Westport Hit and Run Lawyer

Evading responsibility in Westport is technically when a person leaves the scene of an accident without providing their contact information and insurance information to the damaged parties, and not calling 9-1-1.

Contact a Westport hit and run lawyer regarding the facts of your case to begin your defense. A distinguished criminal attorney can help you seek the outcome you desire while preparing your defense.

Challenging an Arrest for a Hit and Run

An individual can only challenge a Evading Responsibility arrest under CGS 14-224 in court. The proper time to challenge an arrest is in court or if the officer has not made an arrest yet, then a lawyer can aggressively fight for an individual’s rights and make this case a civil case.

Being Charged with Evading Responsibility

Evading responsibility is one of those few charges in Westport, Connecticut where a summons could be issued without having a person be forced to come down to the Police Station to be fingerprinted and booked, photographed, and have their mug shot taken.

An officer can issue a “Misdemeanor Summons and Complaint” ticket that will require the individual to appear in Norwalk Superior Court. There are no criminal courts in Westport, Connecticut so all Evading Responsibility arrests must report to Norwalk Superior Court, located at 17 Belden Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut.

Role of Jurisdiction

Other jurisdictions will physically detain and arrest the individual and not issue a misdemeanor summons complaint ticket. Smaller towns tend to not make a bigger production of a Connecticut CGS 14-224 Evading Responsibility arrest that causes minor property damage. They will just issue a misdemeanor summons complaint.

However, if there are serious injuries or any physical injuries, then Westport, Connecticut police, as well as any other Connecticut jurisdiction, will usually require an individual to be formally processed, booked, fingerprinted, and photographed.

Defense Investigation Process

An attorney will ensure that an individual has been properly charged and that there are no defects in the police report. They will try to analyze the police reports to make sure that every element of Connecticut’s Evading Responsibility crime was covered and that they were properly charged, and not overcharged.

Many of the best Westport Connecticut hit and run attorneys will file motions to dismiss, motions to suppress evidence and will also file, when appropriate, motions to preserve digital surveillance evidence because, often times, that evidence gets overwritten and disappears, and that can sometimes be to a person’s detriment.

Likelihood of Dismissing Charges

There are several ways to get an Evading Responsibility arrest under CGS 14-224 dismissed. They can pursue a first time offender’s program called Accelerated Rehabilitation where a motion to suspend the prosecution could be granted by the Norwalk Superior Court judge and that will result in a dismissal of the case, which means a complete expungement of all those records and reports.

A Westport evading responsibility lawyer can also try to make the victim whole and have the damage repaired to the other property and that can result in a nolle which will turn into a dismissal within 13 months of the date of nolle. That is more ideal than having to burn the Accelerated Rehabilitation Program which an individual only gets once every 10 years for a misdemeanor arrest.

Hire a Westport Hit and Run Attorney

It is important to hire a Westport hit and run lawyer at both the investigation stage as well as the post-arrest stages because the ultimate goal is trying to get the charge dismissed and there are ways to get that done, and there are strategies to accomplish that during these processes.

An attorney will scrutinize all of the police reports, witness statements, and surveillance recordings to determine whether an individual did, in fact, leave the scene after the individual knew that they caused damage or injury to a third party.

When people get into fender-benders where no damage is caused and then they leave the scene. This would not be considered Evading Responsibility because there was no damage to persons or property. However, it is important to have a top Westport Connecticut criminal law firm scrutinize the police reports for errors, omissions, and clues for the defense. Call today to learn more.