How Attorneys Defend Those Charged With DUI Causing Injury – CVC 23153
You had too many drinks at your friend’s birthday party. On the drive home, you missed a stop sign and collided with another vehicle. The other driver suffered a dislocated shoulder and his passenger suffered a broken leg. The prosecutor is now charging you with a DUI causing injury. You need an experienced Wallin & Klarich DUI causing injury defense attorney to help you get through this difficult situation.
Prosecution of DUI Causing Injury
The prosecutor carries a significant evidentiary burden to prove a DUI causing injury. To convict you of a DUI causing injury, the prosecutor must prove the following four elements:
1. You actually drove the vehicle (you cannot be convicted if you did not operate the vehicle at the time of the incident)
2. You were was under the influence of an alcoholic beverage or drug when he or she was driving the vehicle (a drug is any substance or combination of substances that may affect your nervous system, brain, or muscles and impair your driving ability)
3. You committed an illegal act or neglected to perform a legal duty (“ordinary care” requires you to use reasonable care in order to prevent reasonably foreseeable harm to another individual); AND
4. Your illegal act or failure to perform a legal duty caused bodily injury to another person. (You “cause bodily injury to another person” if his or her injury is the direct, natural, or probable result of your act. Without your act, the injury would not have happened.)
If your blood alcohol content (BAC) was 0.08 at the time of the chemical test and taken (within 3 hours of driving), there is a rebuttable presumption that you had a BAC of 0.08 at the time of driving.
Defenses to DUI Causing Injury
The experienced DUI causing injury attorneys at Wallin & Klarich can raise a number of successful defenses on your behalf. These may include:
You were not driving the vehicle
If you can prove that you were not driving the vehicle at the time of the incident, then you cannot be convicted of a DUI causing injury.
You were not under the influence
A Wallin & Klarich DUI defense attorney can refute the officer’s testimony of symptoms that indicate intoxication such as bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and smell of alcohol by providing alternative reasons for these aforementioned symptoms.
No injury
If there is no bodily injury to another person as a result of your actions, you cannot be convicted of a DUI causing injury under California Vehicle Code 21353.
Improper Testing Procedures
For example, our DUI defense attorneys can show that the breathalyzer used to administer the chemical test was not properly re-calibrated.
Probable Cause
The DUI causing injury defense attorneys at Wallin & Klarich can examine whether the police officer had probable cause to stop you for a DUI. If the officer did not have probable cause, the traffic stop will likely be considered unlawful and any subsequent evidence obtained during the stop may be suppressed at the trial.
DUI Causing Injury Defense Attorney
If you are facing a charge of DUI causing injury, you should contact the Law Offices of Wallin & Klarich immediately. The skilled criminal defense attorneys at Wallin & Klarich have over 30 years of experience successfully defending DUI causing injury cases. Our attorneys will provide you with the most efficient and professional representation from the moment that you retain us. We will scrutinize all of the evidence and utilize all available defenses in order to provide you with the best opportunity to win your case.
Our offices are located in Orange County, Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, West Covina, Victorville, Torrance, and Sherman Oaks. To inquire about your case, please call us today at (877) 4-NO-JAIL or (877) 466-5245. We will be there when you call.
