DUI Causing Injury

In California, a DUI causing injury charge carries severe repercussions, often increasing a misdemeanor drunk- or drugged-driving charge to a felony violation. If you have been involved in a drugged- or drunk-driving accident that led to injuries, you may be subject to hefty fines, a lengthy incarceration period, license suspension, and a permanent criminal record.

An expert DUI defense counsel can, however, help you avoid these consequences of putting up a compelling defense. At CCLG: Los Angeles Criminal Attorney, we are experienced in offering aggressive legal DUI defense to safeguard our clients’ rights while fighting for the most favorable outcomes in their cases. Our DUI with injury defense counsels have successfully fought for clients throughout LA and beyond, and we are ready to do the same for you. Contact us anytime for a complimentary consultation and case evaluation.

The Legal Definition of DUI Causing Injury

VC 23153 is the law that describes the criminal offense of drugged- or drunk-driving with injury in California. The crime is defined as driving an automobile while high or drunk, and while driving, you cause a crash in which someone else sustains a physical injury. Note that drunk- or drugged-driving under VC 23153 includes:

• 23152(a) VC, driving while drunk
• 23152(b) VC, operating an auto when you have a BAC level of .08 percent or more
• 23152(f) VC, driving while high on drugs, including over-the-counter and prescription ones

DUI causing injury is a more aggravated kind of the standard DUI offense covered under VC 23162a and 23152b. Like with standard DUI charges, VC 23153 is categorized into “A” and “B” counts. That is, VC 23153(a) and VC 23153(b).

The VC 23153a count criminalizes operating a vehicle while drunk or high and leading to injury, irrespective of the defendant’s actual BAC. To be guilty under VC 23153a, the prosecuting attorney must demonstrate that the accused person could not drive the vehicle cautiously as an ordinary, sober driver would under the circumstances.

On the contrary, the 23153b count relies on the scientific establishment that the motorist who inflicted harm had a BAC level that was 0.08 percent or higher at the time of driving. Note that even though evidence of poor driving is prevalent, considering the condition that injury results, it is, in fact, unnecessary for you to be found guilty under VC 23153b. In many cases, the VC 23153b count and the 23153a count are filed against the accused person prosecuted under VC 23153.

Examples of incidents constituting violations of 23153 VC are:

• Driving a motor vehicle while drunk or high, and crashing into another driver
• Riding a motorcycle when you have a BAC level of 0.10 percent and colliding with a pedestrian
• Driving while drunk or high and striking a tree, which hurts a passenger

What the D.A. Must Prove

According to California statute, a prosecuting attorney must demonstrate some factors beyond a reasonable doubt to the court judge or jury to find you criminally liable for violating VC 23153. These factors are known as elements of the crime. They include the following:

• You drove a motor vehicle
• While drunk, high on drugs, or both
• You perpetrated an unlawful activity or failed to carry out a legal activity when driving
• Your unlawful act or neglect to carry out a legal act caused bodily harm to somebody else

To be guilty under 23153 VC necessitates you to either have:

• Violated some statute or perpetrated some unlawful act (such as running a stop sign), or
• Acted negligently or neglected to utilize ordinary caution, considering the circumstances

Utilizing ordinary caution implies applying sensible care to avert any reasonably foreseeable danger or harm to another person. That said, you are considered to have failed to act with ordinary caution when you:

• Act in a way that any sensibly careful individual would not act under similar or the same conditions, or
• Neglect to do something that any sensibly careful individual would perform under the same or similar circumstances

The Consequences of Violating VC 23153

Violating 23153 VC is considered a wobbler crime. That means that the prosecution can press DUI with injury charges either as felonies or misdemeanors based on the facts surrounding the case and the defendant’s criminal history. If convicted of a misdemeanor VC 23153 violation, the penalties you will face can include the following:

