State v. Al-Naseer, A05-1394.
| Decision Date | 12 July 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. A05-1394.,A05-1394. |
| Citation | 734 N.W.2d 679 |
| Parties | STATE of Minnesota, Appellant, v. Mohammad G. AL-NASEER, Respondent. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Lori Swanson, Attorney General, and Kelly O'Neill Moller, Assistant Attorney General, Saint Paul, MN, Brian J. Melton, Clay County Attorney, Moorehead, MN, for Respondent.
John M. Stuart, State Public Defender, and Theodora Gaitas, Assistant State Public Defender, Office of the Public Defender, Minneapolis, MN, for Appellant.
Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.
The issue before us involves the mens rea element of the crime of criminal vehicular homicide for leaving the scene of an accident that caused the death of a human being. The district court found respondent Mohammad G. Al-Naseer guilty of the crime based on the finding that Al-Naseer knew that he had been involved in an accident. The court of appeals reversed, holding that the mens rea element required that the state prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the driver "knew or had reason to know that the accident caused bodily injury to or death of a person." State v. Al-Naseer, 721 N.W.2d 623, 627 (Minn.App.2006) (Al-Naseer III). We adopt a mens rea standard that requires the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Al-Naseer had knowledge that he had been involved in the type of accident that would impose a duty to stop, an accident with a person or another vehicle. Accordingly, we affirm the reversal of Al-Naseer's conviction but remand to the district court for reconsideration of the verdict and for amended findings based on this mens rea standard.
In June 2002, a car driven by Al-Naseer struck and killed a person who was changing a tire along the side of Highway 10 near Glyndon, Minnesota. As a result of the victim's death, Al-Naseer was charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide: (1) gross negligence under Minn. Stat. § 609.21, subd. 1(1) (2006) ("gross negligence"); and (2) leaving the scene of an accident under Minn.Stat. § 609.21, subd. 1(7) (2006) ("leaving-the-scene").1
At his first trial, Al-Naseer was convicted of both counts. The court of appeals affirmed the gross negligence conviction but reversed the leaving-the-scene conviction, concluding that "[t]he legislature has not clearly indicated its intent to dispense with a mens rea requirement, and the district court should have implied a knowledge requirement as a matter of law." State v. Al-Naseer, 678 N.W.2d 679, 696 (Minn.App.2004) ("Al-Naseer I"). The court of appeals remanded the leaving-the-scene charge for a new trial, but did not specify the precise legal standard to be applied to determine mens rea. The state did not seek review of the reversal of the leaving-the-scene conviction.
We granted Al-Naseer's petition for review of the gross negligence conviction to address whether the district court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offense of careless driving. State v. Al-Naseer, 690 N.W.2d 744, 747-48 (Minn.2005) ("Al-Naseer II"). We reversed the gross negligence conviction and remanded for a new trial, holding that "the jury, as fact finder, was not given a jury instruction on the lesser-included offense of careless driving and therefore was not in a position to weigh whether Al-Naseer's conduct constituted gross negligence or ordinary negligence." Id. at 753.
On remand, Al-Naseer waived his right to a jury trial. The physical evidence and testimony at the second trial revealed the following facts. A friend of the victim, who was helping the victim change a flat tire at the time of the accident, testified that the back of the victim's vehicle was well lit with three visible lights—two red flashing emergency lights and one constant white light from the trunk of the car; at the time of the impact, he heard a loud thud and then he saw the victim rolling in front of his car; and after the impact he saw Al-Naseer's car continue driving and pull back from the shoulder of the road gradually onto the right lane of traffic with no "abrupt swerve."
Trooper Randall Harms, a certified accident reconstructionist, testified that the victim's vehicle was parked with flashers illuminated; there was a gouge and smudge on the roadway created by Al-Naseer's vehicle running over the spare tire, showing that "a great amount of force was applied"; at the point of impact the victim was thrown between the two cars, causing a dent to the hood of Al-Naseer's vehicle; Al-Naseer would have heard the impact because it created a loud noise; Al-Naseer would have felt a jolt; the impact sent debris from Al-Naseer's car sliding down the road; when Al-Naseer's car was stopped after the accident, one of the tires was flat, thus his vehicle would likely pull to one side; after the impact Al-Naseer had to steer his vehicle to get the vehicle back onto the highway; and when Al-Naseer's car was stopped after the accident, Al-Naseer's headlights were not working.
