Cobb County Criminal Defense Attorney

Vehicular Manslaughter Charges in Georgia

Manslaughter differs from murder in that there was neither malice aforethought nor the purpose to kill before committing the act which led to a fatality. Vehicular manslaughter, also known as vehicular homicide is a particularly complex crime that can be charged as either a misdemeanor or felony. How you will be charged is dependent upon what occurred in the incident and the factors which lead up to it. The penalties for conviction on vehicular manslaughter charges are harsh and can be life changing.

At The Donnelly Law Firm, PC, we understand what being charged for a homicide can mean to you and your family and in order to fight the charges you face, it will take hard-hitting actions by a knowledgeable Cherokee County criminal lawyer . The key to all such cases is intense and exhaustive investigation into what preceded the incident, how the accident happened and the physical and other evidence to hand. It is vital that we get started quickly in order to provide the best possible defense for your case.

Cherokee County Vehicular Manslaughter Lawyer in Woodstock

Vehicular manslaughter is treated as a felony if you committed specific crimes, called "predicate offenses" which led to someone's death. If the fatality was caused by a failure to stop for or attempting to flee from a police officer, by reckless driving or because you illegally met or overtook a school bus, there will be felony charges filed against you . Frequently, these charges come about if you were under the influence of alcohol or drugs. If the DUI offense is successfully resolved, it can have a very positive effect on your manslaughter charges and we provide aggressive DUI defense as well. If you are convicted of a felony, the punishment will be 3 to 15 years of incarceration.

You will be charged with a misdemeanor if you did not commit a predicate offense but your actions caused the death of another. Speeding, failure to yield and other traffic offenses which cause a fatality will be prosecuted as misdemeanors. These are penalized by a fine of up to $1000.00 and up to 1 year in custody or both. In these cases, we work to get your sentence suspended or probation applied but the key is to begin work now. To learn more about vehicular homicide and its defense, contact a Cobb County vehicular manslaughter attorney from my firm.