Are you being held responsible for an injury or death after a car accident? Are you faced with a DUI charge? We know how to protect your rights in even the most serious cases. If you have been charged with a vehicular homicide or manslaughter, you should immediately contact a knowledgeable criminal defense attorney. Immediate intervention by a skilled lawyer can protect your rights. Jeff Raven has extensive experience handling criminal cases. Our firm can provide qualified and knowledgeable legal representation you will need when fighting vehicular manslaughter charges. If you retain our office we will thoroughly investigate, closely advise you, and aggressively defend your case.

Vehicular manslaughter or vehicular homicide is a serious crime with varying degrees of penalties depending on the circumstances of the motor vehicle accident. An individual convicted of vehicular manslaughter can receive a sentence of imprisonment as well as other penalties. Following an accident and accusations of vehicular manslaughter, contact a criminal defense lawyer for legal advice from experienced criminal defense attorneys.

POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES:

Causing an accident that takes the life of another can have significant consequences. An accident that results from reckless or negligent driving can be grounds for vehicular manslaughter. The circumstances of the accident can determine the severity of the punishment. In some instances, the accident is a misdemeanor charge while in other cases it is a major felony. Drunken drivers causing a collision resulting in a fatality can receive very harsh punishment for the DUI crime.
The different types of vehicular manslaughter charges can include:
• Vehicular manslaughter
• Gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated
• Second degree murder
The degree of negligence and the intentions of the defendant charged with vehicular homicide are considerations that influence the courts during sentencing. A factor in determining penalties is whether the driver had prior convictions or prior DUI offenses. A defendant faced with serious charges needs an effective defense from a team of experienced criminal defense lawyers. Defense attorneys know how to challenge evidence provided by a prosecutor.

COMMON CHARGES/STATUTES FOR VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER

§ 191.5. Gross vehicular manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated

(a) Gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought, in the driving of a vehicle, where the driving was in violation of Section 23140, 23152, or 23153 of the Vehicle Code, and the killing was either the proximate result of the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to a felony, and with gross negligence, or the proximate result of the commission of a lawful act that might produce death, in an unlawful manner, and with gross negligence.

(b) Vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought, in the driving of a vehicle, where the driving was in violation of Section 23140, 23152, or 23153 of the Vehicle Code, and the killing was either the proximate result of the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to a felony, but without gross negligence, or the proximate result of the commission of a lawful act that might produce death, in an unlawful manner, but without gross negligence.

(c) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (d), gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in violation of subdivision (a) is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 4, 6, or 10 years.

(2) Vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in violation of subdivision (b) is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for 16 months or two or four years.

(d) A person convicted of violating subdivision (a) who has one or more prior convictions of this section or of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 192, subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 192.5 of this code, or of violating Section 23152 punishable under Sections 23540, 23542, 23546, 23548, 23550, or 23552 of, or convicted of Section 23153 of, the Vehicle Code, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of 15 years to life. Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 2930) of Chapter 7 of Title 1 of Part 3 shall apply to reduce the term imposed pursuant to this subdivision.

(e) This section shall not be construed as prohibiting or precluding a charge of murder under Section 188 upon facts exhibiting wantonness and a conscious disregard for life to support a finding of implied malice, or upon facts showing malice consistent with the holding of the California Supreme Court in People v. Watson, 30 Cal. 3d 290.

(f) This section shall not be construed as making any homicide in the driving of a vehicle or the operation of a vessel punishable which is not a proximate result of the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to felony, or of the commission of a lawful act which might produce death, in an unlawful manner.

(g) For the penalties in subdivision (d) to apply, the existence of any fact required under subdivision (d) shall be alleged in the information or indictment and either admitted by the defendant in open court or found to be true by the trier of fact.