HIT & RUN

HIT & RUN, MISDEMEANOR VEHICULAR HOMICIDE

If you have been charged with a criminal traffic offense, you are facing serious consequences and have much greater concerns than restrictions on your driving privileges and payment of fines and increased insurance premiums.  Serious traffic offenses carry serious penalties that can affect you for the rest of your life. Convictions stemming from hit and runs with or without injury, and misdemeanor vehicular homicide charges can subject you to a prison sentence, lost educational opportunities and career choices, and overall diminished quality of life.  Securing the skill of a traffic offense attorney experienced in handling serious traffic offenses in North Carolina is the best investment you can make to preserve your freedom and protect your future.

Misdemeanor Vehicular Homicide      

Under North Carolina law, a misdemeanor vehicle homicide occurs when any person operating a vehicle unintentionally causes another person’s death while violating any State law or local ordinance governing the flow of traffic or the operation of a vehicle (except for DWI laws, which result in felony vehicular homicide charges when their violation causes death).  Examples of misdemeanor vehicular homicide include, but are not limited to the following:                                        

  • Speeding resulting in death;
  • Texting while driving resulting in death;
  • Reckless driving resulting in death;
  • Moving violations resulting in death; and
  • Hit and Runs Involving Damage to Person or Property

A misdemeanor vehicular homicide charge is a Class A1 misdemeanor, the most serious of all misdemeanor offenses in North Carolina.  If you are convicted for misdemeanor vehicular homicide, you could be incarcerated for up to 150 days and sentenced to pay a fine limited only by the judge’s discretion under North Carolina law.  Unlike the statutory sentence the law imposes, the stigma you will suffer and challenges you face as a convicted murderer will impact you for the rest of your life.

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Rusty DeMent in his office in Downtow Raleigh

Russell W. DeMent III

Criminal Defense Lawyer

(919) 833-5555

Hit and Runs Involving Fatality, Serious Injury or Property Damage

If you have been charged with a hit and run involving a fatality, a serious injury, or property damage, the severity of the sentence you can expect upon conviction ranges from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class H felony, depending upon the severity of resulting injuries and your prior criminal record.  If you have fled the scene of an accident resulting in a fatal injury, you are guilty of a Class H felony and can be sentenced to serve up to 25 months in prison. Even if you have fled from the scene of an accident that involves only property damage or minor injury, you are guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and subject to a prison sentence of up to 120 days.

The range of possible penalties that can be imposed in hit and run cases involving personal injury or property damage is quite broad, but all hit and run charges involving serious or fatal injury or damage to property have the same potential to change the course of your life and destroy your hopes and dreams for the future.  At DeMent Askew & Johnson, we have decades of experience defending all types of hit and run offenses, and our team of hit and run attorneys have the experience and skill you need to protect your rights and your future.

DeMent Askew & Johnson Can Help

At DeMent, Askew & Johnson, our traffic attorneys have defended tens of thousands of traffic offenses charges in and around Wake and Carteret County, both before district courts and superior courts and the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles.  We represent clients of all ages and students from all surrounding colleges and universities, including Duke University, Meredith College, North Carolina State University, Shaw University, University of North Carolina, Wake Tech, and William Peace University.  We will thoroughly evaluate your case and explore every possible way of protecting your driving privileges and getting the charges against you reduced or dismissed entirely. Call us today to speak with one of our traffic attorneys for a free consultation at 919-833-5555.   

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(919) 833-5555

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333 Fayetteville Street, #1513
Raleigh, NC 27601-2950

MOREHEAD CITY OFFICE:
810 Arendell Street
Morehead City, NC 28557

CRIMINAL DEFENSE SUCCESS

FELONY LARCENY CHARGE DISMISSED

September 13, 2022

The defendant was an employee of a department store and was accused of stealing from the store. The store camera’s showed the defendant, who was a cashier, not ringing up several items and placing it in a customer’s basket. The defendant was approached by his store’s loss prevention personnel and provided a detailed confession. Once…

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DWI DISMISSED AFTER UNLAWFUL SEARCH

September 13, 2022

Officers received a call about a suspicious person. When they arrived on the scene, they found the defendant in the driver’s seat of a vehicle with his music turned up loud. They knocked several times, but the defendant did not answer the door. Officers opened the door and engaged the defendant in conversation. During the…

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POSSESSION WITH THE INTENT TO SELL OR DELIVER MARIJUANA DISMISSED

January 5, 2023

The defendant was stopped because the tinted windows on his car were too dark. When the officer approached the vehicle, the officer was able to smell a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. Upon the search of the vehicle a bookbag was located that contained digital scales, plastic baggies, a large quantity of…

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NO CONSENT, NO CONVICTION ON DWI

September 13, 2022

The defendant was involved in a single car accident in which he ran off the road and struck a tree. Officers arrived to the scene and conversed with the defendant. The defendant could not remember where he was coming from and admitted to consuming several beers before driving. After conversing with the defendant, officers’ requested…

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No prison sentence for client facing 1 year.

June 4, 2019

Defendant charged with Level 2 DWI with one prior within 7 years. Was facing a potential sentence of 1 year in prison. Defendant attended a treatment program and really changed her life direction while the case was pending. We were able to get the judge to agree to accept the inpatient treatment as credit for…

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7th Offense; Sentence reduction of 75%

June 4, 2019

Defendant charged with 2 counts of habitual impaired driving on his 7th total offense.  Were able to negotiate a plea consolidating the sentence to one term of 28 months in prison where he was facing the potential for 10 years or more.