• A suspension of your driver’s license for not more than three years
• Informal probation for at most five years
• A maximum of $5,000 in fines
• A maximum of 12 months in jail
• DUI school program
• Restitution to the victim or victims

If found criminally liable for a felony VC 23153 violation, the consequences may include:

• A suspension of your driver’s license for at most five years
• A prison term not exceeding four years
• DUI School
• A court fine and costs not exceeding $5,000
• A strike on your criminal record if anybody apart from you suffered great bodily injury
• Designation as an HTO (Habitual Traffic Offender) for three years
• Restitution to the involved victims

You will be subject to a consecutive three to six years in prison should any victim suffer significant bodily harm or a consecutive 12 months of incarceration for every additional victim who suffers an injury. VC 23612 imposes additional consequences for motorists who decline to take chemical tests to establish their BAC.

Defending Against DUI With Injury Charges

These defense strategies are highly effective in persuading prosecuting attorneys, juries, and judges to reduce or dismiss VC 23153 violation charges.

You Were Not Intoxicated

Maybe you have a medical condition that may have led the breathalyzer device to indicate falsely high BAC results. An example of such a condition is GERD. Alternatively, it could be that you were experiencing a medical episode, for example, a diabetic coma, that the law enforcement officer mistook for intoxication. If your legal counsel can prove you were never intoxicated when the accident happened, the judge should drop your criminal charges. Typical evidence you and your lawyer can depend on includes testimony from a medical expert and your medical records.

You Never Committed Any Unlawful Act

After an accident, victims rush to accuse and blame motorists for breaking a traffic statute. However, at times, accidents result from unintentional crashes where nobody violated any law. That is why courts often lower 23153 VC charges to 23152 VC charges. Usually, it is challenging for the district attorney to demonstrate that it was the driver’s negligence that inflicted the victim’s injury, instead of the fact that the motorist was merely intoxicated.

To demonstrate that you did not do anything wrong, your lawyer will rely on eyewitness accounts, GPS records, and traffic surveillance footage. They can also seek out a crash reconstructionist to testify that the collision scene shows you were not to blame.

The Victim Did Not Sustain an Injury

It is not uncommon for car accident victims to fake injuries, only to land the motorist in more legal trouble. In this scenario, your lawyer would also depend on your medical records as evidence that the victim did not endure physical injury. When the prosecuting attorney sees that nobody sustains any injuries, they should lower their charges to DUI.

Emergency Doctrine

For the jury to find you criminally liable for violating VC 23153, the prosecution must demonstrate that you perpetrated an unlawful activity or failed to do a lawful duty. However, you may still not be liable even if you perpetrated an unlawful activity or failed to do a lawful act if an unexpected, immediate emergency forced your action or omission. That said, emergency doctrine can be a valid defense against 23153 VC charges. Your acts will be gauged against those of an individual of ordinary judgment and care under the same circumstances.

Provided your acts were practical and any ordinary, careful person would act the same under the circumstances, you have a legitimate defense strategy for your DUI with injury charges. The jury should still find you not guilty, even if the prosecution can establish that acting differently would be safer.

Apart from the above specific defense strategies, other common DUI defenses may apply to your VC 23153 violation charges, too. These include the following:

Constitutional Rights Violation

Your legal counsel can argue that your contact with the police violated your right against illegal search or seizure. Or, they can also assert that the police obtained incriminating statements from you, violating your right to stay silent or your right to a lawyer.

Inaccurate Chemical Tests

Your lawyer may assert that the chemical tests administered were inaccurate because of improper techniques by the administering officer, poor maintenance or calibration, or other reasons. If you submitted to a blood chemical test instead of a breath chemical test, your defense counsel can file a blood split motion. If they succeed in this motion, they can hire an independent expert chemist to test the blood sample. In certain instances, the independent tests might disclose a much lower BAC level than what the government’s laboratory technicians concluded.

