Bend, OR asked in Car Accidents, Criminal Law and Juvenile Law for Oregon

Q: What is the charge for a 17 year old girl that hits another girl with car and she doesn't die

1 Lawyer Answer

A: "What is the charge" - I assume you are concerned with what type of criminal charges could be brought - and no one is gong to be able tell you that. It depends whether a related crime was committed. Hitting someone could also be an accident in which case there are no criminal charges. For there to be criminal charges first the police and the DA will determine if there are circumstances which point to the event being a criminal offense, and next they will decide which offense could be charges, there could be more than one, and finally the District Attorney has discretion to decide if they are or aren't going to file charges. So there are many possible outcomes. But the fact that you are asking this leads me to believe that someone is worried about this with a good reason to be worried and anytime you face potential criminal charges it is extremely important to hire a criminal attorney immediately to advise and protect you. The problem this person now has is that the police may try to question them with the sole purpose of getting statements that can be used as evidence against the person. When you are involved in a serious accident your guilt may lead you to volunteer too much information to the people that are going to try to prosecute you. If you want to express remorse for what happened, you can have your attorney communicate that on your behalf to the injured party and their family and your attorney can give your side of the story to police, but the words from your attorney are not your own admissions so they can't be used against you. Be smart. hire an attorney and don't talk to anyone.

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