AGGRAVATED ASSAULT WHILE DUI DEFENSE LAWYER

You've gone out to "Happy Hour" with some co-workers with the best of intentions. You told yourself you would have two drinks, and head home for the night. After a 2nd beer, a co-worker buys you a shot. Another pays for a refill. By the time you're ready to leave, you've had six to eight drinks. Your spouse is expecting you home, and you decide to chance it by driving home.

You're driving fine until you have one momentary lapse in concentration, and end up colliding with another vehicle. The collision is horrific, and the occupants of the other vehicle are transported from the scene by EMS workers. You submit to field sobriety tests and the officer tells you that you've failed. You are then arrested and transported to the station to submit to a chemical breath test, or a local hospital to submit to a blood draw.

This story happens far too frequently in Pennsylvania. If you've been charged with Aggravated Assault While DUI, you need experienced counsel on your side as soon as possible.

WHEN YOU CAN BE CHARGED WITH AGGRAVATED ASSAULT WHILE DUI?

If you're involved in an auto accident which causes another driver, passenger or pedestrian to sustain injury, you will likely be charged with Aggravated Assault While DUI, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

You may find yourself charged with Aggravated Assault While DUI even when the injuries to the victim are not life-threatening, or in situations where the victim or other party caused the accident.

If you are charged with an Aggravated Assault While DUI, you should expect the charges to be instituted through an arrest warrant and not by receiving paperwork in the mail (summons). As such, if you've been involved in an auto accident where others were injured and have not been charged yet, you should expect to be arrested and brought before a Magisterial District Justice to set bail.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE PROVEN IN AN AGGRAVATED ASSAULT WHILE DUI CASE?

To prove an Aggravated Assault While DUI, the Commonwealth must establish:

  1. That the driver's conduct was negligent, or that the driver engaged in a gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable person would observe in the driver's situation;

  2. That the driver was the direct cause of the injury sustained by the victim as a result of DUI; and

  3. The victim suffered life threatening or disfiguring injuries or suffered any prolonged impairment of the function of a body part.

WHAT IS THE GRADING OF AN AGGRAVATED ASSAULT WHILE DUI?

Aggravated Assault While DUI is graded as either a 2nd or 3rd degree felony, as follows: 

  • 2nd Degree Felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison when a person causes serious bodily injury to another person as a result of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

  • 3rd Degree Felony punishable by up to 7-years in prison when a person causes serious bodily injury to another person by reckless or gross negligent conduct, or while driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

HOW ZLF DEFENDS YOUR AGGRAVATED ASSAULT WHILE DUI CASE

There are several defenses that may be applicable in an Aggravated Assault While DUI case, which may include the following:

  • The victim's conduct serves as an important, independent and overriding role in bringing about his or her injuries;

  • The actions of a third party serve as an important, independent and overriding role in bringing about the victim's injuries;

  • The occurrence of another event (i.e. terrible weather conditions) serves as an important, independent and overriding role in bringing about the victim's injuries;

  • Something other than DUI caused the accident;

  • The victim has not sustained the requisite level of injury needed to prove serious bodily injury under Pennsylvania law;

  • Weak and inconclusive eyewitness testimony;

  • Unlawful police conduct leads to suppression of evidence;

  • Police get your blood test results and medical information from the hospital without a valid search warrant;

  • Police take statements from you in violation of your Miranda rights;

  • The improper collection, storage, and transfer of blood evidence to the crime lab;

  • The crime lab fails to follow proper operational procedures.

  • The failure to properly calibrate and maintain breath testing machines as required by law.

Most of our clients on Aggravated Assault While DUI cases are good people who made a terrible mistake. Let us help tell your story and fight to minimize consequences. For a free confidential consultation, call the Zuckerman Law Firm LLC at 412-447-5580 today.

The National Trial Lawyers