Does the Severity of a DUI Accident Victim’s Injuries Matter in Criminal Sentencing?

In Florida felony cases, judges must follow the Criminal Punishment Code (CPC) when sentencing a defendant. The CPC creates a scoring system that assigns points for a number of different variables. For example, each specific felony offense has an “offense level” between a 1 and 10. Each level carries a different number of “points.”

One factor the CPC scoring system looks at is the degree of the victim’s injuries as a result of the crime. The worksheet used by Florida judges requires categorizing such injuries as “severe,” “moderate,” or “slight.” As you can probably guess, a severe injury counts far more against a defendant than a slight one.

Florida Defendant Receives 33-Year Sentence Following 15-Victim Crash

The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal recently confronted a challenge to this scoring system. In Surit-Garcias v. State, a defendant convicted of various drunk driving offenses arising from a fatal car accident argued the terminology used in the state’s score sheet was unconstitutionally vague.

This case arose from a 2018 accident. The defendant was driving his pickup truck when he struck a rental van containing 15 members of the same family. The collision forced the van off the road, where it flipped over several times. One passenger died as a result of their injuries. The remaining 14 victims suffered some degree of injury.

When law enforcement arrived at the scene, officers found two bottles of hard liquor in the defendant’s truck, one of which was mostly empty. Subsequent investigation determined that the defendant purchased both bottles about 90 minutes before the crash. Prosecutors charged the defendant with DUI manslaughter, three counts of DUI causing serious bodily injury, 11 counts of DUI causing injury, and 1 count of DUI causing property damage. A jury convicted the defendant on all charges. The trial court sentenced the defendant to just over 33 years in prison.

As required by law, the judge relied on the CPC scoring system in assessing the degree of each victim’s injuries. The defense argued this system was inherently unconstitutional. The Fourth District disagreed. It said the trial court properly applied the terms “severe,” “moderate,” and “slight” injury based on the “factfinder’s application of the ordinary meanings of these terms to real-world facts.” For example, the court’s decision to score some of the victims’ injuries as “severe” was based on the jury’s finding the defendant committed DUI with “serious” bodily injury.

Separately, the Fourth District also rejected the defendant’s challenge to the prosecution’s reference to the defendant’s blood-alcohol content (BAC) at the time of the accident. The State Attorney claimed an expert witness determined the defendant’s BAC was 0.17. While testifying, however, the witness did not make such a definitive statement. The Fourth District held this did not constitute misconduct on the prosecution’s part, especially since other evidence established the defendant was “impaired” by the use of alcohol when the accident occurred.

Contact the Joshi Law Firm Today

Drunk driving can lead to serious felony charges, particularly if innocent people were injured or killed. If you are facing such charges, it is therefore imperative that you work with a qualified Orlando DUI lawyer who will zealously defend your rights in court and challenge the government’s evidence against you. Call the Joshi Law Firm, PA, today at 844-GO-JOSHI or contact us online to schedule a free initial

Source:

4dca.flcourts.gov/content/download/2437012/opinion/Opinion_2022-3368.pdf