Homicide by Vehicle Criminal Penalties

Homicide by Vehicle Criminal Penalties

    When someone dies because of a person’s driving, if law enforcement makes certain determination about the culpability of the driver, the driver can be charged criminally.

    Of course if a person intentionally hit someone else with their car in order to kill, that is no manslaughter at all but a murder. The tragic aspect of homicide by vehicle is that the defendant driver does not intend harm to anyone. The problem is that the State alleges that the driver was impaired by alcohol or drugs when he was driving or the driver was driving recklessly. And because of that high level of culpability, the State would argue, this person must be punished severely despite the lack of intent.

    With a DWI homicide the State’s burden of proof requires they demonstrate impairment by drugs or alcohol while the Defendant was driving. The basic penalty is a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. The charge can be enhanced by 4 years for every prior DWI conviction. By law, DWI homicide is not a serious violent offense. This means that in prison, the defendant can earn one free day for every day spent in prison and following the rules. This can result in a significant reduction in the actual amount of time spent in prison.

    With a Reckless Vehicular Manslaughter case, the State’s burden or proof is to demonstrate reckless driving and that this driving caused the death. The punishment for this crime is a maximum of 6 years in prison. However, Reckless Vehicular Manslaughter is a discretionary SVO. This means that the Judge can determine that the crime was a serious violent offense; if so, the defendant will only earn a maximum of 15% deduction on the time in prison for good time.

    In a case with a reckless allegation, a possibility is that the driving was actually merely negligent or careless. Careless driving is a traffic misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 90 days. In a case where there is a close call between whether the driver was reckless or merely negligent and careless, this is a crucial issue that will probably ultimately have to be determined by a jury.

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