Ronald Chapman, Florida DUI Manslaughter Lawyer / Attorney
Before someone can be convicted of the crime of DUI Manslaughter, the prosecutor must prove the following three things beyond a reasonable doubt:
The accused drove or was in actual physical control of a vehicle;
While driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle, the accused was under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance to the extent that his normal faculties were impaired or he had a blood or breath alcohol level of 0.08 or higer; and
As a result, the accused caused or contributed to the cause of death of another person.
Although one might think that it would always be simple for a prosecutor to prove that a person charged with DUI manslaughter actually drove the vehicle that was involved in a crash which resulted in the death of another person, that is not always the case. That is because people riding inside a car during a violent crash are frequently thrown from their seats to other locations either inside or outside the car.
Because that is a frequent occurrence during violent automobile accidents (especially when the occupants of a car are not wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident), prosecutors often rely upon the expertise of accident reconstructionists whose job is to figure out how an accident occurred and who was driving at the time of the accident.
When such experts are employed by the prosecution, it is often essential that the lawyer for the accused also hire an accident reconstructionist in order to obtain a second opinion regarding these critical issues.
Contact Ronald Chapman online or call him at his office at (561) 832-4348 or on his cell phone at (561) 358-6145 for a free consultation to discuss your legal options.
