Aggravated and Vehicular Manslaughter: A Conversational Guide

Aggravated and vehicular manslaughter are serious criminal charges that can completely change someone’s life. I want to walk you through these charges in a simple, conversational way, focusing on the human impact and legal consequences.

Let’s start with the basics. Manslaughter is when one person causes the death of another person. There are a few types:

• Voluntary manslaughter – when someone kills another person in the heat of passion after being provoked. This can reduce a murder charge to manslaughter.
• Involuntary manslaughter – when someone unintentionally kills another person through recklessness or negligence.
• Vehicular manslaughter – a specific type of involuntary manslaughter involving killing someone with a vehicle.

Now let’s look at aggravated manslaughter. The “aggravated” means there are additional factors that make the situation worse. For vehicular manslaughter, common aggravating factors are:

• Extreme recklessness like drag racing or drunk driving at high speeds
• Prior DUI convictions
• License suspended or revoked
• Multiple deaths
• Child passenger killed

These factors bump misdemeanor manslaughter to felony aggravated manslaughter.

The Human Impact

Let’s pause to think about the human side of this. Causing a death through reckless driving devastates so many lives – the victim’s loved ones of course, but also the driver’s family and often the driver themselves. I can’t imagine the pain and guilt they must carry.

And a child dying this way? Absolutely heartbreaking. My heart aches for all involved. No one deserves this kind of tragedy.

Which brings us to the role of alcohol and drugs. Driving under the influence is never worth the risk. Yet people do it all the time, often thinking “It won’t happen to me.” But it does happen, and lives are destroyed.

My hope is that these stories of loss and devastation make us think twice before driving impaired. Call a cab, take public transit, ask a sober friend for a ride – whatever it takes. The consequences simply aren’t worth it.

The Legal Consequences

Okay, back to the legal side of things. Let’s look at the penalties for aggravated vehicular manslaughter:

• Up to 25 years in prison. Imagine losing your freedom for decades – your kids growing up without you. It’s devastating.
• Fines up to $20,000. That kind of debt can crush someone financially.
• License suspended or revoked. This affects your ability to work and take care of your family.

And that’s just the criminal penalties. You can also face huge civil lawsuits from victims’ families that bankrupt you. Your career and reputation will likely be destroyed as well.

So in summary, you’re looking at decades in prison, massive fines, no license, civil bankruptcy, and public disgrace. It can utterly ruin someone’s life.

Defenses

Facing charges this serious, the accused will desperately look for defenses. Common options include:

• Challenging the chemical BAC test – Attacking the procedures used to collect/analyze the blood, breath or urine sample. Were protocols followed correctly? Is the equipment properly calibrated? Undermining the scientific evidence weakens the prosecution’s case.
• Disputing reckless driving – If there’s no evidence of blatantly reckless driving like speeding or weaving, the defense may claim it was a tragic accident not criminal behavior. Much depends on the driving conditions and eyewitness accounts.
• Questioning causation – The defense may argue something else caused the collision like mechanical failure, road hazards, or the victim’s own negligence. If the prosecution can’t definitively prove the accused’s actions directly caused the death, the case is weakened.
• Seeking mitigating factors – The defense will scour the accused’s background and the circumstances of the incident looking for anything that suggests the actions were out of character or influenced by external factors. This may elicit jury sympathy and lead to reduced charges/sentencing.

The Bottom Line

No matter the defense strategy, aggravated vehicular manslaughter charges should be taken extremely seriously. The penalties are severe, and the effects will follow you for life. My advice? Don’t put yourself in this position in the first place. Drive sober, drive responsibly, and pull over if you’re impaired – even a little. One reckless decision can destroy so many lives.

I know I’ve covered a lot here! Let me know if you have any other questions. I’m always happy to discuss this complex topic in an easy, conversational way. The main point I want to leave you with is that aggravated vehicular manslaughter is no joke. Drive safely out there.