Probation sentencing for intoxication manslaughter convictions

March 14, 2014 (Press-News.org) Probation sentencing for intoxication manslaughter convictions

Article provided by Law Office of Paul Schiffer
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A unique offense

DWI (driving while intoxicated) is a serious offense with serious, potentially long lasting, consequences. A criminal record of a DWI conviction may affect your future employment prospects, not to mention, your personal freedom.

While each state has DWI laws, each state has variations in the ways they classify such offenses, both in terms of the legal requirements for convictions and in the penalties they impose. Texas, though, is the only state that specifically has an "intoxication manslaughter" offense. As defined by statute: "A person commits an offense if the person: (1) operates a motor vehicle in a public place, operates an aircraft, a watercraft, or an amusement ride, or assembles a mobile amusement ride; and (2) is intoxicated and by reason of that intoxication causes the death of another by accident or mistake." This offense is a second-degree felony.

Sentencing consequences

Intoxication manslaughter, as a second-degree felony, is punishable by a prison term of two to 20 years, with a fine of up to a $10,000, but probation is given to some convicted offenders. In fact, in a recent case, a North Texas teenager, after being involved in a drunk-driving accident in which four pedestrians were killed, received a 10-year probation sentence, with the additional requirement that he undergo treatment at a rehabilitation facility for an undetermined length of time, a decision that provoked more than a fair share of controversy and criticism, including that voiced by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who, in December 2013, directed the Senate Criminal Justice Committee to study sentencing for intoxication manslaughter, to focus on situations where convicted offenders were not imprisoned, but were granted probation.

Dewhurst stated in a press release, as reported by The Texas Tribune, "Having lost my own father to a drunk driver in my youth, I have a particular interest in this issue because I know the devastation it causes. I am wholeheartedly committed to the safety of our citizens and believe that recent cases indicate existing sentencing options may leave justice undone."

Other reactions to the above-noted probation sentence include those of Attorney General Greg Abbot, who instructed his office to look into the sentence in order to determine whether it could be appealed, and state senator Wendy Davis, who was quoted by the Tribune as calling the decision a "disgrace" and saying that the matter should be studied from "a legislative perspective."

On the other hand, as reported by NBCDFW.com, the teenager's defense attorney claimed during the trial that his client had been coddled by poor parenting and had no sense of responsibility, presenting an expert witness who used the term "affluenza" to describe the defendant's condition. The attorney argued, successfully as it turned out, that his client needed treatment and not incarceration. In the end, one could well argue that a 10-year probation sentence is no "walk in the park" and that the judge in this case properly tempered justice with mercy.

Conclusion

If you are involved in a DWI incident and are charged with intoxication manslaughter, you should immediately contact an experienced criminal attorney to investigate the facts of the case and to provide you the best possible defense. Such an attorney may well be able to successfully dispute the evidence brought against you, to fight a conviction or, in the case of conviction, to secure for the best possible sentence.