When is “Accident” a legal defense to criminal charges?

You can sometimes defend against a criminal charge by showing that the allegedly illegal act was an accident. This legal defense will most likely succeed in situations where you

1. had no criminal intent,
2. were not acting with criminal negligence, and
3. were engaged in lawful conduct at the time of the accident.

If successful, the defense can serve to reduce a charge or to get one dismissed entirely.

To convict you of certain crimes, prosecutors often have to show that you intended to commit a criminal offense or had the specific intent to commit some act.

With other crimes, a prosecutor has to show that you acted with criminal negligence. “Criminal negligence” means that you act with a reckless disregard for human life.

Accident works as a defense because it negates a showing that you acted with specific intent or with negligence.

A few examples of crimes where an accident defense may work include:

• domestic violence,
• assault, and
• petty theft.

An accident defense can be used to contest charges of both misdemeanor and felony offenses.

Our California criminal defense attorneys will explain the following in this article:

• 1. How does the defense of accident work?
• 2. When is there a lack of criminal intent?
  • 2.1. Accidental homicide
• 3. What is an accident based on a lack of negligence?
• 4. Does the defense only work with lawful conduct?
• 5. What is the law in California?

1. How does the defense of accident work?

The law in most jurisdictions states that if you cause personal injury, property damage, or some other type of damage based on an accident or through misfortune, you have not committed a criminal act.

This is true provided that you commit an accident and all of the following apply:

1. you had no criminal intent,
2. you did not act with criminal negligence, and
3. you were engaged in lawful conduct at the time of the accident.

To assert accident as a legal defense, you have the burden to prove all of the above beyond a reasonable doubt.

Some crimes where the accident defense may successfully apply include:

• destroying or concealing evidence,
• false identification to a police officer,
• petty theft,
• shoplifting,
• domestic violence, and
• assault.

2. When is there a lack of criminal intent?

Many laws say that criminal liability is only imposed when you act with an intent to commit some crime or some specific act.

“Intent” means that you act in a criminal case with a particular design, resolve, or determination.¹

Accident works as a legal defense with intent crimes because the defense shows that you did not act intentionally. Rather, you violated a law because of some mishap or misfortune.

Example: Pete and Michelle, husband and wife, get into an argument and Michelle asks her husband to leave the house. Before Pete leaves, Michelle runs to him and pulls him back by the shirt. As Pete turns to try and free himself, he accidently hits Michelle in the face and breaks her nose.

The district attorney later charges Pete with domestic violence, or the intentional harming of an intimate partner. Here, Pete’s best defense is to say that, while he did cause bodily injury to his wife, he did so by accident. He simply did not intentionally harm Michelle.

2.1. Accidental homicide

Note that accident can even work as a defense in murder or homicide cases.

While most jurisdictions have various degrees of murder, prosecutors usually have to show that you acted with some form of intent to secure a guilty conviction. Therefore, accident acts as a legitimate defense if you can show that you killed someone on accident and without the necessary criminal intent.

Example: Steve and Rich are at a bar. Steve’s rowdy behavior is irritating Rich, who confronts Steve. After Rich threatens Steve, Steve hits Rich, knocking him to the ground. Rich gets up, hits Steve and Steve returns the punch. This time, Rich falls back and hits his head on a barstool. Rich becomes unconscious and dies the next day.

If a prosecutor later charges Steve with murder, he can successfully defend against the charge by showing that he did not kill Rich on purpose or with a specific intent to do so. While he punched Steve, Steve hit his head and died as an accident of the punch.

3. What is an accident based on a lack of negligence?

As with intent, accident can serve as a defense to show that you did not act negligently.

Sometimes the conviction of certain crimes does not require a showing that you acted intentionally. Rather, a prosecutor may have to show that you acted with criminal negligence.

Most states say that you act with criminal negligence if you commit some act with a wanton or reckless disregard for human life.²

Accident can work as a defense in these cases because, depending on the facts of the case, accidental conduct shows that you did not act with any type of recklessness.

Example: Bob, who is “buzzed,” is driving home from a party. He stops at a stop sign and accidentally puts his car in park.

Steve is driving a motor vehicle behind Bob. He does not realize that Bob’s car is in park and expects him to move forward. As Steve approaches the stop sign, he does not stop his car in time and rear ends Bob. As a result of the car accident/car crash, Steve cuts his head on his windshield.

A prosecutor later charges Bob with DUI causing injury, which requires a showing that a defendant was driving while intoxicated and also acted in a negligent manner while driving.

Here, Bob could successfully raise an accident defense/disclaimer to the charge. While he was driving under the influence, he did not commit another negligent act. He merely put his car into park by accident.

4. Does the defense only work with lawful conduct?

In accident cases, accident only works as a defense if you were engaged in lawful conduct at the time of the accident.

The defense does not work if you caused a serious injury or property damage on accident while also committing a crime.

Example: Mike is driving under the influence of alcohol. He is driving in the right lane of traffic. He speeds up to try and pass a car on the left so that he can make a left turn. During the turn, Mike accidentally hits the accelerator instead of the brake, causing him to cross over into oncoming traffic where he hits another car.

A prosecutor later charges Mike with violating the following traffic laws, DUI, speeding, turning left from the right lane, hit and run, and reckless driving. Mike could not challenge any of the charges with the defense that he accidentally hit his accelerator. This is because he was committing the crime of DUI when he made his accident.

5. What is the law in California?

Under California law, you are free to raise the defense that you committed a crime or violated some criminal law on accident.

As with other jurisdictions, you will succeed with the defense if you can show that you:

1. did not intend to do any harm,
2. were not acting with criminal negligence, and
3. were engaged in lawful conduct at the time of the accident.

Note that per California’s criminal laws, a prosecutor must show the following to prove that you acted with criminal negligence:

1. you acted recklessly and created a high risk of death or great bodily injury, and
2. a reasonable person would have known that these acts would create such a risk.³

It is important to note that criminal negligence involves:

• knowledge of a danger, and
• more than a mistake or excusable accident.

As with most other jurisdictions, you can even raise the accident defense in California in homicide cases.⁴

As with other successful legal defenses, a showing of an accident can work to get a charge dismissed so that you can avoid any jail time, prison time, or other legal penalties.

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