The average car weighs about 3,000 pounds and can travel over 100 miles per hour. Even at low speeds, a crash can cause serious physical harm or even death.
You may face criminal charges if you harm someone with your car, boat, or aircraft. These charges could lead to license suspension, fines, and a prison sentence.
The penalties go beyond a prison sentence. Even after your release, your offense might prevent employers from hiring you and landlords from renting to you. You may lose your professional licenses. You may even lose relationships.
Have you been charged with vehicular assault in Ohio? You need a knowledgeable Dayton vehicular assault attorney. At Gounaris Abboud, our attorneys defend clients against vehicular assault charges.
What Is Vehicular Assault?
Vehicular assault involves seriously harming someone while recklessly driving a vehicle. Under Ohio law, vehicular assault means you cause serious physical harm to another person during the following activities:
- Flying, driving, or boating recklessly
- Operating recklessly in a construction zone
- Speeding in a construction zone
Serious physical harm includes any of the following outcomes:
✓ Mental illness requiring hospitalization or prolonged treatment
✓ Significant risk of death
✓ Permanent or temporary substantial incapacity
✓ Permanent or temporary serious disfigurement
✓ Acute or prolonged pain leading to substantial suffering
In Ohio, vehicular assault is a felony offense that carries harsh penalties. Factors such as harming someone with a vehicle while intoxicated heighten the charge to aggravated vehicular assault.
What Is Aggravated Vehicular Assault?
Aggravated vehicular assault is a much more serious offense than Ohio vehicular assault. Prosecutors can file this charge for serious physical harm resulting from the following acts:
- Driving, boating, or flying while intoxicated
- Flying without a license
- Careless or reckless flying
- Tampering with airport runway markings
The most common reason for an aggravated vehicular assault charge involves injuring someone by crashing a motor vehicle while intoxicated.
Prosecutors have two options for proving intoxication. They can charge you for causing an injury accident while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The prosecution must prove the drugs or alcohol affected you physically or cognitively, regardless of the amount in your system.
Alternatively, prosecutors can prove that you operated a vehicle with drugs or alcohol in your system above the legal limit. They only need a reliable chemical test and do not need to prove the drugs or alcohol affected you.
What Differentiates Vehicular Assault Cases from Vehicular Homicide and Vehicular Manslaughter?
The difference between vehicular assault in Ohio and vehicular homicide is the outcome. Under the Ohio Revised Code, an assault offense, including both vehicular assault and aggravated vehicular assault, causes serious physical harm while a homicide offense causes death. You can further classify a traffic-related homicide by the culpability of the driver.
Vehicular Homicide
Under the Ohio Revised Code published in American Legal Publishing’s Code Library, vehicular homicide happens when a driver causes someone else’s death by driving negligently or speeding in a construction zone. This offense is a first-degree misdemeanor, but prosecutors can file it as a fourth-degree felony by proving the driver caused the death while driving on a suspended license.
Negligence means the action was unintentional but also failed to meet the standard of care expected of a reasonably cautious driver.
An upgraded version of this charge, called aggravated vehicular homicide, happens when a driver causes a death by doing any of the following:
- Operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol
- Boating or flying while under the influence of drugs or alcohol
- Reckless driving anywhere, including a construction zone
This charge is a second-degree felony, but prosecutors can upgrade it to a first-degree felony for people with prior convictions and those driving on a suspended license.
Vehicular Manslaughter
Vehicular manslaughter is the lowest possible charge for a traffic-related homicide. Prosecutors can file these charges when a driver causes a death while violating any minor misdemeanor traffic law or municipal ordinance. Running a red light, driving while texting, and failing to yield at a stop sign qualify as minor misdemeanors in Ohio.
This charge is classified as a second-degree misdemeanor. Prosecutors can file the charge as a first-degree misdemeanor against people who drove after a license suspension or were previously convicted of a traffic-related homicide. This offense does not require a mandatory prison term but will result in a mandatory license suspension.
Secure an experienced Ohio vehicular assault attorney immediately. At Gounaris Abboud our dedicated attorneys are ready to defend you against these serious charges.
What Are the Charges for Vehicular Assault in Dayton, OH?
Ohio vehicular assault charges come in two forms: vehicular assault and aggravated vehicular assault. Both offenses apply to serious physical harm that results from the operation of a motor vehicle, vessel, or airplane. However, there are subtle differences between these charges.
Vehicular Assault
You may face vehicular assault charges if you:
- Seriously harm someone while recklessly operating a vehicle.
- Seriously harm someone while speeding in a construction zone.
Reckless operation of a vehicle means that you intentionally drove in a way that you knew posed a danger to others or drove with wanton and willful disregard for the safety of people or property.
Prosecutors can show “willful and wanton disregard” in two ways. First, prosecutors can show you knew of the risks that your actions posed to others and proceeded despite your knowledge. Thus, this type of offense might happen when someone engages in street racing or deliberately takes a sharp turn to scare a passenger.
