-Normally, if you're charged with DUI here in California,
it's only a misdemeanor.
And oftentimes, on a first offenses, there's no
jail time at all.
But if you're under the influence and you cause an
accident in which a third party is injured, then you can
be charged with felony DUI with injury under Vehicle Code
section 23153.
And this crime, it it's really a wobbler, which means it
could be filed as a misdemeanor or a felony,
depending on the circumstances.
But if it's filed as a felony, you could be sent to prison
for up to four years, and sometimes even more than that
if it's a very significant injury
that the person suffers.
Now, how serious the case is and what the sentence is
likely to be really depends on four
factors in this situation.
One is whether you have a prior record, if you have
prior DUIs.
Secondly, how high your BAC was.
Third, how reckless the driving was.
So if you were going 100 miles an hour down a suburban street
and ran a stop sign or a red light and it was very reckless
driving, then it's a lot more serious, obviously.
And fourth, the most important factor in determining the
seriousness of the case, is the extent of
injuries to the victim.
If the person just suffered some minor soft tissue injury,
like some bruising or swelling, then it's probably
going to be more like a probation case.
Maybe even a situation where it would be easy to get the
charge reduced to a misdemeanor.
But if the person suffers a real serious injury, such as
broken bones, or a concussion, or paralysis, in that case,
the prosecutor and the judge are going to be looking at it
much more like a state prison case where they're going to
want the defendant to do a lot of time sometimes years in
California state prison.
Now, that said, as serious as these cases are oftentimes
they can be surprisingly difficult for the
prosecutor to prove.
Because a prosecutor really has to prove two things.
One that the person was under the influence.
And two that he or she is at fault for the accident.
And that's not always clear.
First of all, in terms of being under the influence, a
lot of times the cops will say they got to the scene and that
the suspect his speech was slow and he was
discoordinated.
But a lot of times that can be the result of injuries or
shock that the person suffered from being in the accident.
And a lot of times we find that there's problems with the
blood test, problems with the breath test, mistakes in the
officer's DUI investigation.
And the prosecutor can't even prove, beyond a reasonable
doubt, that our client was under the influence.
But secondly, and something that gets lost on a lot of
people, is that the prosecutor has to prove that the
defendant is the one who caused the accident, or who
was at fault for the accident.
And say, for example, that I'm driving down the street,
middle of the day, and I'm drunk.
There's no question.
I'm a 0.20 BAC.
And I'm driving through an intersection on a green light.
And somebody comes and runs a red light and T-bones me, and
hits me from the side.
And that person suffers major injuries.
Well, in that situation, I may be liable for drunk driving,
but I'm not liable for DUI with injury.
Because I'm not the one at fault for the accident.
Merely the fact that I was intoxicated and involved in an
accident does not necessarily mean that I'm
the person at fault.
And I can tell you from years of doing this-- and I spent
five years as a prosecutor and nine years now
as a defense lawyer.
And I've worked on literally about 6,000
or 7,000 DUI cases.
And in looking at these DUI with injury cases, when the
CHP or the local traffic investigators go and
investigate the accident, when they find out somebody was
drinking, they almost always point the finger at the person
who was drinking.
They rush to judgment.
They do a sloppy investigation.
And they just assume that the person who had been drinking
alcohol is at fault.
But it's not always the case.
When we have one of these cases, we always do an
independent an accident reconstruction with an
independent investigator.
And many times, we find that the other person was at fault
or maybe both parties were at fault.
Or maybe it was some third independent factor that
happened, such that the accident was inevitable.
But ultimately, our client was not the one at fault.
So, many times, it's difficult for the prosecutor to prove A,
that our client was under the influence, and or B, that our
client was at fault.
So if you're charged with felony DUI with injury as
daunted as you may be, as serious as the situation is,
there are many things a defense lawyer may be able to
do for you.
If you're in this situation, we encourage you to call us
here at Shouse Law Group, tell us your story.
Let us investigate the case.
Many times we're able to get these charges
reduced or even dismissed.