June 16, 2021
Leaving the Scene of Property Damage (2 Counts)
Client was a very pleasant young man who was on his way to a profession as a firefighter. However, he had one legitimate concern which was this case. Here, he drove into two separate vehicles damaging them both significantly and left the scene. That action is a criminal offense of leaving the scene of property damage. In this case, two counts, since he struck two separate vehicles. Client consulted with Attorney Barabino months before being retained and had explained to him the importance of sending the notice of hearing to the court within four days. That action would give him a magistrate hearing, which is often called a probable cause hearing or show cause hearing. The client did that and eventually was granted the show cause hearing. The importance of obtaining the show cause hearing can never be overstated since if successful, the matter will never appear on a criminal record and employers and other interested parties will never have knowledge of the past behavior. Here, we prepared for the hearing in hopes that the case would not go forward at the hearing. We coordinated with the insurance companies, obtained the police reports, developed a map of the limited travel of the defendant that evening, and drafted a legal memorandum on how someone can only be charged with one leaving-the-scene offense, not multiple counts. The Clerk Magistrate listened to all the parties, and after an extended hearing, agreed to NOT go forward with the charges, as long as everyone was paid back in full.
Result: Leaving the Scene Never Appears on Any Criminal Record
