Facing Vehicular Homicide in Washington State

Being charged with Vehicular Homicide can make it seem like your life has been turned upside down. There is a law firm that understands what you are going through, and can help you put your life together. Our team has the trial experience to make sure you get the defense that you deserve. If you or a loved one has been charged with this offense, please call our office for a free consultation to learn about how our Seattle vehicular homicide lawyer can help you.

Vehicular Homicide is defined as driving a motor vehicle and thereby causing the death of another person, and the driver was 1) impaired by drugs or alcohol, or 2) driving in a reckless manner, or 3) driving in a way so as to disregard the safety of others.

The statutory maximum for this offense is life in prison and a fine of $50,000. The Washington sentencing guidelines spell out the standard range sentence for each level of Vehicular Homicide. A person who is convicted of committing the offense while driving under the influence faces a standard range sentence of 78 to 102 months in prison even if he or she has no prior criminal convictions. If a person is convicted of this offense while driving recklessly, he or she will face a standard range sentence of 21-27 months in prison. If a person is convicted of Vehicular Homicide for driving with disregard for the safety of others he or she faces 15-20 months in prison as a standard range. The penalties can go up significantly if a person has prior felony offenses or even prior convictions for DUI and other traffic related crimes.

The police investigations into this offense are usually not very thorough and are often quite biased. The police or state patrol often will not collect DNA evidence or fingerprints to properly determine who the driver of the vehicle was. The WSP crash analysis is often incomplete. Our legal team has a history of fighting and winning Vehicular Homicide cases. It is criminal to hire a reconstructionists and an experts to talk about blood alcohol levels.

If you would like to learn more about how we fight such criminal charges, please call our office for a free consultation.