People v. James CA3

BACKGROUND

On October 11, 2013, at around 3:00 a.m., Anurag Singh was driving southbound on Interstate Highway 5 when he looked into his rearview mirror and saw a car approaching from about 1,500 feet away. Singh saw sparks when the car drifted into the center median. He then pulled off to the side of the road and called 911. Singh was too far away to see if anyone was in the car, but he saw a shadow, later identified as a person, get out of the car and stand between the car and the barrier. He did not see what caused the crash and it was too dark for him to see if there were other people by the car. He could not recall telling an officer that the figure remained at the scene until the ambulance came. Singh also testified he was too far away to confirm whether the person remained at the scene. An officer testified that in an interview about 18 hours after the accident, Singh told him the figure he saw remained at the scene until the ambulance crew arrived. Ryan Pickard was a paramedic who responded to the accident that morning. He saw defendant standing on the side of the road by the car, which was blocking the northbound number two and three lanes. The car sustained moderate to…