Drinking and driving should never mix, and when the end result is a death the suspect can be charged with murder. In this article, DUI attorney Claiborne Ferguson of the Claiborne Ferguson Law Firm in Memphis, Tennessee talks about vehicular homicide, and what it all means. His practice is devoted to DUI defense and capital murder cases, both of which require a vast knowledge of science and law, which is why he has extensive training in both areas.
A DUI-resultant death may be charged as a murder, in the most extreme of cases it may be charged as a murder in the first degree. In some states, there is not even a requirement for a showing of malice or intent to be convicted of murder in the first degree – when drinking is involved. In some states, murder in the first degree is the result of a prior record of DUI offenses, or a specific BAC, or blood alcohol content level, at the time the death occurred.
‘Depraved Heart’
Some states have what is called a “depraved heart” murder statute, in which the defendant’s treatment history of alcoholism can be brought before the court to present to the jury as proof that the defendant knew his conduct was dangerous and had a “depraved heart” when he drove under the influence and caused a death of another person.
Many states determine the level or responsibility and the length of a jail sentence based on numerous factors. These can include prior DUI convictions, BAC levels and number of people injured. As mentioned, in most states no intent element is necessary to be proven by the state in order to convict a defendant of vehicular homicide as long as alcohol was involved.
Multiple Liability Levels
Here in Tennessee, we have multiple levels of liability for vehicular homicide. It starts out with reckless driving followed by driving under the influence, and then what would be referred to as an “aggravated vehicular homicide” where the defendant has multiple prior DUIs or a BAC in excess of 0.20 percent or almost two and half times over the legal limit. The worst-case scenario in Tennessee is aggravated vehicular homicide, which has a mandatory minimum of 15 years in jail and can carry up to 60 years in jail.
Because of the harsh consequences to vehicular homicide, any time a death occurs in an automobile accident every effort should be made to immediately contact an attorney and to adamantly refuse any blood alcohol testing, whether it be breath or blood. However, many states will simply avoid this problem by immediately obtaining a search warrant for the forced extraction of blood for testing.
Once this occurs, only an attorney’s skills and science of the DUI blood-testing and Fourth Amendment (illegal search and seizures) can protect an individual from admission of any blood results.
