OUI With Child Endangerment
Stories where someone is accused of driving drunk with a child in the car often make the news, but few cases are that dramatic.
However, the story of a woman who allegedly was injured and passed out with a partially consumed bottle of vodka in the front seat, and her 3 year old sleeping in the back understandably made headlines. We don’t know the facts of the case, so it is entirely possible there was a medical problem or accident, and the alcohol was unrelated.
But regardless, an accusation of child endangerment with an OUI charge can make an OUI case quite a bit more complicated. If a police officer pulls you over and suspects you of drunk driving, and there is a minor child under 14 years old in your car, the OUI with child endangerment charge will likely be filed.
That doesn’t make the alleged drunk driving case against you any stronger, but it does mean the prosecutor may push harder, and be less agreeable, and judges may be less willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.
As we’ve detailed before, it can be surprisingly easy to be accused of a DUI after being pulled over by the police. If you have had a single drink, and happen to have balance or coordination issues, or a medical condition that makes you unsteady, police officers will often arrest you on fairly thin suspicion of drunk driving. And having a child in the car doesn’t add any facts to an extremely thin, circumstantial accusation, but it can make the legal defense waters trickier to navigate.
Give us a call if you are facing any of these circumstances. We’ve handled cases like this, with successful results for our clients in the past.
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Also from WPRI.
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