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Not Guilty DWI – No Probable Cause

March 26, 2019

Client stopped for speeding. LEO smelled odor of MJ about clients person. LEO search revealed burned MJ blunt. Defendant performed poorly on all physical tests but told the officer he suffered from a herniated disk in his lower back. On the horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) eye test there were no clues of impairment. A subsequent…

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Not Guilty of DWI with Serious Collision; LEO Failed to Gather Specific Information from Driver Taken to Hospital with BAC of .17

February 12, 2019

Client charged with driving while impaired. LEOs respond to a serious collision where someone being taken to the hospital in EMS vehicle upon troopers arrival. The vehicle had flipped 2 times and landed in the median. Based upon information obtained at the scene, the LEO finds my client in the hospital with injuries consistent with…

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Driving Too Fast, Moving Too Slow… DWI dismissed

January 6, 2023

The defendant was stopped for travelling 94 MPH in a 65 MPH zone. Upon approach of the vehicle the Trooper claimed to have detected a strong odor of alcohol, as well as noticed slurred speech and red, glassy eyes. Due to these observations the Trooper had the defendant step out of the vehicle to perform…

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71% reduction in jail time acquired.

March 26, 2019

Client charged with level 3 trafficking in opiates which carried minimum mandatory sentencing of a minimum of 225 months (18 years 9 months) in prison. After months of negotiating with the prosecuting attorney and following a lengthy argument to the court, Defendant was sentenced to 65 months (5 years and 5 months) in prison with…

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NOT GUILTY ON DWI

September 13, 2022

Defendant was found asleep in the driver’s seat of his vehicle while his car was in the middle of the road. When he was found, his license was currently suspended for multiple prior DWI offenses. He was awakened by officers and asked to do standardized field sobriety tests. The defendant performed poorly on each of…

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Violent Felony Dismissed

September 13, 2022

The defendant was employed at a fast food restaurant at which a shooting occurred. Upon review of the surveillance footage, officers were able to determine who the shooter was, and they were also able to see the defendant provide the shooter with the gun just moments before the shooting. The defendant was charged with aiding…

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Guilty Verdict of Less Significant Charges of Driving with License Revoked and Lane Violation; Charges Included DWI, Driving While License Revoked, and Hit and Run; No Jail Time

February 12, 2019

Client charged with DWI, driving while license revoked for impaired revocation, hit and run, and driving left of center. She was found on side of the road in driver’s seat 400 yards from a collision, showed clues of impairment on the field sobriety tests and blew a .10 on the breath test. Found not guilty…

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NOT GUILTY ON POTENTIAL AGGRAVATED LEVEL ONE DWI

September 13, 2022

The defendant was stopped for speeding on the interstate by North Carolina State Highway Patrol. When the troopers approached the vehicle, they immediately noted smelling a strong odor of alcohol and cigarette smoke. They also noticed that there was a child in the car. When the troopers ran the defendant’s information, they discovered that he…

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Not Guilty, Refusal Revocation Rescinded; Willful Refusal to Take Breathalyzer Test

February 12, 2019

Client approaches a DWI roadblock. Smells of alcohol and performs ok on field tests though she does so some signs of NHTSA clues of impairment. She admits to drinking and blows positive for presence of alchol on the portable breath test. She is taken to the mobile breath testing bus at the checkpoint. She is…

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NOT GUILTY ON DWI

September 13, 2022

The defendant involved in a wreck on a moped. The defendant was found by emergency responders beside the moped with injuries consistent with being involved in an accident. Defendant was transported to the hospital where law enforcement responded. Upon entering the hospital room officers smelled a strong odor of alcohol and the defendant admitted to…

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Motion to Suppress and Dismiss Granted for Lack of Probable Cause; No Reliable Evidence Suggesting Impairment After Speeding Stop

February 12, 2019

Motion to suppress and dismiss granted for lack of probable cause to arrest where my client was stopped for speeding, had an odor of alcohol, glassy eyes, admitted to drinking, as well as showed signs of impairment on the field sobriety tests. The court put little weight on the field sobriety tests because the officer…

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Evidence Suppressed in DWI Case; Court Holds “No Reasonable and Articulable Suspicion” for Traffic Stop

February 12, 2019

All evidence suppressed in DWI case for an illegal stop where the LEO observed my client pause in a parking lot for 30 seconds before leaving the lot and then crossed a center line during a turn at an intersection. Held “No reasonable and articulable suspicion” for a traffic stop.

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Jumping to conclusions… No PC on DWI

January 6, 2023

The defendant was stopped because his tinted windows were too dark. Once the trooper turned on his blue lights, the trooper felt that it took the defendant too long to pull over. The defendant took multiple turns before stopping in a McDonald’s parking lot. According to the trooper, this was a high crime area and…

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Defendant charged with 2 counts after his 7th impaired driving offense.

June 4, 2019

Defendant charged with 2 counts of habitual impaired driving on his 7th total offense.  Were able to negotiate a plea consolidating the sentence to one term of 28 months in prison where he was facing the potential for 10 years or more.

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