NFL Wide Receiver Rashee Rice Charged With Aggravated Assault By Auto in Texas – How would New Jersey and Pennsylvania handle it?
Recently Kansas City Chief Wide Receiver Rashee Rice surrendered to Dallas Police on criminal charges which included aggravated assault. It is alleged that he and another driver of a speeding sports car allegedly caused a crash involving a half-dozen vehicles on a Dallas highway last month. It is expected that Rice will be formally charged with at least one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision involving serious bodily injury and six counts of collision involving injury.
The Rice case will likely last months and potentially over a year before it either goes to a trial or results in either some type of guilty plea or no contest plea. While he faces potential jail time, I strongly believe that he and his defense attorneys will be able to negotiate a non custodial sentence (no jail) on this case given that he likely has no criminal history!
Our criminal defense law firm represents individuals charged with crimes in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Many of these crimes, like the Rice case, involve vehicles and cars which are involved in an accident. In some situations, these offenses are drunk driving related (DUI-Pennsylvania and DWI-New Jersey). In other cases, however, they are simply accidents in which a person exercises poor judgement.
The Rice case appears to be an accident but one that appears to be caused by extremely reckless conduct. When have received many phone calls from persons in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in situations where they did remain on site and simply ran from scene.
Our law firm is not licensed in Texas but if the incident had occurred in either New Jersey or Pennsylvania, it is likely that Mr. Rice would be charged with the following crimes:
Assault by Auto in New Jersey
A typical charge that our criminal defense law firm encounters in New Jersey is assault by vehicle auto (2C:12-1(c)(1)). If a person is charged with such a crime in New Jersey, he or she is guilty of it when he or she drives a vehicle recklessly and causes either serious bodily injury or bodily injury to another.
It is a crime of the fourth degree if serious bodily injury results and a disorderly person’s offense if just bodily injury results. Keep in mind that if the individual charged was operating a smart phone or cellphone at the time of the incident (39:4-97.3) it may give rise to inference that the Defendant was acting recklessly at the time of the incident.
Assault by auto is a crime of the third degree if at the time of the incident the person is under the influence of drugs or alcohol (39:4-50) and serious bodily injury occurs as a result. It is a crime of the fourth degree if only bodily injury results. There is no evidence that Mr. Rice was intoxicated or impaired at the time of this incident.
Leaving the Scene of an Accident Criminal Charges in New Jersey
Another criminal charge that our firm handles is knowingly leaving the scene of an accident resulting in serious bodily injury or death. It is a crime of the third degree in New Jersey if a person knowingly leaves an accident which results in serious bodily injury to another.
While a crime of the third degree normally carries with it a presumption on non-incarceration in New Jersey, that presumption does not apply in these situations (2C:12-1.1) It is a crime of the second degree to knowingly leave an accident if such accident results in a person’s death under 2C:11-5.1. In addition, the prosecution may still charge the individual with aggravated manslaughter or reckless vehicular homicide.
How serious of a criminal charge is leaving the scene of accident in Pennsylvania?
Leaving a scene of an accident is a crime in Pennsylvania and New Jersey; it also implies conscious of guilt. Conscious of guilt is a common argument which Prosecutors use at trial and at preliminary hearings in Pennsylvania. Conscious of guilt can also be utilized in a probable cause analysis along with a bail argument to determine. This legal concept basically means that an individual fled the scene or acted in a particular way because they knew that they had committed an act against the law or some other wrongdoing.
How serious of a criminal charge is leaving the scene of accident in Pennsylvania?
Leaving the scene of an accident is a misdemeanor offense in Pennsylvania unless a person is seriously injured or killed. In those situations, leaving the scene of an accident is a felony offense. See Title 75 Section § 3743 – Accidents involving damage to attended vehicle or property). If the accident involves serious bodily injury or death, it a felony crime in the Commonwealth See Title 75 Section § 3742
Contact Our Criminal Defense Lawyers in PA & NJ
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