Hit and run. Please help.?

Question

My 16 year old brother was involved in a hit and run accident in FL about 2 wks ago. He was riding his bicycle when a car hit him at 55+ mph and drove away. He had a major concussion, 50+ stitches in his face and staples in his arm. He spent only two nights in the hospital before being released. Recently, the police found the person that hit him. It is a 17 year old girl. What charges will she receive? My brother was almost killed and would have been if not for the kind people that stopped to help. We are grateful that he is alive. What lawful vengeance can I expect to receive? I can answer any further questions at [e-mail]. Thank you.

Answer 1

1st off, there is no such thing as lawful vengeance.  I'm also sorry to say that your recourse will be limited.  Generally, this person will face 2 forms of legal heartache - civil and criminal.

Civil cases are those brought between private parties.  The standard of proof is low (preponderance of evidence, better than 50-50 that she's liable) and you're eligible to have her pay damages - what it's going to cost to fix your brother, and also for pain and suffering.  In extraordinary cases, you might even win punitive damages - those are damages above what you've lost in medical bills.  Though civil law isn;t about punishing people, punitive dam,ages can be awareded if the behavior was sufficiently bad.  Because this girl appears to be a minor, her parents would be responsible for paying these damages - you may even have a direct claim against them for negligent supervision.  Your claim in general would be one that tied her conduct in driving the car and failing to stop after the accident to the resulting harm.  Some defendants claim that due to the conditions and the specific circumstances of the hit, they did not know that they struck anybody.  Proving/disproving is what trials are all about.

Now the bad news, just because you're awarded damages doesn't mean you get any actual money.  Poor defendants can't pay what they don't have, and I'm not sure judges can attach public benefits.  Just getting money that people do have sometimes becomes a trial in itself - enforcement of judgement is practically its own area of law.  Finally, civil systems are known to be extremely slow, involving defendants and their insurers and who-knows-how-many cases ahead of you.

Criminal law is different - discretion to press or drop charges rests solely within the discretion of the prosecutor.  All that stuff you've heard about private citizens "pressing the charges" or "dropping charges" is TV Court show c**p - the pseudo legal experts who write that stuff for "Cold case" know as much about the workings of the criminal justice system as they do about Einstein's Unified Field Theory.  In criminal law, your sole reward is the satisfaction of a conviction and sentence.  The burden of proof is higher - each element of the offense (an element is a part of the crime that MUST be shown to have been committed by the defendant.  eg - the elements of petty larceny are 1)taking of something by the defendant when 2) he/she had no permission to do so from somebody with a property right in that object) must be proven beyond a REASONABLE doubt.  Because of the defendant's age, the likelihood of jail, or even an outright conviction is minimal - most likely, the girl would get some kind of juvenile offender status.  In NYS, we call this YO - it means that you've been found to have committed the crime as if you were convicted, but instead of being convicted you are adjudicated, and your record is practically sealed.  Also, 1st time criminals would likely be given a chance of probation or some "split sentence" of jail and probation.  The prosecution would emphasize the danger of this kind of crime and the resulting injuries, but the court would also have to consider the girl's record, and the increased likelihood that this girl would return to crime if she went to jail.  Alternative sentencing is very big these days, and judges like to think they;re doing the world a favor when they cut people a break - truth be told there is something to that argument.

Hope this helps.  Also hope that your brother isn't permanently scarred (physically and otherwise) by this.

Answer 2

A hit and run involving injury will most likely result in felony charges. She could be charged not only with the hit and run, but for reckless driving, and for failure to stop and render aid.

Aside from any jail time and fines, she will probably get her license revoked, and have to pay your brother's medical bills.

Answer 3

Hit & run is a felony,

when convicted she'll be doing some time in jail.