auto accident/fatality facing criminal chgs /financial hardship cant fight

downey, california/ auto accident/fatality facing criminal charges for vehicluar manslaughter w/gross negligence. traveling e/b on blvd. #2 traveling w/b in left turn lane no signal turned in front of me and i hit his passanger door. spd lmt is 40 i had changed lanes from #1 to the #2 and was met by v.#2 who claims didn't see me at all. (centrifical skids) were received to the det. 3-4 days later and the balistics based on 2 wtns's (1/2 mile prior to collision pulled from a parking lot into my lane traveling 15/20 mph, i changed lanes, passed them, changed lanes again) they're words were taken for the distance and approx speed and as with the #2 driver. the point of impact was said to be great volocity and all the number tricks they figured my speed to be 66mph. my front hit his passanger door and pushed him into another car waiting for traffic to travel the same direction as i was. #1 i dont believe that i was traveling as fast as they say. #2 he did turn left in front of me so he is at fault / i would have hit him regardless of my speed because there was no stopping time factor to consider.
#3 his mother 79 bad health on heart med.surgery recently died 25 hours later from injuries unknown. after the det. filed his report he informed me of the next steps that i would be booked and charged and "not to worry it's just a glorified ticket cause someone died. no need for an attorney" after mentioning it to someone they asked if i had an attorney if not definetly need one. i got a lawyer and after retaining him we've had 4 continuations and the da/dic will only offer 30 days county jail and my lawyer has been "trying" to get them to go with house arrest. this will be on my record as a misdemeanor. i am very scared for what legal rights my ex-husband who has visitation and joint legal, lives 300 miles away, never calls unless is concerning visiting time which are vacations and holidays set up by the courts and an increase of $800 to the court appointed child support. he has caused waves for me before and i don't doubt that if he gets information regarding this he will come after my 2 older girls ages 11,9. also 11 yr old was in the back pass. seat of my windstar and only minor injuries from seatbelt. please tell me what my civil rights are, my family law rights, and if i should bother fighting or just go with a "no contest' plea and take what they offer, or plead it to the judge for possible easier sentencing. please advise a.s.a.p. thank you so much.

i will take a stab at this....

Chances are with a fatality, your license will probably be suspended and your insurance will go up if you plead no contest.

With no license, probably not much public transportation to work, babysitters school etc, it would be very difficult to raise 2 kids by yourself....Enter the EX!

So what you should have done is gone back to the accident scence immediately, and see if the left turn light was working properly, if it was a highway like you said, the left turn lane should have been green and YOU should have had a red light. Maybe they figured you tried to outrun the light at 66 mph?

See how a few facts can make you look so guilty.

accident/fatality downey, ca regarding reply: thank you dankk. my computer was down for 4 days and i just received your feedback. one small correction but may be the difference in information. the intersection was a side street off a main highway and there was no signal at the intersection. thus no left turn light and no red/green light debate. so with that in mind the guy turned left in front of me and i t-boned him fatally injuring his mother. again this is not cut and dry. there are alot of things that pertain to this with questionable evidence. i feel very strong in my case with a not guilty plea however i do not have the financial backup to say so. if there is any way that i could fight this with the lack of funds i would appreciate the advise. also the question of wheather my ex has any civil or family laws that i would need to know about for my own protection from him coming to take my 2 minor daughters. i am in a spot with the lack of knowledge for these types of matters. please advise. thanks again.

[JETX]

First thing you need to do is sort out the issues. You are trying to jumble them all together and that only confuses the issues.

1) Criminal:
You have been charged with a criminal act. As such, you need to deal with this first or all other issues are moot. Hire an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, get a public defender. Take care of this matter above all else.

2) Civil:
You will very probably be hit with a civil lawsuit over the damages and injuries. Do you have insurance?? If so, let them handle this issue for the time being. If you are found guilty of the criminal charge, that is a slam dunk for guilt on the civil charge. That is why the criminal charge is first and foremost.

3) Child issue:
If you are incarcerated, this issue will be resolved for you. If not, then you can handle when it comes up. Do NOT spend a lot of time on this issue until then. You have other far more serious issues to resolve first. I know, "your children are the most important...", but not if you are in prison.

Best of luck... and I hope you did have insurance.

[vrzirn]

Insurance is mandatory in California. If you do not have it things will be worse.