Leaving the Scene of an Accident Requires Actual Damage
Florida law regarding the crime of leaving the scene of an accident states that "[t]he driver of any vehicle which collides with, or is involved in a crash with, any vehicle or other property which is unattended, resulting in any damage to such other vehicle or property, shall immediately stop and shall then and there either locate and notify the operator or owner of the vehicle or other property of the driver’s name and address and the registration number of the vehicle he or she is driving, or shall attach securely in a conspicuous place in or on the vehicle or other property a written notice giving the driver’s name and address and the registration number of the vehicle he or she is driving, and shall without unnecessary delay notify the nearest office of a duly authorized police authority."
In the case of Eddie Powell versus the State of Florida, Mr. Powell was convicted of the crime of leaving the scene of an accident. He appealed to Florida's First District Court of Appeal on the ground that the prosecutor failed to prove that Powell's car had damaged another vehicle or property.
The appellate court agreed with Powell stating:
1. The leaving-the-scene-of-an-accident statute provides that any driver who crashes into and damages an unattended vehicle or property has a duty to notify the owner of that property.
2. The only relevant evidence that the prosecutor presented at Mr. Powell's trial was a photograph of the damage to the car that Powell was driving as well as testimony that he had crashed into either a wooden barricade, a steel beam, or a culvert.
3. There was no testimony about any damage to whatever object it was that Powell's car struck, and there may have been no damage at all.
4. Therefore, the prosecutor failed to prove that Powell committed the crime of leaving the scene of an accident.
