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Prosecutors refuse to charge man with vehicular homicide

There is a gut reaction that many people in Minnesota have to fatal pedestrian accidents. When a pedestrian is hit, most people will say the driver is automatically at fault and should face serious criminal charges.

In some cases, this is true, and the driver will be charged with vehicular homicide. In many other cases, however, it is the pedestrian’s fault that he or she was hit. However regrettable a fatal pedestrian accident is, a driver cannot be held criminally liable for the pedestrian’s death if it is the pedestrian’s fault.

When a Rosemount man hit and killed a deaf woman in 2009, it was likely there was a similar outcry. Not only did the man hit a pedestrian at night, but he hit a woman that wouldn’t have been able to hear his car coming. While prosecutors first thought about charging the man with vehicular homicide, they realized they couldn’t when evidence emerged that the woman was crossing the street against the light.

This accident was, without a doubt, a tragedy. It is something that the man will never be able to forget, but that does not mean that he should be held criminally liable for a felony charge of criminal vehicular homicide. In the end, he was charged with and pled guilty to one count of leaving the scene of an accident involving death.

Criminal vehicular homicide charges are extremely serious, but only those individuals who truly meet the definition of the crime should be charged and prosecuted under that statute.

Source: KARE 11, “Rosemount man gets 60 days in fatal hit-and-run,” Jan. 8, 2013

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Attorney Max Keller
Max Keller

Max Keller has won countless jury trial cases involving misdemeanors and felonies, sex crimes, and DWI’s. He is a member of the Minnesota Society for Criminal Justice, which only allows the top 50 criminal defense attorneys in the state as members. Max is a frequent speaker at CLE’s and is often asked for advice by other defense attorneys across Minnesota.

Experience: Practicing since 1997
Minnesota Registration Status: Active
Bar & Court Admissions: State of Minnesota Minnesota State Court Minnesota Federal Court 8th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals State of Maryland

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