In California, the laws governing manslaughter have become more rigid, and the punishment for a conviction can often be quite severe. It is therefore extremely important that you entrust your case to an attorney with strong history of winning manslaughter and homicide cases. Doing so is the best way to keep yourself out of jail.
Vehicular Manslaughter – California Penal Code section 192(c)
If you drive negligently and cause the death of a human being, you could be charged with vehicular manslaughter. You are negligent if you are inattentive or commit an infraction while driving. Misdemeanor convictions may result in a one-year county jail and felony convictions have a range of 2, 4 or 6 years.
Gross Vehicular Manslaughter – California Penal Code 191.5(a)
Although, ordinarily, involuntary manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter are not felony strikes, if the driving involved egregious conduct or driving, one could end up getting a strike. California Penal Code section 1192.7, makes gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated a serious felony, which is a strike. If convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter, you could be sentenced to state prison for 4, 6 or 10 years. Your goal should be to beat your case or defend it to the extent possible. You also want to avoid a strike on your record at all costs, because if in the future you pick up another felony, your sentence in that case could be doubled just because you had a prior strike. If you pick up 3 strikes, you could be sentenced to 25 years to life. With the help of an experienced vehicular manslaughter attorney in Los Angeles, California, you could get a reduction of charges, do no time in jail, and have a chance to clean your record in the future if you comply with certain court orders and imposed conditions.
Defenses to Vehicular Manslaughter
If DUI is charges, the best way to beat the manslaughter case is to win the DUI portion of the crime. If gross negligence is alleged, you can show evidence that your conduct was not grossly negligent. You can also argue that the cause of death was not your DUI or reckless driving but an intervening cause or an unforeseeable cause. Another defense is the “no-driving” defense where you allege that you were not the driver of the vehicle that caused the victim’s death.
Manslaughter Distinguished from Murder
Manslaughter is a general intent crime. Premeditated murder is a specific intent crime. However, manslaughter could end up being a murder charge if it was coupled with another crime that was a felony. For example if defendant was robbing a bank and as he was driving away he ran over someone and killed him, he could be charged with second degree murder per California Penal Code 187.
Criminal prosecution can affect your health, freedom, employment, and social life. You need help and you need the best criminal defense you can get. At the Law Offices of Tony M. Seyfi, with the state of the art computerized legal research tools and forensic techniques, we will focus on identifying the defenses you may have and will develop numerous challenges to any crime possible.
Our goal is victory for our clients and to keep them from going to jail, and we are confident of our defense strategies. If you would like to discuss your case, call us today for a FREE CONSULTATION and case analysis.
