St. Petersburg Defense Lawyer: New Law Add Mandatory Minimums for Hit and Run Accidents

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - May 14, 2014 - PRLog -- A bill passed through the Florida Legislature that will create mandatory minimum sentences for certain offenses involving Leaving the Scene of an Accident. Senate Bill 102, called the Aaron Cohen Life Protection Act after a cyclist who died in a hit and run accident, recently passed through the Florida Senate and House and now awaits Governor Scott’s signature before becoming law.

Melinda Morris, a St. Petersburg traffic offense lawyer, said that while auto accidents can have tragic results and the need to hold a person accountable is understandable, mandatory minimums are bad public policy.

"When there are mandatory minimum sentences, the court is unable to give a punishment that truly fits the crime in cases where there is a conviction," she said. "Justice does not allow for a one-size-fits-all approach."

SB 102, authored by Sen. Mario Diaz de la Portilla, would place a mandatory minimum sentence of four years for conviction of a Leaving the Scene of an Accident charge that involves the death of a person. It would also increase Leaving the Scene of an Accident Involving Serious Bodily Injury from a third degree felony to a second degree felony. The change increases the maximum penalty from 5 years in prison to 15 years.

Leaving the Scene of an Accident already has a mandatory minimum sentence if prosecutors can qualify that the incident involved drunk driving. Under the bill, the minimum punishment for Leaving the Scene of an Accident with DUI (http://www.criminalattorneystpetersburg.com/DefenseLawyer...) goes up from two years to four years prison.

The proposed law also implements a minimum three-year revocation of a person's driver's license, and mandates a drivers education course when a person is convicted of any Leaving the Scene of an Accident offense.

Charges of Leaving the Scene of an Accident involve a driver being accused of failing to stop after a car wreck and providing certain identifying information, as people are required to do under Florida Statute §§ 316.061 and 316.062.

Attorney Morris said mandatory minimum sentences take away the prosecutor and defense attorney's ability to negotiate to reach an agreement for a sentence. The result may be more cases unnecessarily going to trial to avoid the minimum sentence.

"What happened to Mr. Cohen and other victims of hit and run accidents was tragic, and the desire to punish any person that flees the scene of accident rather than render aid is understandable," she said. "However, mandatory minimums are simply bad public policy."

Melinda Morris, of the Morris Law Firm, is a St. Petersburg criminal defense lawyer (http://www.criminalattorneystpetersburg.com/) who represents people charged with serious traffic offenses, DUI and other felonies and misdemeanors in Pinellas County and Hillsborough County Florida, and the surrounding areas.