Zhurbin v. Delaware

Defendant Andrey Zhurbin was convicted by jury of leaving the scene of a collision after an accident that took place in a casino parking lot. On appeal, he argued that his conviction should have been vacated because the collision was on private property, and to have been charged under 21 Del. C. Sec. 4021, the collision should have taken place on a public highway. The Supreme Court affirmed, concluding Zhurbin misread the law: a collision can occur on public or private property to give rise to a charge (or conviction) under 21 Del. C. 4201. Furthermore, because Zhurbin did not raise this issue at trial, any failure of the trial court to grant a judgment of acquittal because of this issue had to be plain error, which the Supreme Court found it was not.