Thelmiah Lee v. District of Columbia

Before FISHER, Associate Judge, REID,*fn1 Associate Judge, Retired, and NEBEKER, Senior Judge.

This case involves a traffic incident during which appellant, Thelmiah Lee, rear-ended a vehicle (causing property damage and personal injury) and fled from the scene of the accident without providing his name and other identifying information. A jury convicted him of two charges under § 10 (a) of the District of Columbia Traffic Act of 1925 (“the Traffic Act”), D.C. Code § 50-2201.05 (a)(1) (2009 Repl.): leaving after colliding – property damage (“LAC-PD”) and leaving after colliding – personal injury (“LAC-PI”).*fn2 He claims that (1) multiple punishments for the LAC-PD and LAC-PI charges under D.C. Code § 50-2201.05 (a)(1) violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment; (2) the variation in the date of the accident, as indicated on the charging documents, violated his Fifth Amendment rights under the Due Process Clause; and (3) the government failed to prove that the incident took place in the District of Columbia, and hence, the trial court lacked territorial jurisdiction.