On April 26, it was reported that a New York man who was charged with a DWI in connection with a two-car accident that resulted in four deaths pleaded guilty. The man had potentially been facing manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges, but a grand jury declined to issue these charges as they determined that the other driver was responsible for causing the deaths.
The accident occurred in July 2015. A limousine with eight female passengers was leaving a winery located in Long Island when the driver made a U-turn. The accused man, who was driving a pickup truck, t-boned the limousine. The man was charged with DWI after admitting to authorities that he had had several beers before driving.
The man was offered a plea deal that allowed him to avoid jail, though he will be required to pay a fine and will have his license suspended for 90 days. Lawyers explained that, without a plea deal, the DWI charge likely would not hold as the man’s blood alcohol level was below the .08 percent legal threshold when it was finally tested.
People charged with felony DWI may potentially be facing serious legal consequences depending on the circumstances. If there were deaths involved in the DWI incident, the accused person could be facing a jail sentence even if this is the first DWI charge. However, if the person did not cause the accident and the amount of alcohol in the blood was lower than the legal limit directly following the crash, an attorney may challenge the charges or negotiate a plea deal.
Source: NBC New York, “Plea Deal Reached in Horrifying 2015 Limo Crash That Killed 4 Women“, April 26, 2017
