Legal Question in Criminal Law in Massachusetts

Re: Leaving The Scene

It sounds like you did not have a lawyer to represent you. If you had hired a lawyer, given that the ambulance cannot be found, the case would have probably been dismissed (but it is too late for that now).

When you pleaded out at your arraignment or at pretrial conference, you filled out a plea sheet (or the ADA or police filled one out, and you signed it). That agreement defines what you are responsible for, and what you are not responsible for. If it says that you must pay restitution, then you are on the hook for that. If your friend's insurance company pays, they may sue you for the amount in question, in civil court. They may decide not to do that if the damages are not very high, but they could sue you even if the damages were $1. As to the charge of leaving the scene of an accident, your disposition was a CWOF, a continuation without a finding (referred to as a Kwoff phonetically by the court personnel and defense attorneys). In order to get a CWOF, you have to admit to sufficient facts to permit the court to find you guilty if the case was tried. The District Attorney will read a report of what happened, and the judge will have asked you if that was what happened, to which you would have replied "yes". If you do not admit, the judge will not permit a CWOF, so you must have admitted that you were the driver, hit the ambulance, and left the scene. That will probably be enough to make you responsible, if the insurance company comes after you.

The ambulance company did not have to appear, since they may not have been interested in prosecuting you, only in getting their vehicle fixed, which they did working with their insurance company, more than likely. Having plead guilty to OUI, and having admitted that you hit the ambulance as part of your CWOF - the insurance company can come after you and recover for the damages they had to pay out. To protect what few chances you have left, you should immediately contact an attorney. If your plea required a restitution hearing, then you will be required to go back to court to determine what you will have to pay. Whether or not there was insurance will usually not matter at this point.

How much should you worry?? depends on how much damage was done. An ambulance can cost many times what a car costs, and damages to equipment inside could be more than the cost of a new luxury car. If you were OUI when the accident occurred, you may not know how bad the damages were. Were there pictures taken of the ambulance? Have you seen them?

There are too many unknown variables in this situation to determine what you should or should not do. Your attorney will interview you, find out what other facts are needed, and only then, give you legal advice. You should take what I have written as material to help you understand what has transpired, and to assist you in meeting with an attorney of your choice.

Thomas Workman

Law Offices of Thomas Workman

41 Harrison Street