State v. Gordon, No. 1 CA-SA 23-0162 (App. Div. I, February 13, 2024) (J. Bailey) https://www.azcourts.gov/Portals/0/OpinionFiles/Div1/2024/1%20CA-SA%2023-0162%20Gordon-Owen.pdf

VEHICLE CAUSING ACCIDENT NEED NOT ENTER INTERSECTION BEFORE CAUSING ACCIDENT TO RESULT IN VIOLATION OF RED LIGHT STATUTE, A.R.S. § 28-645(A)(3)(a) AND CONSEQUENTLY TO BE IN VIOLATION OF THE ENHANCED PENALTY STATUTE A.R.S. § 28-672(A)(1)

Gregory Owen rearended a Jeep Cherokee, stopped at a red light, with his motorhome propelling both vehicles into the intersection and killing a passenger in the Jeep. Owen was charged with violation of A.R.S. § 28-672(A)(1), (I) “a  person is guilty of causing serious physical injury or death by a moving violation if

the person violates [the red-light statute] A.R.S. § 28-645(A)(3)(a)  and the violation results in an accident causing serious physical injury or death to another person.” The municipal court in Lake Havasu City found him guilty. He appealed to the Mohave Superior Court which found Owen did violate the red light statute by entering the intersection on a red light but that since the accident occurred before he entered the intersection he was not in violation of the enhanced penalty statute.  The superior court directed a verdict of acquittal. The  state then brought this special action. The Arizona Court of Appeals accepted jurisdiction and granted the state the relief requested.

“Accident” as used in the statute means “the entirety of the occurrence that results from a common initiating event, regardless of whether more than two vehicles were involved. . . .The enhanced penalty statute references an accident, not a collision, and it does not require a collision to occur within the intersection. A.R.S. § 28-672(A)(1).Thus, when determining whether an accident resulted from a red-light violation, a court must consider an accident as a continuous event in which the traffic violation causes an event that results in death or injury.”  Violation of the red light statute did “result” in an accident causing death.

Conduct is the cause of a result when both of the following

exist: 1. But for the conduct the result in question would not

have occurred [and] 2. The relationship between the conduct

and result satisfies any additional causal requirements imposed

by the statute defining the offense.” As applied here, the required

conduct is the violation of the red-light statute and the required

result is the accident causing serious physical injury or death.