Those with knowlege of laws, very serious/important question.?
On 07/07(last month) I RAN A STOP SIGN, STRIKING ANOTHER CAR AND FATALLY INJURING OTHER DRIVER. I was immediatly taken by police to hospital to give blood, and get xrays. From there I was taken to police station and interviewed by a sargent and another officer,where I was informed(only after I asked) that there was a fatality. After approx. 20 mins of interview I was told I could leave that they would be in touch. I had consumed a few beers throughout day, accident happened at 9:30pm, a few hrs after I hd drank last beer. My liscense were suspended. Its been like 5 weeks and I havent heard anything. Whys this and if charges are brought against me will I recieve a summons or will I be taken into custody? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Mike
Answers:
You are in trouble. If your BAC comes back over the limit, you may be charged with vehicular homicide. Not a good charge. I dont know what the laws are in your state, but if you were over the limit, you could be looking at jail time. From what you told us, if you were NOT drunk, you might not be charged. Because if you did something wrong, they probably would have charged you with criminally negligent homicide. They are reviewing the case. That's the bottom line. But the good news is that they let you go. That PROBABLY means that you were not over the limit. But you still could be looking at charges. And a major lawsuit.
Well, there is a good chance you will be facing manslaughter charges. Why did you run the stop sign? Were you intoxicated to the point that you did not even realize it? You will hear from the police or courts when you have a court date. You should probably get a lawyer now, but he will probably only be able to help reduce your sentence. You will go to jail for this. How long is the question.
seems strange they would let you go..they can check alcohol level instantaneously. No word from insurance co. even? I dunno...sounds strange to me - especially with a fatality.
I'm surprised you have not already been arrested and charged. Maybe the police don't have enough evidence to charge you.
If the stress of worrying about what's going to happen is eating you up, I would get legal advice, AND discuss it with your parents.
MAYBE go to the police to inquire as to where their investigation is at, depending on what your lawyer advises.
But it's your decision - I'm not a lawyer of any description, and many other factors may come into it, such as the reputation of the local police, and your age.
Naturally your parents won't want you to go to jail!
especially if you are very young, say under 21. But you may be corroded by guilt, so you need to address your mental state.
You know that it was not only against the law to drink and drive, and to run a stop sign, but also morally wrong, since it led to such a tragic result. You have to deal with that.
Maybe if you're religious you should consult with your pastor, rabbi, priest, or whatever. If you confess to a priest it is privileged and the police cannot compel the priest to give evidence against you.
PS Whatever you do, DON'T drive with a suspended license! It will go very hard against you at the eventual trial. Clean up your act, preferably give away the booze, and be a MODEL CITIZEN if you want to avoid a long sentence.
I suspect they are waiting for the blood test results so they will know what to charge. One person mentioned incorrectly that the police could determine blood alcohol content immediately. They can but only if the the breath test is used. From your statement, it sounds like they took a blood sample for testing. How long it takes to get the results depends on how busy the lab is. Five weeks is not uncommon.
As for what happens next...
That is hard to say. You will likely be charged for the death. Whether the charge involves driving under the influence is the unknown just now but you will be charged with manslaughter or whatever they call it in your state.
Will you be summoned or taken into custody -- That will depend on your jurisdiction & past history. There may already be a warrant that has not been served -- yet. I would expect you to be booked into jail at some point since you are facing felony charges.
It maybe a good time to get yourself an attorney. The attorney can get more information from the courts &/or police. Plus, once there is a warrant, he maybe able to set it up so you turn yourself in - so you pick the time (not totally but within reason).
What ever happens to you, you DESERVE it. You admitt you were drinking, you admitt you ran a stop sign, you admitt you hit another vehicle with such force as to fatally injure a passenger, you are a murderer. It was NOT an accident, it was a sequence of events with a forseeable outcome. You chose to drive after consuming alcohol, you chose not to pay attention therefore running a stop sign therefore striking another vehicle killing a passenger. I hope the family of your VICTIM can find peace, you never should.
You Drink You Drive You Kill.
I really hope you get what you truly deserve
I agree with Kmmv in the fact that it is very strange they let you go on your own recogniscance w/o bringing formal charges against you. Your license cannot be suspended unless you know why or what you have been charged with. I'm a lowly paramedic, but my brother is a police officer and I have talked about this sort of thing over with him before. They can find out your legal blood alcohol in minutes running your blod "stat" and can arrest you on that alone w/o taking you into custody, but due to your circumstance, you should have been remanded. You should have retained a lawyer LONG before now, and if you haven't, you're truly behind the 8 ball.
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