State v. Walker

JACOBSON, Judge.

The issue on appeal is whether a finding by a city magistrate in a civil traffic proceeding that defendant was “not responsible” can collaterally estop the state from prosecuting defendant for criminal felonies arising out of the same traffic occurence.

The trial court dismissed charges against defendant of unlawful flight from a law enforcement vehicle, a class 5 felony, and endangerment, a class 6 felony, on the basis that the doctrine of collateral estoppel precluded the state from prosecuting him because he had been found “not responsible” in civil traffic court on a…