Gross Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated

A defendant is guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated if: the defendant drove under the influence of alcohol or drugs or both; while driving that vehicle under the influence, the defendant also committed a misdemeanor, an infraction, or otherwise lawful act that might cause death; the defendant committed the misdemeanor,  infraction, or otherwise lawful act that might cause death with gross negligence; and the defendant’s grossly negligent conduct caused the death of another person

Gross negligence involves more than ordinary carelessness, inattention, or mistaken judgment. A person acts with gross negligence when: he or she acts in a reckless way that creates a high risk of death or great bodily injury, and a reasonable person would have known that acting in that way would create such a risk. In other words, the person acts with gross negligence if the way he or she acts is so different from the way an ordinarily careful person would act in the same situation that his or her act amounts to disregard for human life or indifference to the consequences of that act.  The combination of driving a vehicle while under the influence and violating a traffic law is not enough by itself to establish gross negligence. In evaluating whether a defendant acted with gross negligence, the jury must consider the level of the defendant’s intoxication, if any; the way the defendant drove; and any other relevant aspects of the defendant’s conduct.

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Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated: Ordinary Negligence

A defendant is guilty of vehicular manslaughter with ordinary negligence while intoxicated if: the defendant drove under the influence of alcohol or drugs; while driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the defendant also committed a misdemeanor, an infraction, or an otherwise lawful act that might cause death; the defendant committed the misdemeanor, infraction, or otherwise lawful act that might cause death with ordinary negligence; and the defendant’s negligent conduct caused the death of another person.

The difference between this offense and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated is the degree of negligence required. Ordinary negligence is the failure to use reasonable care to prevent reasonably foreseeable harm to oneself or someone else. A person is negligent if he or she does something that a reasonably careful person would not do in the same situation or fails to do something that a reasonably careful person would do in the same situation.

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