WPIC 97.08 Hit and Run—Other Property—Elements
11A WAPRAC WPIC 97.08Washington Practice Series TMWashington Pattern Jury Instructions--Criminal
11A Wash. Prac., Pattern Jury Instr. Crim. WPIC 97.08 (5th Ed)
Washington Practice Series TM
Washington Pattern Jury Instructions--Criminal
January 2024 Update
Part XI. Crimes Involving Operation of Motor Vehicles
WPIC CHAPTER 97. Hit and Run
WPIC 97.08 Hit and Run—Other Property—Elements
To convict the defendant of the crime of hit and run, each of the following elements of the crime must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt:
(1) That on or about (date), the defendant was the driver of a vehicle;
(2) That the defendant's vehicle collided with property [fixed] [or] [placed upon] [or] [adjacent to] any public highway;
(3) That the defendant knew that [he] [she] had been involved in an accident;
(4) That the defendant failed to satisfy [his] [her] obligation to fulfill both of the following duties:
(a) To take reasonable steps to either locate the operator or owner of the property struck and give that person [his] [her] name and address [and the name and address of the owner of the vehicle [he] [she] was operating] or leave in a conspicuous place upon the property struck a written notice giving [his] [her] name and address [and the name and address of the owner of the vehicle [he] [she] was operating]; and
(b) To report the accident, by (fill in applicable reporting requirement; see Comment); and
(5) That any of these acts occurred in the [State of Washington] [City of ] [County of ].
If you find from the evidence that each of these elements has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt, then it will be your duty to return a verdict of guilty.
On the other hand, if after weighing all the evidence you have a reasonable doubt as to any one of these elements, then it will be your duty to return a verdict of not guilty.
NOTE ON USE
Use bracketed material as applicable. For directions on using bracketed phrases, see WPIC 4.20 (Introduction).
For a discussion of the reporting requirement in paragraph (4)(b), see the Comment below.
In element (5), select from among the bracketed alternatives depending on whether the case is filed in superior, municipal, or district court. See WPIC 4.20 (Introduction). For a discussion of the phrase “any of these acts” in element (5), see WPIC 4.20 (Introduction) and the Note on Use to WPIC 4.21 (Elements of the Crime—Form).
COMMENT
RCW 46.52.010(2).
The statute requires the driver involved in an accident to “make report of such accident as in the case of other accidents upon the public highways of this state.” RCW 46.52.010(2). This statute's reference to other reporting requirements is somewhat ambiguous, given that separate reporting requirements are contained in two other statutes in the hit and run chapter. In RCW 46.52.030(2), the Legislature set forth a general duty for drivers to file written reports for accidents that involve damage over a certain threshold amount (beginning in 2015, the threshold amount is $1,000 pursuant to WAC 446-85-010). In RCW 46.52.020(7), the Legislature created an alternative reporting requirement for certain hit and run cases when nobody at the accident scene is in a condition to receive the driver's accident information. These two statutes differ in several other ways, including the information that must be reported and the deadline for compliance. The Legislature may have been referring to both of these other reporting requirements or perhaps only to one. Practitioners should carefully review the facts and the law before filling in the instruction's blank line with the details of the applicable reporting requirement(s).
Many of the issues arising under this statute also arise under the separate statute for hit and run driving that involves injury or death or that involves attended vehicles, RCW 46.52.020. For a discussion of issues relating to corpus delicti, the knowledge requirement, and definitions of terms, see the Comment to WPIC 97.02 (Hit and Run—Injury or Death—Elements).
[Current as of March 2020.]
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