Criminal law

Police Officer Leaves Party After Drinking, Runs Over Man In The Road, Leaves The Scene . . . But Will Not Be Criminally Charged

05242011_chad_finchIn New York, former state trooper Brian Beardsley is now clear of any criminal charges following the announcement yesterday of Hamilton County District Attorney James Curry that the grand jury had dismissed an earlier felony charge. Beardsley was charged after he ran over Chad Finch, 20, (left) who had fallen in the road. Beardsley, who was returning from a party with this girlfriend, pulled over briefly and she called police. However, they then left the scene and returned home.

The felony was for leaving the scene of an accident. However, Curry concluded that the purpose of the law was not really to keep people from leaving the scene of an accident but to call the police and identify themselves. That is not the view in many states, but Curry said that his review of the legislative history led him to conclude that Beardsley could not be charged. Curry wrote that “The statute does not specify the period of time within which the operator must report the incident should there be no one to whom he or she can make the report at the scene of the accident.”

Beardsley admitted to having “three or four beers” at the party before driving his truck.

Finch himself had also been drinking. Indeed, he ironically had a history of DUI. He had just completed a two-year sentence in 2004 after his third driving-while-intoxicated offense in four years. In 2000, he struck a 14-year-old girl riding her bike while driving drunk. In 2004, he injured an 11-year-old child that resulted in Chad Finch’s prison term.

Testing showed that Finch’s Blood Alcohol Content level at .20. It also showed that he was alive before being hit by Beardsley.

Police say that they performed a “prescreening” for alcohol on Beardsley but there is no indication of a BAL test or level determination. They insisted that they had no reason to believe that he had been drinking, but he had in fact been drinking. The question is whether he lied or they failed to ask their fellow officer that relevant question.

Last year, Beardsley agreed to pay $75,000 to lawyers and the victim’s family in damages. He will pay about $43,000 to Finch’s children and about $30,000 to lawyers. The remaining $2,000 will be used to reimburse funeral expenses.

Beardsley was criticized at the time by the sheriff for leaving the scene of an accident. He later insisted in court that Finch “was obviously deceased . . . It (sic) wasn’t really much that could be done except get struck myself or her. …I indicated to her that we should stay until police arrived. She said she wasn’t really comfortable with that. There really wasn’t much we could do, and I agreed with her.”

Source: Times Union

132 thoughts on “Police Officer Leaves Party After Drinking, Runs Over Man In The Road, Leaves The Scene . . . But Will Not Be Criminally Charged”

    2. on 1, October 31, 2014 at 6:20 pm trooperyork

      It appears to some here that Chairman Mao was a centrist.

      this nice thought that is

  2. trooper, There are some folks here so far left they can’t be see from the middle, except w/ the Hubble telescope.

  3. Where’s Jill? Ask her where she thinks Obama stands. IIRC she said he’s to the right of Bush. Everyone has a metric, whose metric is closest to the truth?

    1. Annie – well, Bush is to the left of Reagan so even if Obama was to the right of Bush he still could be to the far left of Reagan. Bush seemed like a nice guy but he never appeared to be a conservative.

      1. Wasn’t Every Man in His Humour one of his Humours lol I remember mostly “Drink to thee only with Thine Eyes” but not really much..

        1. happypappies – Jonson’s City comedies are the funniest, but they are so full of inside references that you need a score card to get through them. I did my Masters on Ben Jonson.

          1. Paul C. Schulte – I kinda figured so being you have such a dry sense of humor. I really had to watch this blog for a long time and believe it or not watching you helped me figure it out. Not that I figured it out 🙂 I like interesting characters and we are quite starved for them now days. I just disconnected my cable again as a needless expense. 🙂

            1. happypappies – there is some good stuff on Netflix and Hulu and Hulu Plus.

  8. Wow, I thought we were talking about a police officer like so many other police officers that are using the law to get off. It’s been happening way before Obama. Authoritarian Figures must keep up the mask.

  10. If none of the persons specified are in condition to receive the information to which they otherwise would be entitled under subsection (aka dead) ……….this section insofar as possible on his or her part to be performed, shall forthwith report such accident to the nearest office of the duly authorized police authority and submit thereto the information specified in subsection (3) of this section.

    @ Darren

    Do you take this to mean that person involved in the accident must go TO the nearest office or that they need to contact the nearest office. In the case of a rural accident (such as in my location) it would be far quicker to try to reach the nearest phone and contact the substation. To physically drive to the substation it would be a half hour or more. Then in the middle of the night, you would be lucky to find someone actually there, as they might be out on another call and could be a hundred miles away.

    If you need to contact the substation or sheriffs at night……. the only way is to call a 911 dispatcher. The ONLY way. At which point the closest emergency type organization…usually VFD is called out.

    If WE had to go TO the station to report it would be hours and hours before we would be able to reach them and before anything happened. I know we are very rural, but consider that there are many places in the US where instant access to police or support agencies is just not available. As well as there isn’t always 100% coverage for cell phone connectivity.

    Just wondering how you read that statute in light of a rural location and an accident in the middle of the night.

