California Felony DUI Causing Injury

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A California driver who causes injury to another person after having consumed an alcoholic beverage, medication or drug is probably going to be arrested by the California Highway Patrol, local police department or county sheriff's office for a felony DUI and charged with having violated California Vehicle Code section 23153, subdivisions (a) and (b). Technically, this statute may be charged as either a felony DUI causing injury or a misdemeanor DUI causing injury. As a practical matter, the California law enforcement agency making the arrest will charge the more serious felony violation.

Following the arrest by the California law enforcement agency, the District Attorney in the county where the DUI arrest occurred will review the police report in making a charging decision. At this point, the District Attorney's office has the discretion to charge the driver arrested for DUI with felony driving under the influence or misdemeanor driving under the influence. This decision will typically depend upon the extent of the injuries to the injured party. As a practical matter, California prosecutors will most often charge the more serious felony DUI, leaving the possibility of a misdemeanor DUI resolution as a bargaining chip for subsequent plea negotiations with the attorney who represents the driver. The more serious felony DUI carries substantially harsher penalties than a misdemeanor DUI causing injury.

Regardless of whether the DUI causing injury is ultimately resolved as a misdemeanor or a felony, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will suspend the driver license of the person convicted of an injury DUI pursuant to California Vehicle Code section 23153, subdivision (a) or (b), for a minimum of one year. The length of the driver license suspension imposed by DMV is dependent upon many factors, to include whether the person convicted of driving under the influence causing injury has any prior DUI convictions.

Drunk drivers who cause injury are almost always charged with a felony. DUI with injury is technically a “wobbler” charge, but prosecutors typically pursue the charge that carries the most punishment. However, an experienced California drunk driving defense attorney may be able to have a felony DUI with injury charge reduced to a misdemeanor through a plea bargain. To prove a DUI causing injury the prosecution must prove at trial that the person arrested for driving under the influence drove a vehicle and when driving was under the influence of an alcoholic beverage, drug, or under the combined influence of an alcoholic beverage and a drug and that while driving under the influence the driver committed an illegal act or neglected to person a legal duty which caused bodily injury to another person.

Because a felony drunk driving conviction carries far more serious penalties than a misdemeanor DUI charge, it’s critical to have a California lawyer who specializes in DUI defense. At the Law Office of Robert Tayac, you are not hiring one lawyer, you are hiring a DUI defense team comprised of DUI lawyers and investigators who handle no other type of case other than a California driving under the influence criminal case and DUI Department of Motor Vehicles case. That's only one of the reasons why it makes sense to hire this office to represent you.