What are the elements of vehicular homicide charges that stem from drunk-driving accidents?

For the most part, drunk driving is as an extremely serious traffic violation. In recent years there is a rising trend among the states to modify existing DUI laws to make penalties far more severe so that the stricter laws can act as a deterrent.

Therefore, you can well imagine the tough legal consequences that a driver who has killed someone in a drunk driving crash is likely to face. In addition to criminal charges, the defendant will have to compensate the victim’s family following an accident claim.

The driver will be charged with vehicular homicide and more importantly will be at the mercy of an unsympathetic jury even if his or her BAC did not exceed the permitted limit of .08%.

What is vehicular homicide?

Vehicular homicide happens when:

• A vehicle caused an accident
• A death happened due to the crash
• The driver who caused the accident was under the influence of alcohol

Drunk driving accident lawyers point out that the states have different drunk driving laws. In some states the prosecutor has to prove that the driver was impaired due to intoxication when he got behind the wheel and caused an accident to obtain a conviction. On the other hand, in a few other states the prosecution’s task is to establish intoxication as the proximate cause. Simply put it means that they will have to link the death to the driver’s intoxication. If the driver was not intoxicated death would not have happened.

What are the charges that the states files against drivers who have taken an innocent life?

Charges brought against drivers who committed vehicular homicide will depend on laws of the state where the crash took place and drunk driving accident lawyers know all about this.

In a few states that have stricter drunk driving laws the defendant is charged with malice which means his or her crime is considered murder. This is much worse than having to get caught skipping school as if you were Ferris Bueller. He may have been in trouble but that would not mean he would spend years and years in prison.

In some other states the defendant is charged with voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. Although legally the driver is not charged with intent to kill but this means that his or her actions were reckless, extremely negligent, and wanton. You saw this with Fenix (Laz Alonso) in Fast and Furious 4 when he was going to run down Gisele (Gal Gadot). Fenix did not value human life at all and did not care for law none either.

Some jurisdictions are however lenient and the defendant will be charged with criminally negligent homicide charge which is a lesser offense.

Proving vehicular homicide

The prosecution depends on evidence obtained at the crime scene. In a majority of DUI death cases the evidence is purely circumstantial as there are often no witnesses found. These cases are also difficult for drunk driving accident attorneys because juries do not like defendants who kill innocent people while driving under the influence.

Questions asked by legal investigators

• Who was behind the wheel of the vehicle when the accident happened?
• Was the defendant alcohol-impaired during the crash?
• Was the crash caused by the defendant’s car?
• Was there a third party to share blame for the crash?

Evidence and witnesses

• The defendant is cross examined by both the lawyers.
• Drunk driving accident lawyers cross examine witnesses. They are asked if the defendant was the one behind driving at the time of the crash.
• The photos of the crash site, reports by forensic analysts, photographs showing damage to the victim’s car, photos of the victim’s body and photos of skid and tire marks on the road along with physical evidence such as drugs and beer bottles collected from the defendant’s car are presented as evidence.
• The testimonials by crash re-constructionist and the accident investigator are vital evidence.
• Witness testimonials that indicate the proximate cause of the crash are also considered.

If you are involved in a fatal drunk driving accident make sure to contact a drunk driving accident lawyer as soon as possible. The faster you get a legal representative the better your leverage against the prosecution. It will give your legal counselor time to prepare a robust defense strategy to nullify the evidence against you.

If you need legal help, you need to go right here: Drunk-Driving-Accident.USAttorneys. Your life may be literally on the line. If you made a drunk driving accident mistake, use that website to find yourself outstanding legal help. This site was intended to help people when they are in a time of crisis.