You Were Not Driving At The Time of The Incident

The jury may not find you guilty of DUI with injury if you were not driving a vehicle at the time of the incident. Your legal counsel can argue this defense by demonstrating that it was not you behind the wheel when the accident happened.

Rising Blood Alcohol Content

If your blood alcohol content was close to .08 percent, and you drank your last alcohol just before the police pulled you over, your defense counsel can argue the rising BAC defense. Because alcohol takes some time to metabolize in the body, drinking alcohol will not instantly place you past the stipulated limit. Your blood alcohol content will slowly rise as the alcohol in your body starts to metabolize.

Thus, it could be that you were below the stipulated limit while you drove, but above the lawful limit when you underwent chemical testing some time later. The jury may not convict you of DUI with injury under VC 23153b if your blood alcohol content level was not 0.08% or greater when you operated the vehicle.

The Police Did Not Read You Your Miranda Rights

If a law enforcement officer fails to read you your Miranda rights (that is, the right to remain silent), your lawyer may move to have the court suppress all incriminating evidence. A law enforcement officer must read to you your Miranda Warning, either upon an arrest or before police agents conduct any interrogation.

Mouth Alcohol

Another valid defense strategy to an incorrect breathalyzer device reading is mouth alcohol. Mouth alcohol originating from actions like belching or burping can compromise a breathalyzer test. Products like cough syrup, mouthwash, and cold medicine can also cause mouth alcohol.

Absence of Reasonable Suspicion

If the officer who arrested you did not have reasonable suspicion to stop your vehicle, then the court will likely consider the traffic stop illegal. If that is the case, you can demand that the court suppress any evidence collected from the unlawful traffic stops. Your lawyer will closely assess the facts surrounding your case to establish whether the law enforcement officer possessed reasonable suspicion to pull you over.

Lack of Probable Cause

A law enforcement officer is not supposed to place you under arrest if probable cause does not exist. To prove probable cause, a law enforcement officer must demonstrate that the circumstances and facts within their knowledge justify the inference that you are violating or have violated a stipulated law. Your defense counsel may successfully show that the law enforcement officer wrongly placed you under arrest because they lacked probable cause.

Prefiling Intervention

Due to the substantially varying treatment of VC 23153 felony and VC 23153 misdemeanor violations, considering prefiling intervention prior to the case being formally brought to court is essential. After all, the prosecution has the legal discretion to decide which charges to file. If you retain an expert DUI defense counsel early in the criminal process, they may have significant input with the prosecution and law enforcement, potentially leading to a reduction in charges from felony to misdemeanor.

In this case, your lawyer will lean towards presenting mitigating circumstances of your case. This includes character, background, achievements, collateral repercussions in case of a felony conviction, and reputation. Additionally, rehab efforts, like alcohol treatment, and a show of remorse, et cetera, are considered. Other factors considered include the elements surrounding the violation, the upfront payment of restitution, and the extent of the injuries sustained.

In many instances, an aggressive stance, developed by the collaboration among the accused, their legal counsel, and family, will succeed in convincing the D.A. to proceed with filing misdemeanor charges instead of felony charges. This may be the case even in instances where the key elements making up the crime—driving while intoxicated with alcohol or drugs and injuries incurred by someone who is not the driver—are not challenged with facts.

VC 23153 Violations and Related Crimes

The prosecution may charge violations of VC 23153 together with or instead of certain related California offenses. These violations are as follows:

20001 VC, Felony Hit and Run Involving Death or Injury

According to 20001 VC, you commit a felony hit-and-run involving death or injury when you flee a vehicle accident scene in which somebody else has been killed or injured. Unlike the charges of VC 23153 violation, the prosecution can charge you with this crime even when you were neither drunk nor high.

Violating VC 20001 is deemed a wobbler crime. If convicted of a misdemeanor, you will be subject to a jail sentence for a maximum of 12 months, misdemeanor probation, and between $1,000 and $10,000 in fines. If convicted of a felony, you will be subject to incarceration for not more than four years, formal probation, and a fine ranging from $1,000 to $10,000.

