Hit and Run Lawyer in Mesa, AZ

Mesa Police takes many property reports online, but its rules keep many hit and run cases off that system. If the other driver can be identified and the victim wants prosecution, the report goes through an officer; only small, injury-free hit and runs with no identifiable suspect are accepted online. The page adds that a license plate alone is not suspect information. That matters later, because a plate points to a car, and the State still has to prove who was driving it.

Serious collisions bring in specialists. The department's Traffic Section includes motorcycle officers, DUI officers and Vehicular Crimes detectives. On the prosecution side, the County Attorney's Vehicular Crimes Bureau says it prosecutes drivers who illegally leave the scene of injury accidents and collisions, with prosecutors on call at all hours to help officers at fatal crash scenes.

The injury sorts the case between two prosecutors. Mesa Municipal Court lists leaving the scene of an accident among the misdemeanors it hears, and the Mesa City Prosecutor's Office, in Suite 222 of the same 1st Avenue building, brings misdemeanor crimes committed inside city limits. A crash that only dented an occupied car, or a parked one left without a note, is a class 1 misdemeanor when the driver leaves without meeting the statute's duties. Once anyone is hurt or killed, leaving becomes a felony under A.R.S. § 28-661, and the City Prosecutor's page hands felonies occurring in Mesa to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. A hospital record that surfaces after the first report can move a case from 1st Avenue to downtown Phoenix.

Freeways change the agency. A collision on US-60, Loop 202 or Loop 101 is often a state trooper's case, and a trooper's damage-only misdemeanor can land in a justice court at the Southeast Justice Center, 222 E. Javelina Ave., which houses four of them. A felony makes no stop at a justice court in this county; it goes to Superior Court's downtown Phoenix criminal complex.

If there is an arrest, at the scene or weeks later, the Mesa Police holding facility processes it. Someone held on a Mesa city misdemeanor stays there until a Mesa judge's initial appearance; someone held on a felony or other non-city charge is sent on to the Sheriff's Intake, Transfer and Release center (ITR) on South 28th Drive in Phoenix. Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 4.1 requires that first appearance within 24 hours of the arrest. At ITR the judge reads allegations the prosecutor has not yet reviewed and sets release terms.

Plenty of Mesa cases involve no arrest at all. A detective traces the car through its registration, visits the owner and sends a report for review. The County Attorney lists four results of that review: more investigation, no charge, a referral to a prosecutor in another jurisdiction, or charges. While the report waits, there is sometimes room for a lawyer to supply what it left out: a later call to 911, a note tucked under a wiper, or proof that someone else had the keys that night.

Money runs on its own track: the injured person or the other owner can bring a civil claim, and the criminal court can order restitution. Guilty and no contest pleas both end in a conviction, so ask a lawyer how either could affect an insurance dispute or a lawsuit before arraignment.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. After a conviction under § 28-661, MVD must revoke the license for three, five or ten years depending on the injury; a damage-only conviction under § 28-662 can bring a one-year suspension if the court orders it. A felony conviction also makes a person a prohibited possessor of firearms until that right is restored. Insurers and employers can see the record, and anyone who is not a U.S. citizen should get immigration advice before accepting any plea.