On average, 32 people die each day from injuries sustained in accidents caused by drunk driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report of 2023, drunk driving causes the death of one person every 39 minutes, on average.
People charged with vehicular homicide typically find themselves in a bind; they have no real knowledge of what should come next and how to justify their standing. A vehicular homicide attorney will step in to help you understand whatever legal details apply to your case.
Let’s take a look at the various ways lawyers assert and defend against their clients’ rights.
Understanding Vehicular Homicide: Legal Definitions and Implications
To comprehend the differences and similarities between vehicular homicide and a plain traffic accident, there is a need to go into the legal definitions of both and their far-reaching consequences.
Vehicular homicide is a crime that occurs when the accused kills another person unintentionally through either reckless or intoxicated driving. According to the criminal defense law firm website https://www.dellisonlaw.com, DUI incidents that lead to death or vehicular homicide are serious charges.
Being caught with this crime might mean that you were under the influence of drugs or alcohol while driving and were careless enough to fatally wound someone else.
Understand the nature and the gravity regarding the charge against you so that you will know the possible penalties you will have to bear.
This case may be complicated further by actions of next kin if family members of the victims decide to sue for damages.
Establishing Reasonable Doubt: Key Defense Strategies
It is necessary to create reasonable doubts to prove vehicular homicide using challenging evidence.
An eyewitness’s statement must be discredited by presenting conditions such as mechanically defective vehicles or poor road surface conditions that could affect the case’s understanding.
You can either bring forensic witnesses disapproving of the forensic evidence brought up by the prosecution, or you can simply keep an expert on accident reconstruction with you. These compelling alternative explanations of the accident add more weight to reasonable doubt.
Reinforce any inconsistencies on the prosecutor’s part to sow doubt in their argument. Focusing on these main points will allow for the proper defense and make the jurors question the assurance of guilt.
Mitigating Circumstances: Presenting the Client’s Side of the Story
Mitigating circumstances must be communicated to the client and then the circumstances of the client’s actions must also be explained. Discussing any peculiar circumstance or adversity in life that might have had a hand in triggering distress for the accused person would also shed light on the conduct of the individual in question.
The accused could have been bereaved by loss, or else they could have experienced increased emotional turmoil from any other disturbing event. The courts or jury are more likely to sympathize with a story if the information is relevant.
Further positive character traits of the client should be presented, such as community service or a favorable driving history.
The Role of Expert Witnesses in Defense Cases
Special expert witnesses can use their specific expertise to belie the prosecution claims. They can make inferences regarding many different things, including vehicle dynamics, accident reconstruction, and human behavior.
By analyzing the evidence and presenting their findings, the experts help toward casting reasonable doubt on what was presented by the prosecution. For example, an accident reconstruction expert might establish that the collision could not have occurred due to driver negligence but rather due to a mechanical failure.
In a similar manner, a toxicologist may expound on how substances in your system would have affected you at the time of the incident. The testimony of these kinds of experts helps the jury believe your case.
You are likely to win your case when you bring in professional witnesses.
Dealing with the Emotional Landscape: Balancing Legal and Human Aspects
Vehicle homicide cases may engender strong feelings of guilt and panic owing to their severity. These feelings, when left unchecked, may harm your personal relationships.
See to it that your legal case is strong enough to balance out your feelings. The lawyer must be there all throughout the case to assist clients in understanding the legal and mental facets of it.
Is there anything that is causing you worry or distress? Tell that to the lawyer. There’s no cause to feel embarrassed when you seek help. Getting to know yourself and respecting your feelings are the greatest tools you have in achieving what you want in life.
