Carter

Andrew Carter appeals from a conviction for felony hit-and-run driving (Veh. Code, § 20001).

Carter, turning left at an intersection, collided with a Simea automobile driven by McKinnon. The right fender of Carter’s Buick was slightly damaged, as was the front bumper of McKinnon’s Simea. Both drivers got out of their cars at the intersection, and Carter helped McKinnon pull the Simea’s bumper away from its wheel so the ear could be moved. McKinnon’s wife and daughter remained inside the ear. McKinnon then moved his car to the side of the intersection, but Carter drove away from the scene without giving McKinnon his name, address, operator’s license number, and vehicle registration number, and without offering to assist the McKinnons in obtaining medical attention. (Veh. Code, § 20003.) Later that evening Carter was arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run driving. He admitted he had been involved in an accident but denied knowing that anyone had been injured.

On appeal, Carter contends the prosecution failed to prove an essential element of the crime with which he was charged— his knowledge, actual or constructive, that personal injury resulted from the accident. He argues that in…