Al-Naseer did not testify at trial. Dilworth police officer Jonathan Froemke testified that he pulled over Al-Naseer's vehicle after he observed Al-Naseer's vehicle traveling without any headlights. Officer Froemke testified that Al-Naseer was equivocal about whether he had hit something. Clay County Sheriff's Deputy Bruce Fleury, who joined Officer Froemke and Al-Naseer, testified that Al-Naseer stated, "Yes, I hit something just a few miles back," but Al-Naseer would not clarify or expand on that admission except to say that he did not know what he had hit.
The district court found Al-Naseer not guilty of the gross negligence charge but guilty of the careless driving and leaving-the-scene charges. As to the mens rea element of the leaving-the-scene charge, the court found beyond a reasonable doubt that Al-Naseer "was aware and/or conscious that he had been involved in a motor vehicle accident and consciously and intentionally left the scene of the accident."
Although the district court's general verdict did not discuss the precise legal standard applied for determining mens rea, the court stated on the record, when announcing its verdict at the conclusion of trial, as follows:
The [c]ourt interprets this statute that when a person dies as a result of an accident, it is not necessary for the defendant to actually know that he struck a person and killed him, but that it is only necessary for the defendant to know that he was involved in a motor vehicle collision. And the great damage to the vehicle and other circumstances I have just stated indicate to the [c]ourt that the [s]tate has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that [Al-Naseer] was aware that he was involved in an accident.
(Emphasis added.)
The court of appeals reversed the leaving-the-scene conviction, concluding that the district court incorrectly determined that the mens rea standard only required that the driver knew that he hit "something." Al-Naseer III, 721 N.W.2d at 626. The court of appeals concluded that the mens rea standard requires that "the driver knew or had reason to know that the accident caused bodily injury to or death of a person." Id. at 627.
The statute under which Al-Naseer was charged is Minn.Stat. § 609.21, subd. 1(7), which provides:
A person is guilty of criminal vehicular homicide resulting in death and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than ten years or to payment of a fine of not more than $20,000, or both, if the person causes the death of a human being not constituting murder or manslaughter as a result of operating a motor vehicle:
* * * *
(7) where the driver who causes the accident leaves the scene of the accident in violation of section 169.09, subdivision 1 or 6.
Minnesota Statutes § 169.09, subds. 1 and 6 (2000), referred to in section 609.21, subdivision 1(7), provides:
The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in immediately demonstrable bodily injury to or death of any person shall immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident, or as close to the scene as possible, but shall then return to and in every event, shall remain at, the scene of the accident until the driver has fulfilled the requirements of this chapter as to the giving of information. The stop shall be made without unnecessarily obstructing traffic.
* * * *
The driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in bodily injury to or death of any person shall, after compliance with the provisions of this section, by the quickest means of communication, give notice of the accident to the local police department, if the accident occurs within a municipality, or to a state patrol officer if the accident occurs on a trunk highway, or to the office of the sheriff of the county.
As can be seen, the statutes are silent about the mens rea element, which requires us to determine what degree of knowledge is required for this crime.
We will first address two procedural concerns that could limit our review: (1) the failure of the state to seek review of Al-Naseer I and (2) the failure of Al-Naseer to argue for a more specific mens rea standard at the second trial.
As to the first concern, in Al-Naseer I, the court of appeals held that the leaving-the-scene statute did not provide for strict liability because the legislature did not clearly indicate an intent to dispense with a mens rea element. 678 N.W.2d at 696. The court of appeals concluded that a mens rea element was implied. See id. The state did not seek further review of that holding and the second trial was conducted on the assumption that there was a mens rea element. The state argues, in its brief to this court, that the statute could be read to impose strict liability. Ordinarily, that argument would be precluded by the law of the case doctrine. See Sigurdson v. Isanti County, 448 N.W.2d 62, 66 (Minn.1989) ( ...
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