DUI & Manslaughter:
In all cases when drunk driving causes death, the DUI is charged as a felony. In these situations, the DUI statutes define it as a felony if the death occurred in the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to felony with gross negligence; or in the commission of a lawful act that might produce death, in an unlawful manner and with gross negligence.
It is important to remember that in and of itself, evidence of driving while intoxicated will not support an involuntary manslaughter conviction. In order to convict the defendant of DUI manslaughter based on his impairment, the prosecution must show that while driving impaired, the DUI defendant violated some other rule of the road, and that it was the violation of that rule that caused the accident, and not his impairment alone.
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