  11. Mark, I should have also included section (7)

    (7) If none of the persons specified are in condition to receive the information to which they otherwise would be entitled under subsection (3) of this section, and no police officer is present, the driver of any vehicle involved in such accident after fulfilling all other requirements of subsections (1) and (3) of this section insofar as possible on his or her part to be performed, shall forthwith report such accident to the nearest office of the duly authorized police authority and submit thereto the information specified in subsection (3) of this section.

    From what I read in the article the driver went home after the collision, so that would be in violation of section seven.

    Also, a 911 dispatcher is not considered to be a police officer for the purposes of this statute. The report would have to be made to a LEO

    In this case I would be interested to see if the girlfriend had in fact provided all the statutorily required information. Plus, the driver was not incapacitated as far as the information is presented so under the statute the requirement is for the driver to do this.

    From what you mentioned about this other state’s Hit and Run statute, it might be reasonable for the legislature to address a change in the law’s language.

  12. Max-1–not a problem. Once I saw the birth certificate reference I knew I was dealing with real crazy, and i learned a long time ago not to take anything really mentally ill people say too seriously. Even if it sounds like some of it makes sense or has logic behind it, in the end it’s just mental illness masquerading as cleverness or intelligence.

    Hard to say why this centrist black president has unhinged so many people when Bush did ten times worse and these same folks never complained. Another couple of years and they’ll be freaking out over Hillary or Elizabeth and we’ll have that to keep us busy.

  13. Darren:

    Assuming Washington State jurisdiction:

    He clearly had the statutory duty to “in every event remain at, the scene of such accident until he or she has fulfilled the requirements of subsection (3).”

    Thus in WA you can leave the scene once you comply with subsection (3) which merely requires that you:

    ” … shall give his or her name, address, insurance company, insurance policy number, and vehicle license number and shall exhibit his or her vehicle driver’s license to any person struck or injured or the driver or any occupant of, or any person attending, any such vehicle collided with and shall render to any person injured in such accident reasonable assistance, including the carrying or the making of arrangements for the carrying of such person to a physician or hospital for medical treatment if it is apparent that such treatment is necessary or if such carrying is requested by the injured person or on his or her behalf. ”

    If the guy was dead and no one was “attending” him, how could the driver do more than call the police? Isn’t watching your passenger do the calling the functional equivalent of doing it yourself especially if it is at your direction? If he was dead, was transporting the decedent fit the “apparent and necessary treatment” component?

    It’s not that easy in my view, even in your state.

  14. A driver under these circumstances presented could easily be charged with Felony Hit and Run in WA.

    The duty is with the driver to contact a law enforcement officer, not rely on a third party to exchange information and then leave the scene. A 911 dispatcher is not considered a police officer for the purpose contacting a police officer under this law. The information required includes Name, Address, Vehicle License Number, Insurance Carrier and Policy Number.

    The duty also is that the driver, if there is an injury or death, to remain at the scene and make their vehicle available for inspection by the police investigating the accident.

    An additional requirement is for the driver to provide reasonable assistance to the injured person. Abandoning a person on the roadway is a violation of the law in itself. It does become a grey area if the person was clearly dead but that could be technically argued in court.

    Here is the law. There are exceptions made if the driver is incapacitated during the collision.

    RCW 46.52.020
    Duty in case of personal injury or death or damage to attended vehicle or other property — Penalties.

    (1) A driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in the injury to or death of any person or involving striking the body of a deceased person shall immediately stop such vehicle at the scene of such accident or as close thereto as possible but shall then forthwith return to, and in every event remain at, the scene of such accident until he or she has fulfilled the requirements of subsection (3) of this section; every such stop shall be made without obstructing traffic more than is necessary.

    (3) Unless otherwise provided in subsection (7) of this section [incapacity] the driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person, or involving striking the body of a deceased person, or resulting in damage to any vehicle which is driven or attended by any person or damage to other property shall give his or her name, address, insurance company, insurance policy number, and vehicle license number and shall exhibit his or her vehicle driver’s license to any person struck or injured or the driver or any occupant of, or any person attending, any such vehicle collided with and shall render to any person injured in such accident reasonable assistance, including the carrying or the making of arrangements for the carrying of such person to a physician or hospital for medical treatment if it is apparent that such treatment is necessary or if such carrying is requested by the injured person or on his or her behalf. Under no circumstances shall the rendering of assistance or other compliance with the provisions of this subsection be evidence of the liability of any driver for such accident.

  15. For Max, mespo, and Annie, ‘bullies’ and ‘trolls’ are those who speak in disagreement.

    I have noticed that for liberals, their choice of pejoratives follows the arc of slang fashion, except they try to enact their petty hatreds into law.

    ‘Fascist’ was their favorite years back, now it’s the more feline ‘bully’ that is supposed to be the trump card, played when logical arguments fail.

  17. PhillyT
    There are bullies. There are trolls. And sometimes the two do meet… here.
    Sorry that these three decided to gang up on you. I hope someone brought the lube and fun was had for all.

  18. Mespo,
    Ha, I like your name so much I said it twice. Enjoy your trip. Glad you have time to drop in here now and again!

  19. Mespo, good to know Mespo. My brother is retired from the Milwaukee PD, he does some work with attorneys, not sure exactly what it is though.

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