191.5 PC, Vehicular Homicide While Intoxicated

Under 191.5 PC, you commit the vehicular homicide while intoxicated crime when you cause a road accident in which somebody else passes and do so when you are under the influence of drugs and alcohol and operating the vehicle with ordinary or gross negligence. Like the violations under 23153 VC, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and with ordinary negligence (PC 191.5b) is deemed a wobbler charge.

A misdemeanor conviction carries a jail sentence that does not exceed 12 months, summary probation, and fines that do not exceed $1,000. A felony conviction carries a state prison sentence of up to four years and fines that do not exceed $10,000.

Contrarily, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and with gross negligence is always deemed a felony. The consequences include formal probation, $10,000 in court fines, and imprisonment for four, six, or ten years.

273a PC, Child Endangerment

Per 273a PC, you are guilty of child endangerment if you willfully expose a minor below 18 years old to unjustifiable danger, suffering, or pain. Like the DUI causing injury crime, the prosecution can press child endangerment charges either as a felony or misdemeanor based on the case facts.

A misdemeanor will subject you to at most twelve months in custody and $1,000 in court fines. Felony consequences include incarceration for six, four, or two years and not more than $10,000 in court fines and costs. If the minor sustained significant bodily harm, the felony prison term will be increased by an additional:

• Three to six years (based on the minor’s injuries and age) if you personally and actually inflicted the significant bodily harm on the victim
• Four years if the minor died due to your criminal negligence

23152c VC, Driving While Addicted to Drugs

According to 23152c, you commit the crime of driving while addicted to drugs when you operate a motor vehicle and, at the time, you were addicted to a narcotic. You need not be under the influence of drugs at the time of driving to be convicted under VC 23152c. So, if you drive while addicted to drugs and cause an accident that results in someone else sustaining an injury, you can be charged under both VC 23152c and VC 23153. Most first, second, and third violations of VC 23152c are misdemeanors. Fourth and subsequent violations are generally deemed felonies.

A first-time VC 23152c violation carries the following consequences upon a conviction:

• Three to five years of summary DUI probation
• At least $390 in fines. After assessments and penalties, the fine could go up to $1,800
• Up to six months in jail
• License suspension for a minimum of six months
• At least 3 months of a drug education program, known as DUI school

The consequences of a second or subsequent VC 23152c violation generally include probation, DUI school, and fines. They also include a mandatory incarceration period and loss of driving privileges.

2800.4 VC, Evading By Driving Opposite of Traffic

In California, it is a crime under VC 2800.4 to evade, avoid, or dodge a law enforcement officer by driving in the opposite direction of traffic. Unlike DUI causing injury, you need not be under the influence to be guilty of violating 2800.4 VC. And if, after you commit a DUI causing injury, you try to evade the police by driving the opposite of traffic, you could face charges under both VC 23153 and VC 2800.4.

Evading by driving opposite to traffic is deemed a wobbler. A misdemeanor conviction carries a county jail sentence ranging from six to 12 months. You may also be subject to informal probation and a $1,000 court fine. On the other hand, a felony conviction carries a maximum of three years in prison, formal probation, and a fine that does not exceed $10,000.

Contact an Experienced DUI Defense Attorney Near Me

DUI with injury is a severe crime in California. Both before and after filing a charge, expert legal representation is essential to increase the odds of a successful case outcome. If you have been accused of DUI causing injury in violation of either VC 23153(b) or VC 23153(a), we at CCLG: Los Angeles Criminal Attorney can help you.

We can guide you on what steps you can follow, including through a pre-filing intervention before the prosecution files charges or your case goes to court. We will also fight to safeguard your legal rights, have the prosecution lower charges if possible, and assist in avoiding the particularly severe penalties associated with a VC 23153 conviction. Call us at 323-922-3418 for a free initial consultation and case evaluation.