People v. Finley

THE COURT.

The defendant in this ease was charged in an information filed in the superior court of Alameda County with the commission of the felony defined by section 367c of the Penal Code. The charging part of the information, in substantial accord with the language of the code section referred to, alleged that an automobile, which was being driven by the defendant, collided with a motorcycle which was being ridden and driven by one Sumner Blacow, and that, although the defendant knew that his automobile had struck said Sumner Blacow and collided with a motorcycle upon which he was riding, the defendant “did then and there unlawfully, willfully and feloniously fail and refuse to stop or cause to be stopped, either immediately or at all, said automobile, or to forthwith or at all render all necessary or any assistance to said Sumner Blacow . . . and carry said Sumner Blacow to a physician or surgeon for medical or surgical treatment, and said W. A. Finley then and there refused to give or cause to be given to the said Sumner Blacow, the person struck by said automobile, . . . the number of said automobile, with the name and address of the driver ... or the name of the driver of said automobile. ...”

The evidence adduced at the trial, briefly stated, was to the effect that an automobile, driven by the defendant along a public highway in Alameda County, between the hours of 6 and 7 o’clock in the evening of the day charged in the information, collided with a motorcycle ridden by one Sumner Blacow. The latter, as the result of injuries sustained in the collision, was rendered unconscious, and died within a short time thereafter. Upon the happening of the collision the defendant did not stop his automobile, but proceeded toward the city of San Jose, where he resided, without attempting to render assistance of any kind to Blacow. Just before reaching San Jose the defendant’s automobile came to a stop as the result of a breakdown, and while endeavoring to repair the machine the defendant was placed under arrest.

The defendant, as a witness in his own behalf, testified that on account of the peculiar light and climatic condition which

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he claimed existed on the evening in question, he did not see the approach of the motorcycle, and in fact did not know that he had collided with it.