Los Angeles DUI Attorneys

DUI Auto Accidents

DUI with injury and DUI manslaughter are serious criminal charges. If you are involved in an auto accident in Los Angeles, California and are accused of DUI (driving under the influence) and of causing the accident, you may face up to 3 years or even 6 years in state prison. If a person loses his or her life in or because of the accident, you may face up to 4 or 10 years in prison.

A Los Angeles DUI attorney can provide you with criminal defense representation which will help you avoid a conviction for this serious charge.  At Gold & Witham, we have seen individuals accused of causing a DUI auto accident simply because they had been drinking and driving – even when their abilities were not impaired. Our attorneys believe in upholding our clients’ rights and doing whatever is needed to provide them with effective defense strategies that will hold up in court.

Much like a simple driving under the influence charge, a Los Angeles DUI lawyer at Gold & Witham will utilize our resources and knowledge in order to help prove that your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was below the legal limit and that your driving abilities were not impaired. By reconstructing your accident and investigating all aspects of the collision and circumstances leading to the crash, your lawyer will work to prove that you did not cause the accident. This is crucial in a DUI with injury or a vehicular manslaughter case. If you did not cause the accident, you should not be charged with these crimes and should instead only face driving under the influence charges (which in themselves can be defended by a skilled lawyer).

DUI With Injury and DUI Vehicular Manslaughter in California

The penalties in California for any driving under the influence charge, particularly one involving injury, death or an accident are harsh. Your Los Angeles DUI attorney will need to use every resource and draw upon his experience in order to have a chance of defending your charges. Specific penalties for a DUI auto accident are as follows:

• Misdemeanor DUI with injury: up to 1 year in state prison, along with DUI penalties.
• Felony DUI with injury: up to 3 years in state prison, along with DUI penalties. Additional 1 year imprisonment for each additional person injured in the accident.
• DUI causing great bodily injury: additional 3 years in state prison added to DUI with injury sentence (total of up to 6 years in state prison.)
• Vehicular manslaughter: up to 4 years in state prison.
• Vehicular manslaughter, with gross negligence: up to 10 years in state prison. This often applies to a multiple DUI offender.

Arrested for a DUI accident in California? Contact a Los Angeles DUI with injury attorney at Gold & Witham today!