Can a defendant be found guilty of a violation of section 20001, subdivision (a) of the California Highway Traffic Code for failing to stop and render aid?

This is not to say a great bodily injury allegation may never attach to a violation of section 20001, subdivision (a). A great bodily injury allegation may attach when the injury was caused or aggravated by the defendant's failure to stop and render aid. (See Bailey v. Superior Court (1970) 4 Cal.App.3d 513, 521, 84 Cal.Rptr. 436 [purpose of 20001 to "prevent aggravation of or further injuries, or ... save a life"]; People v. Scheer (1998) 68 Cal.App.4th 1009, 1021-1022, 80 Cal.Rptr.2d 676 [dragging victim included in section 20001 conviction].) And should an individual flee the scene of one injury accident and, in flight, cause an accident resulting in great bodily injury, it may well be found the injury sustained in the second accident occurred in the commission of the violation of section 20001 in fleeing from the first accident.

We reject respondent's assertion that "[a]n injury suffered solely as the result of the accident and not from any other element of the crime of violating [section 20001], subdivision (a), is nevertheless caused by the crime of violating [section 20001], subdivision (a)." In making this argument he reasons that "[w]hile the gravamen of the offense is leaving the scene of the accident without presenting identification or rendering aid [citations], the crime cannot be committed without the vehicle accident causing injury to the victim. Therefore, the injury to the victim is caused by the crime." "This interpretation not only ignores but directly contradicts the decisional law that unequivocally holds the purpose of section 20001, subdivision (a) is to punish 'not the "hitting" but the "running." ' " ( People v. Braz, supra, 65 Cal.App.4th at p. 433, 76 Cal.Rptr.2d 531.) The injuries were "caused by acts which occurred prior to the criminal act, not the result of the criminal act." ( People v. O'Rourke, supra, 105 Cal.App.3d at p. Supp. 4, 165 Cal.Rptr. 92.) The fact that defendant subsequently fled does not retroactively alter the character of the accident from noncriminal to criminal.⁸