DUI with serious bodily injury is a third degree felony which carries a maximum of 5 years in prison. This crime is taken very serious by the Polk County State Attorney for the 10th Judicial Circuit. These DUI crimes are tragic and often filled with emotions from the victim of the accident who has sustained serious injuries that may affect them for the rest of their lives. A prosecutor will often take into consideration the victim’s input as to how these cases should be resolved prosecutors.
Under the Florida sentencing guidelines it is a Level 7 offense which means a person charged with DUI with serious bodily injury scores 56 points. The impaired driver also will score points under Florida’s "Sentencing Guidelines Scoresheet” for victim injury. If scored as severe it would result in an additional 40 points being added to the defendant’s scoresheet. Under the Criminal Punishment Code Scoresheet, that would translate to a minimum prison sentence of 51 months (approx. 4 years) in Florida State Prison. This is the MINIMUM sentence for this offense.
Whether a plea can be negotiated to keep you out of prison or whether the charge can be reduced to a misdemeanor will depend on the individual facts of your case and your Polk County DUI lawyer’s abilities and knowledge of DUI law. For example, depending in the specific facts of your case, you may have defenses based on:
- the alleged blood results,
- the alleged driving pattern of the person arrested for DUI as well as the alleged accident victim,
- whether someone can place the suspected drunk driver behind the wheel,
- whether retrograde extrapolation is necessary to prove the driver’s level off impairment at the time of driving,
- whether the blood sample was contaminated and analyzed properly,
- most importantly, whether the driver was at fault and caused the accident.
If the person injured drove improperly and was at fault in the accident, that may be a defense to the charge of DUI with serious bodily injury.
In addition, if convicted of this offense you will lose your driver's license for 3 years. It is not easy to get these charges reduced to a misdemeanor.
Call and speak to an experienced Polk County DUI defense attorney now!
Polk DUI lawyer Thomas C. Grajek 863-838-5549 cell
It is important that you start the defense to your DUI case immediately before an accident scene is contaminated and witnesses are lost! Call and get a DUI defense lawyer on your side because the police may want to interview you and you need a lawyer on your side, protecting your rights.
Many times the suspected drunk driver is not arrested immediately for the offense. To avoid problems with a defendant’s right to speedy trial, the prosecutor will probably wait until the blood results come back before charging an impaired driver. This is because the blood results are often the most valuable and incriminating piece of evidence the State Attorney has against you and, if the prosecutor does not wait, it can cause problems for the prosecutor under speedy trial if the blood results are not back from the lab by the time your criminal jury trial is set.
Call and speak to an aggressive Polk County DUI defense attorney. You are entitled to a hardship license immediately under certain conditions. Get someone working on your DUI case now because it can make a difference in the outcome of your criminal case!
DON'T HESITATE!!! CALL NOW!!! PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS!!!
CALL THOMAS GRAJEK, POLK COUNTY DUI ATTORNEY
CALL NOW 863-838-5549 cell
Aggressive Polk DUI defense attorney handling all DUI arrests, DUI Manslaughter, and DUI with Serious Bodily Injury throughout Florida.