City Of Minneapolis v. Altimus

238 N.W.2d 851 (1976)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Altimus (D) made an illegal left hand turn and crashed into a garbage truck. Immediately after the impact, D backed up and drove away at a slow speed because of the damage of his car. D was stopped about a block from the point of impact by police who observed the accident. D claimed to be William Jones showing police a transfer of title from Altimus to Jones. An ambulance took D to the Hospital and D ran away after police discovered his true identity. When captured again an altercation occurred when the officer caught him, and he broke the officer's nose. At trial, the defense introduced evidence that D did not have the requisite state of mind to be guilty of the charges of careless driving, hit and run and simple assault. D claimed that Valium was having a strange effect upon him (legally prescribed). The defense requested that the court instruct on involuntary intoxication after it entered evidence by expert testimony that D may have been suffering from the effects of taking valium. That was refused. D was convicted and appealed.