If your DUI results in another person being hurt, you could be charged with a felony offense — and be facing years in prison.
It is every driver’s worst nightmare: you’re involved in a car accident, and you hurt another person. What makes an awful situation even worse is if you were under the influence of drugs or alcohol when you caused an accident.
Driving under the influence is a leading cause of car crashes that cause injuries and even death in California. It is a serious problem — and it has grave consequences as a result. While a first-time DUI offense is usually charged as a misdemeanor (a relatively minor crime), if you hurt someone while driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, you may be charged with a felony offense. This is known as a DUI Causing Injury — and it has the potential to lead to prison time and more. An experienced Riverside DUI lawyer can help protect your legal rights and your freedom if you are charged with DUI Charging Injury.
California Law on DUIs That Cause Injury
When a person drives under the influence of alcohol or drugs and causes injury to another person, that is classified as a DUI Causing Injury. A prosecutor has to prove three things to convict you of this crime:
- That you were driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, in violation of California law;
- You broke another law (other than the DUI law) or were negligent while driving; ad
- Your actions caused injury to another person.
To prove that you were driving under the influence, a prosecutor must show that your blood alcohol content (BAC) was .08% or higher or that you had drugs in your system — and that you were not able to drive safely as a result. This can be demonstrated in a number of ways, from chemical blood or breath tests to testimony from witnesses and police officers. Because the BAC limit is lower for certain drivers, such as those driving a commercial vehicle and underage drivers, the prosecutor can show that your BAC was at that level and that you could not drive with the care of a sober person as a result.
Next, the prosecutor has to show that you either drove negligently or that you broke a law in addition to California DUI laws. Negligence is the failure to act with the ordinary care of a reasonable person. It can be proven if you were driving too fast, were weaving across lanes, or were driving with your headlights off at night — all things that a reasonable person acting with ordinary care would not do.
Finally, the prosecutor will attempt to show that your actions caused an injury to another person. The connection between your negligent or unlawful action is important here; if someone was hurt, but not because of what you did, then this charge cannot stand.
There are many potential defenses to a DUI Causing Injury charge. A skilled Riverside DUI lawyer could introduce evidence that you were not actually under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or that you were able to drive with the care and caution of a sober person. He could also argue that you did not do anything illegal or negligent in addition to driving under the influence, or that your actions did not actually cause the other person’s injury.
Penalties for DUI Causing Injury
A conviction for a DUI Causing Injury can have serious consequences, depending on whether the case was charged as a misdemeanor or a felony and the facts of the case. A misdemeanor conviction on this charge will have higher penalties than a standard DUI. A felony DUI with injury can have far more serious consequences — including up to four years in California State prison, a “strike” on your record under California’s Three Strikes law, a 5 year revocation of your driver’s license, fines of up to $5,000, 18 to 30 months of DUI school, and a designation as a habitual traffic offender.
If you are convicted of a felony DUI Causing Injury, it will have major consequences on your life. An experienced Riverside DUI lawyer can work with you to achieve the best possible outcome to this charge. If you have been charged with a DUI Causing Injury in Riverside or the surrounding areas, contact the Chambers Law Firm at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com for a free initial consultation. We will fight to protect your freedom!
