecution review stage, I actively studied the case materials, visited the accident scene to find clues to mitigate the client's guilt, and proactively contacted the victim's family. With the prosecutor's mediation, I conducted multiple rounds of negotiations on civil compensation. Additionally, I counseled the client to make an initial payment to seek the victim's family's forgiveness and suggested the prosecution initiate a guilty plea procedure.
[5] 1. The defense argues: Although A had his wife B take the blame after the traffic accident, which may constitute a hit-and-run,
[6] (Excerpt from defense arguments) A reported the truth to the traffic police a few hours after the accident, around noon that day, confessing his actions before the police filed a case, indicating he had no subjective intent to evade legal consequences. Objectively, A did not obstruct or hinder the traffic police's accident determination or subsequent criminal investigation, which is distinctly different from typical "blame-shifting and fleeing." The reason traffic accident law designates fleeing as an aggravating factor is to punish the evasion of rescue obligations and interference with police accident determination. (Additionally, according to Professor Zhang Mingkai, fleeing in traffic accidents as an aggravating factor only punishes the evasion of rescue obligations, not the evasion of legal consequences, as no criminal can be expected not to evade legal consequences. The reason the criminal law only includes fleeing as an aggravating factor in traffic accidents, not in other crimes, is that the perpetrator must fulfill prior obligations arising from the accident. Once they evade rescue obligations, the law re-evaluates their fleeing as an aggravated offense. Other crimes do not result in aggravated consequences due to evasion of legal consequences.) Reviewing A's actions after the accident: first, he never left the scene and actively followed the victim's rescue; second, he objectively did not hinder the police's accident determination. It is hoped the prosecution will consider the case's uniqueness, evaluate A's subjective intent and objective actions, and fairly assess the traffic police's accident report as evidence.
[1] In addition, after personally inspecting the scene of the incident, I believe that at around 5 a.m., the streetlights were dim, the crosswalk was extremely unclear, and there were no special speed limit signs at the start of the road, which contributed to the traffic accident to some extent.
[2] 2. Actively seeking the victim's family's understanding in terms of civil compensation. Since the victim's family requested a review after the first accident determination, which increased my client's liability and left A facing the dilemma of insurance not covering the claim, this also reduced the victim's family's protection to some extent. During communication and coordination, I maintained a rational and calm tone, carefully addressing the other party's thoughts, explaining my client's current financial difficulties and family situation, and striving for their understanding. Ultimately, after multiple negotiations, both parties agreed on the final compensation amount, which was within my client A's acceptable range.
[3] 3. Initiation of the leniency procedure for guilty plea and acceptance of punishment by the procuratorial authority. During the review and prosecution stage, I actively submitted defense opinions, recommending that the procuratorial authority apply the leniency procedure. However, since A had not yet fully compensated and had not obtained the victim's family's consent, a sentencing recommendation for probation could not be issued. While fully communicating with the prosecutor, I suggested that the lead prosecutor first issue a sentencing recommendation for actual imprisonment, and then, during the court trial stage, after A had fully compensated and obtained the victim's family's forgiveness, the procuratorial authority could modify the sentencing recommendation. Ultimately, the procuratorial authority adopted my suggestion.
[4] Through the above defense efforts and my unremitting efforts, the court sentenced A to three years' imprisonment, suspended for four years, on the grounds that A committed the crime of causing a traffic accident (with the element of fleeing), had the mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender, and actively compensated the victim's family, obtaining their forgiveness.
