Boise DUI Lawyer Discusses Felony DUI and Personal Injury

Today's paper outlined a felony DUI accident which occurred in Boise on Tuesday. The driver blew a .224 and had a previous DUI in 2009. She was also cited for DWP. She was charged with a felony DUI because this is her second DUI within 5 years and she had a BAC of greater than .2. A BAC of .2 or greater is considered an excessive DUI. She undoubtedly lost her driving privileges as a result of her 2009 DUI conviction and, because she was driving on a suspended license, was charged also with a DWP.

What penalty is she potentially facing? A second time excessive DUI is a felony and carries a mandatory minimum of 30 days in jail but up to 5 years in prison. The person convicted of a felony DUI can also be fined up to $5,000 and be required to use a motor vehicle equipped with functioning ignition interlock system. In addition they must surrender their license and it will be suspended for a minimum of 1 year but no more than 5 years beginning upon their release from incarceration.

In addition to the DUI penalty she faces additional criminal penalties associated with the DWP. DWP carries a penalty of up to 6 months in jail, but with a mandatory minimum of 2 days, up to a $1,000 fine, and an additional license suspension of 6 months tacked onto the original suspension and beginning once the original suspension would have been ended.

This is a tough penalty but as a Boise lawyer I can tell you that if the driver she hit suffered a personal injury, in addition to felony criminal charges, she also could be sued for any personal injury surrounding the automobile accident.

Personal injury is a civil liability case but a Personal injury attorney can use the evidence of the DUI against the driver. Personal injury lawyers use evidence offered in DUI convictions to show that the automobile accident occurred as a result of DUI. The state's lawyers, the prosecuting attorneys, use the evidence collected by the police to convict a person of a DUI, whereas personal injury attorneys use the evidence to get a civil judgment.