What Are The Factors That Determine Whether An Offense Was Committed And The Degree Of The Offense In An Assault By Automobile Case?
The most common way that this charge comes about is when an individual gets involved in an accident that causes injuries either to themselves, a passenger, or another person, and the person is then found to have been under the influence of alcohol. That is going to be treated as an assault by automobile, which is a criminal charge that almost always carries jail time.
Can A Charge For Assault By Automobile Be Reduced To A Lesser Offense?
These cases are taken extremely seriously and are almost never reduced to a lesser offense. There may be occasions where the police will simply go forward with the DWI charges and not the assault by auto charge, but in most cases, a person almost certainly faces jail time.
I Didn’t Know I Was Driving In The School Zone When I Was Charged With Second-Degree Assault By Auto. Is That A Possible Defense?
In some cases, school zones are drawn very carefully. I’ve had cases where a person was across a body of water from a school, and we litigated whether the school zone should be defined by the route necessary to drive there, or a straight line as if swimming there. In other cases, the hour of day may or may not be a factor, since school is in session only during certain hours of the day.
Is It A Defense To My Case That No Juveniles Were Present On The School Property Or Crossing Zone At The Time Of The Offense? What If The Events Took Place In The Middle Of The Night?
If no juveniles were present on the school property at the time of the offense, then that could be a defense to the school zone portion of the charge. It could also result in the court taking an account on sentencing or the prosecutor lowering the charges voluntarily. However, the court could come after you on the school zone component and your charges could be elevated regardless of whether children were present.
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