Charged with Leaving the Scene of an Accident?
Being in a car accident can be a pretty awful experience for anyone. You’re going about your day and all of sudden you accidentally rear-end someone at a stop light. Under normal circumstances, you would pull over to a safe place, call the police, and exchange information with the other driver. Unfortunately, it’s not always that simple and instead of pulling over and exchanging information, you decide to drive away. That’s a big mistake because under Missouri law it’s called “leaving the scene of an accident”, and it’s illegal. So when you drive off and someone identifies your license plate, the police will likely find you and charge you. You might be already facing leaving the scene of an accident charge, and if so, you’re probably wondering what to do next. The state of Missouri sets a standard for what it considers leaving the scene of an accident. The bare minimum you have to do is to pull over and provide the other driver your insurance and contact information. If you do this you’ve met the standard. If you don’t do this you’re at risk of getting charged. Let’s walk through the process of fighting a leaving the scene of an accident charge.
Penalties For Leaving the Scene of An Accident
Depending on the circumstances, a leaving the scene of an accident is usually charged as a class A misdemeanor, which carries up to 1 year in jail and $1000 in fines. However, if the accident caused serious injury, the damage to the other car was worth more than $1000, or you’ve pleaded guilty to a similar charge before, you could be facing a class E felony. If death is a result of the accident, you could be facing a class D felony. Either way, all are very serious charges and the best thing you can do for yourself is hire an attorney.
In addition to the criminal penalties, you could also be looking at points on your driver license in the range of 12-16 points. So if you have points on your license already, you could be looking at a license suspension or revocation. However, a criminal defense attorney like Combs Law Group can help you minimize the penalties from your case. Without an attorney, it will be very difficult for you to build an effective criminal defense. In most leaving the scene of an accident cases there are usually underlying reasons why someone didn’t pull over at the time of the accident. It could be they didn’t have insurance or they were scared, or in other cases they were intoxicated. The prosecutors are usually going to assume the worst case scenario, which is that you were intoxicated. That means they think you got away with a crime by leaving the scene, so, unfortunately, they will want to throw the book at you for the leaving the scene of an accident charge. However, with a lawyer like Combs Law Group in your corner, you will have the opportunity to explain your side of the story.
Why Hire Combs Law Group for your “leaving the scene of an accident in Missouri”?
Finding and hiring a criminal defense attorney for leaving the scene of an accident case can be difficult. You have hundreds of criminal lawyers in St. Louis and it’s hard to know who will deliver the best outcomes for your case. We believe that we’re the best option for you and we hope you give us the opportunity to represent you in your case. Combs Law Group is one of the premier criminal defense firms in the St. Louis area. Located in downtown Clayton, MO We are the highest rated law firm on Google Business listings, which is rating derived from our previous clients. We have that high rating because we are 100% committed to our clients and we offer them the personal attention they can’t get elsewhere. Your case will be important to us, unlike other firms where you’ve got several hundred clients being serviced at the same time. We maintain our standards by not taking on every case that comes to us. When you contact us for a free consultation we will provide you with an honest assessment of your case. If we feel we can help you, we will determine a case strategy for your case. If we find your case needs to be referred elsewhere we can provide you with the names and contact details of attorneys we work within the St. Louis area.
We sincerely hope you give us the opportunity to speak with you about your leaving the scene of an accident case. Call us today at 314-451-2711 and we will be glad to give an initial consultation free of charge.