Second, prosecutors can show that you deliberately blinded yourself to the risks posed by your actions. This defense often applies when the driver states that they thought their driving behaviors were okay because “everyone does it.” Examples of willful blindness and reckless driving might include excessive speeding or swerving in and out of traffic.
If you are convicted of vehicular assault in Ohio, you face up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. If this is a repeat offense, vehicular assault comes with a mandatory prison sentence.
Specifically, vehicular assault in Ohio is charged as a fourth-degree felony with a possible sentence of 6 to 18 months in prison, up to $5,000 in fines, and up to five years probation.
However, prosecutors can charge this offense as a third-degree felony when someone has a prior conviction for a traffic-related murder. This charge carries a possible sentence of 9 to 36 months in prison, up to 10,000 in fines, and up to three years of parole after completing imprisonment.
A conviction also carries a mandatory minimum license suspension of one to five years. A court can increase the license suspension to two to ten years if the person was previously convicted of a murder offense, felonious assault, or other violent crime.
Aggravated Vehicular Assault
You may face aggravated vehicular assault charges if you:
- Seriously harm someone with a motor vehicle or boat while driving or boating under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
- Unsafely operate an aircraft and cause serious harm.
To win a conviction, the prosecution does not need to show that you intended to injure anyone. In fact, you can get convicted and sentenced even if you testify that you did not intend to injure the victim. Instead, prosecutors only need to establish that you committed the underlying violation and, as a result, seriously injured someone.
For example, to prove you committed aggravated vehicular assault due to a drunk driving crash, the evidence against you must show you were intoxicated and caused a crash that caused serious bodily injury. The evidence does not need to show that you intended or knew of the harm you might cause.
Aggravated vehicular assault sentencing can increase penalties significantly. An aggravated vehicular assault conviction includes a prison sentence of one to five years and a license suspension of up to ten years. Penalties increase for repeat offenders.
When prosecutors bring the case, they can charge an aggravated vehicular assault case as a third-degree felony with a potential sentence of 9 to 36 months in prison, up to $10,000 in fines, and up to three years of parole.
They can also upgrade the offense to a second-degree felony for people previously convicted of:
- Aggravated vehicular assault
- Traffic-related homicide
- Operating a motor vehicle under the influence
- Boating under the influence
- Flying unsafely
A second-degree felony carries a possible sentence of two to eight years in prison. You can also face fines of up to $15,000 and five years of post-release parole. In either case, the court must impose a mandatory minimum prison sentence on someone convicted of aggravated vehicular assault in Ohio.
This charge also carries a mandatory driver’s license suspension. The suspension for this charge is two to ten years. The suspension can be extended to three years to life if the person was previously convicted of a violent crime, such as an attempted murder offense.
What Is the Timeline of Charges for Vehicular Assault?
Vehicular assault cases usually start after you or another driver reports an accident to the police. The responding officers investigate the crash and produce an accident report. In the course of their investigation, they might also develop evidence that leads them to suspect a traffic offense may have occurred.
The officers have a great deal of discretion at this point. Many injury crashes happen in Columbus, but few vehicular assault charges are filed. Instead, the officers will look for some circumstance, such as intoxication, to start seeing the accident scene as a crime scene.
The net outcome is that vehicular assault cases take time to bring. Officers and prosecutors must verify the extent of the other person’s injuries. They must also determine which grounds for vehicular assault, if any, apply to your case. Contacting a Columbus vehicular assault attorney early in the process might help you avoid charges.
What Are the Defenses to Vehicular Assault in Ohio?
As a criminal defendant, you don’t have to prove anything. The prosecutor has the burden of proof and must prove each element of vehicular assault beyond a reasonable doubt.
If you are accused of vehicular assault or aggravated vehicular assault in Ohio, you need a skilled attorney to negotiate for a lesser charge. Your attorney’s job is to cast doubt on at least one element of the prosecutor’s case.
Here are some common defenses we use in vehicular assault cases:
- You weren’t the person who was driving
- You weren’t driving recklessly
- There weren’t signs indicating a construction zone
- You didn’t cause the accident
- No one was seriously harmed by your vehicle
- Your breathalyzer or blood tests were inaccurate
When you meet with our Ohio vehicular assault attorneys, we will review your accident experience and formulate your best defense.
How Our Dayton Assault Defense Attorneys Can Help You
You may feel stress and anxiety when you face vehicular assault charges. These worries are understandable because your freedom is on the line. Since vehicular assault is a serious charge, you should hire an experienced vehicular assault attorney.
At Gounaris Abboud, our vehicular assault defense attorneys have a combined 50 years of legal experience. We offer dedicated, compassionate legal services, working to get your charges reduced or dismissed. Contact us online or call us today at 937-222-1515 to schedule a free consultation with our knowledgeable attorneys.
