Avoiding a Vehicular Homicide Conviction

If you are facing charges for vehicular homicide in Colorado, it is critical to begin working on a defense strategy as soon as possible to give yourself the best possible chance at avoiding a vehicular homicide conviction. You should know that, if you are convicted, you will be facing penalties for either a Class 4 felony or Class 3 felony in Colorado, which can mean a sentence of anywhere from 2 to 12 years in prison in addition to a range of other serious consequences. The best way to avoid a vehicular homicide conviction is to work with a defense attorney who can discuss the specific details of your case with you, and can build a defense strategy that is tailored to those facts.

In the meantime, the following is some key information to help you understand the nature of vehicular homicide charges — which is necessary to develop a defense strategy in order to avoid a conviction — and some potential defense strategies that could be relevant to your case.

Understanding Vehicular Homicide Under Colorado Law 

To understand how to avoid a vehicular homicide conviction when you are facing charges, it is essential to understand the elements of the crime under Colorado law. There are two different kinds of circumstances in which a person can face vehicular homicide charges, and both involve driving a car and causing another person’s death. Vehicular homicide charges can be brought in either situation:

• You drove recklessly and caused another person’s death as result of your reckless driving; or
• You drove intoxicated and caused another person’s death as a result of your reckless driving.

A vehicular homicide conviction based on reckless driving requires a prosecutor to prove that 1) you consciously disregarded the substantial risk of your driving, and 2) your reckless driving resulted in someone’s death. A vehicular homicide conviction based on drunk or drugged driving requires a prosecutor to prove that 1) you were driving while you were driving under the influence, and 2) your driving under the influence resulted in someone’s death.

Colorado recently lowered the level of impairment to be convicted of vehicular homicide. While you may face a vehicular homicide charge for driving under the influence, you can also face a vehicular homicide charge for driving while ability impaired, which only requires impairment to the slightest degree.

The prosecutor does not need to prove intent in either type of vehicular homicide charge — merely making the decision to drive recklessly or under the influence/impaired, and causing another person’s death (even if you never intended any harm) can result in a conviction.

Defense Strategies in Vehicular Homicide Cases 

While the defense strategy you use will depend on the details and facts of your specific case, the following are potential defense strategies that may allow a person to avoid a vehicular homicide conviction:

• You were not driving recklessly;
• You were not “under the influence” as Colorado law defines it;
• You were not “driving while ability impaired” as Colorado law defines it; or
• Your actions or omissions did not cause the death that occurred.

Contact Our Denver DUI Defense Attorneys 

Anyone who is facing vehicular homicide charges in Colorado could be facing up to 12 years in prison, depending on the circumstances of the crash in which another person suffered fatal injuries. It is essential to get in touch with an experienced Denver DUI defense lawyer at DeChant Law who can evaluate your case and help to develop the strongest available defense in your case. Even a standalone, first-time DWAI or DUI conviction can have serious repercussions. The consequences can be much farther reaching, and much more severe, when a DWAI or DUI involves the serious bodily injury or death of another person. Contact us today for assistance with your defense.

Source:

law.justia.com/codes/colorado/2020/title-18/article-3/section-18-3-106/