A DUI or DWI felony scenario: Someone chose to drink alcohol, get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle and drive, and found themselves in a very serious situation. While driving drunk, they veered slightly across the center line of a two lane highway and collided head on with another motor vehicle. The driver and a passenger of the other car were killed as the result of injuries from the accident. Not only can a DUI charge result in a felony, it can result in a murder conviction.
The state of North Carolina set a precedent when, on April 8, 1997, a jury in Winston-Salem, upheld a first degree murder conviction for a DUI offense that resulted in a motor vehicle accident that caused the death of two individuals. The prosecutor in the case had asked for the death penalty. The defendant was given life without parole. That case has been a controversial one; however, North Carolina continues to be tough on felony DUI convictions.
First degree murder convictions are upheld in situations where a murder was committed as the result of predetermined malice (premeditation) against the individual that was murdered. Some have argued causing a fatality while drunk driving does not indicate premeditation as a driver who operates a motor vehicle while under the influence does not do so with the intent to kill someone. The state of NC suggests, (more…)