Midland teen faces harder penalties for fatal hit-and-run crash following law change

A Midland teen arrested for fleeing the scene of a fatal wreck a week ago faces harsher penalties because of a new law that went into effect on Sept. 1. Fernando Alvarado, 18, posted a $65,000 bond and has been released on a felony charge of failure to stop and render aid. When he was arrested, he was booked on a third-degree felony charge, but the charge has since been refiled as a second-degree felony.

Before Sept. 1, leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in the death of a person and failing to render aid was a third-degree felony. But under Texas Senate Bill 275 the charge now is second-degree felony, according to the Department of Public Safety.

The bill unanimously passed in the Senate on April 2 and unanimously passed in the House on May 4.

A second-degree felony charge carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison, while a third-degree felony charge carries a penalty of two to 10 years. Both charges carry an optional fine of up to $10,000,

Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter said motorists involved in crashes commonly flee the scene because of drug possession, alcohol consumption or outstanding warrants.

He also said motorists might leave the scene of an accident because they are scared and don’t know what to do.

“It’s the wrong thing to do, but they do that,” Painter said.

He said motorists involved in a vehicle crash should remain at the scene and call 911 or flag down a passing driver so that they can call for emergency services.

Lt. Ray Leible said the Midland Police Department’s case load for hit-and-run crashes has so increased that there is an officer designated solely to those cases.

That investigator, Officer Kenneth Callahan, said there have been 382 hit-and-run wrecks this year. Of those crashes, two people suffered incapacitating injuries, 16 suffered non-incapacitating injuries and 24 suffered possible injuries, Callahan said.

The Sept. 15 wreck, which was the 35th fatality in 32 wrecks on roads inside Midland County this year, was the third fatal hit-and-run crash this year, according to Reporter-Telegram records.

The most recent crash occurred at about 3:56 a.m. Sept. 15 near the Stripes convenience store in the 2400 block of South Rankin Highway.

A pickup, driven by Alvarado, was leaving the store parking lot to head south on Rankin Highway when it was struck by a southbound SUV, driven by 28-year-old Noah Alexander Flemister, according to previous reports.

Both vehicles were forced off the roadway, causing the SUV to roll over. Flemister, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected. He was transported to Midland Memorial Hospital, where he died, according to previous reports.

Alvarado fled the scene and abandoned his pickup in the 2100 block of Belmont Street before fleeing on foot. Police arrested him in the 900 block of South Weatherford Street, according to previous reports.

Other fatal hit-and-run crashes in 2013 on Midland County roads:

-- Midlander Stefanie Moore, 22, was traveling south on Midkiff Road when she hit a 35-year-old Midland woman, who was walking east in the roadway on the south side of the intersection at Wadley Avenue, according to previous Reporter-Telegram reports of the May 17 incident.

The investigation showed the pedestrian did not have the right-of-way at the time of the incident, according to previous reports.

Moore fled the scene and the victim was transported to Midland Memorial Hospital, where she died.

Moore called to report an unrelated accident, and after an investigation she was identified as the driver in the hit-and-run. She was found to be intoxicated and was arrested on a second-degree felony charge of intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle, according previous reports.

If convicted, Moore faces up to 20 years in prison.

-- A 44-year-old Midland man was westbound on a motorcycle on Front Street when an eastbound SUV, driven by 30-year-old Damien Duron, of San Angelo, turned north and collided with the motorcyclist, according to an officer at the scene of the May 25 crash.

The motorcyclist, who was wearing a helmet at the time of the collision, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to MPD.

Duron fled on foot, leaving a 13-year-old passenger at the scene. Police found him a few minutes later in the 700 block of North Tilden Street. He had drunk five beers before getting behind the wheel, according to his arrest affidavit.

Duron is being held at Midland County Detention Center on a $300,000 bond for a was charged with a second-degree felony charge of intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

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Source: My West Texas (White, 9/21)

Penalties for Hit and Run Rise in Texas

With new laws increasing the penalties for drivers involved in hit-and-run fatalities or those who fail to stop and render aid, advocates are hoping that Texas drivers have a greater incentive to stay at the scene of accidents and help the injured.

Starting Sept. 1, the penalty for hit-and-run fatalities will be equal to that for intoxicated manslaughter. Currently, it is a third-degree felony, carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The new law raises the offense to a second-degree felony, with a maximum penalty of 20 years. Another new law makes failure to stop and render aid after an accident that may have caused injury punishable by up to 10 years.

"There was a perverse incentive to leave the scene of a wreck if you were intoxicated" because the penalties for intoxication were higher, said Bill Lewis, a spokesman for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The legislation, he said, "gives people a reason to hang around."

Legislation on the new punishment passed easily with bipartisan support, which is uncommon, said state Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin, who was a sponsor of the legislation on stopping and rendering aid. Some legislators "don't like to mess with enhancing penalties," he said, but many were swayed by the trial of Gabrielle Nestande, a former legislative staff member who was accused of the 2011 hit-and-run death of Courtney Griffin, 30, in Austin. Nestande was arrested the morning after the accident and told the police that she did not know she had hit Griffin.

Nestande was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide but acquitted on charges of intoxication manslaughter, manslaughter, and failure to stop and render aid.

Commander Donald Daker of the Austin Police Department described the Nestande case as a "perfect illustration" of the challenges facing prosecutors in such cases. "If you look at it from an investigative perspective, it's very difficult to prove intoxicated manslaughter when you’ve got to go back hours or days later when they finally do identify who the suspected driver was," Daker said.

The laws will aid prosecution of similar trials, Naishtat said, by encouraging drivers to stay at the scene where blood alcohol levels can be measured.

Requiring drivers to stop and render aid could mean the difference between life and death, Lewis said. A telephone call made within minutes rather than hours of an accident could mean "the person who was hurt would have a better chance to recover," he said.

The legislation corrects outdated laws, said mother Laurie Griffin, who advocated the bill's passage.

"You can't just say, 'I thought it was a kid throwing rocks at my car' and change your story to 'I thought I hit a deer,'" Laurie Griffin said, a reference to reasons that Nestande gave in the courtroom for leaving the scene. "People need to know what's going to happen if they don't stop, and that's from a mother that lost her daughter to complete nonsense."

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Source: KEYE TV (AP, 8/09)