Vehicular Manslaughter?

[Sugaliz]

State - Kansas

My brother, who is 17 years old, was in a car accident in October. He was driving on a dirt road and ran a stop sign, hitting a car. There were no drugs or alcohol involved for either party. The driver of the car, that was hit, was injured and the passenger died.

My parents were recently served with papers and my brother is being charged by the county prosecutors. The charges are 2 counts of felony aggravated battery and 1 count of felony vehicular manslaughter.

I would like to know what we should do, and what we should expect. Will he be charged with all 3 counts or is there a possibility that the charges will be taken down to misdemeanors? Also, if he is charged with a felony will he go to prison? If he is charged with a misdemeanor will he go to jail or just have to pay a fine?

Please help!

 

[moburkes]

Your brother needs an attorney, like, NOW. He is facing jail time. He is also facing a lawsuit from the family of the passenger. Hopefully, your parents had high liability limits on their insurance.

 

[Silverplum]

If you, or your brother, or anyone you care for was hit and killed by an idiot who ran a stop sign -- would you consider it to be manslaughter? At least?

 

[Silverplum]

OP? Sugaliz? You were "there," hovering online while I posted...and now you're gone.

Truth hurts, huh? Yeah.

But not NEARLY as much as it hurts to have your loved one whacked by an irresponsible jerk...and then to have the jerk's family try to get him off with (your words) "just a fine."

Don't come back.

State - Kansas

My brother, who is 17 years old, was in a car accident in October. He was driving on a dirt road and ran a stop sign, hitting a car. There were no drugs or alcohol involved for either party. The driver of the car, that was hit, was injured and the passenger died.

My parents were recently served with papers and my brother is being charged by the county prosecutors. The charges are 2 counts of felony aggravated battery and 1 count of felony vehicular manslaughter.

I would like to know what we should do, and what we should expect. Will he be charged with all 3 counts or is there a possibility that the charges will be taken down to misdemeanors? Also, if he is charged with a felony will he go to prison? If he is charged with a misdemeanor will he go to jail or just have to pay a fine?

Please help!

 

[Silverplum]

I can't believe you. You want to sue someone for your med bills, but your brother should get off scot-free for KILLING someone?????

You're quite the piece of work, as is your family.

Kansas

Can someone help me out here?
I was in an auto accident in December. I was hit by a driver and it was her fault, but I had no insurance at the time. After the collision I was taken to the ER.

The car was considered totaled and I received a payment for the car. Now I am receiving medical bills that I cannot afford - who pays for these? Do I need to sue the driver who hit me? Do I need to contact the other drivers insurance company since I had no insurance?

I have no idea what to do!

06-19-2006 02:29 PM

 

[Shay-Pari'e]

State - Kansas

My brother, who is 17 years old, was in a car accident in October. He was driving on a dirt road and ran a stop sign, hitting a car. There were no drugs or alcohol involved for either party. The driver of the car, that was hit, was injured and the passenger died.

My parents were recently served with papers and my brother is being charged by the county prosecutors. The charges are 2 counts of felony aggravated battery and 1 count of felony vehicular manslaughter.

I would like to know what we should do, and what we should expect. Will he be charged with all 3 counts or is there a possibility that the charges will be taken down to misdemeanors? Also, if he is charged with a felony will he go to prison? If he is charged with a misdemeanor will he go to jail or just have to pay a fine?
Please help!

I would like to ask you a question. If your mother and father were the passengers of the other car that was hit due to some stupid kid running a stop sign, how would you look at it?

Your Dad is hurt, and your mom is dead, and the jerks family is wondring if the jerk will only pay a fine. I bet you would fight tooth and nail to see that the jerk is punished.

 

[Shay-Pari'e]

I can't believe you. You want to sue someone for your med bills, but your brother should get off scot-free for KILLING someone?????

You're quite the piece of work, as is your family.


06-19-2006 02:29 PM

WOW, I missed this before posting. Who bred this person?

 

[Sugaliz]

My brother did not "kill" anyone...

As far as his accident goes, yes, he did run a stop sign, but it was determined that he did so because he did not know it was there. There were trees covering the sign.

Our family has suffered. My brother cannot speak, he has severe injuries to his face and other parts of his body and some days he cannot even walk. He also has emotional and coping issues that were present before his accident, but are now intensified.

I am not trying to get him "off", but I do not think he deserved jail or prison time for something that was accidental...remember, the stop sign was COVERED by a tree.

Also, the family of the passenger who died is receiving a very large sum of money for her death. My family feels terrible about what happened and no one is treating it as if her death does not matter.

And, as far as my post about insurance and medical bills...I was not planning on suing anyone, I was just asking for advice from someone who had experience in that situation, not from someone obviously has some aggression issues.

 

[Shay-Pari'e]

They are still hovering.

 

[ecmst12]

The advice stands - he still needs an attorney. Whether a court will think it was an accident or that there was recklessness/negligence involved is not something that anyone who has not reviewed ALL of the facts of the case can advise on.

 

[Sugaliz]

The family of the injured or deceased are not the ones pressing charges. It is the county prosecutor.

I do not see the purpose in calling my brother a jerk, or attacking my family. You know nothing of my family or what kind of people they are. Are you only on this website so that you can spew your retched nonsense to anyone who posts a message?

I do understand that someone died in this accident, and if it was one of my family members I would be terribly upset. But, I would remember that it was an accident and not the drivers fault. I would not want an innocent person to be locked up for the rest of their life because of a mistake. If the person who caused the accident was negligent and ran the stop sign on purpose, or was drunk or on drugs, that would be a different story.

 

[Sugaliz]

ecmst12 -

My parents have hired an attorney. Thank you for your input regarding the charges, and not pointless personal attacks on me and my family.

 

[ecmst12]

The prosecutor IS the only one who can file criminal charges. It's not up to the family of the deceased or the injured party at all. And the prosecutor thinks that there was recklessness/negligence in the way your brother was operating his vehicle, so that should tell you something.

Make no mistake - even if it WAS an accident with no recklessness, that person's death is still 100% your brother's fault. Had he not run the stop sign, that person would still be alive.

I have a feeling that critical information is being left out. Drugs and alcohol are not the only things that make an accident criminally reckless. If he was driving way over the speed limit, that would be enough to make it reckless. If he'd been driving slower, not only would it have been more likely that he would have seen the stop sign, but even if he'd missed it, the damage would have been much less and no death might have occurred.

 

[Shay-Pari'e]

The family of the injured or deceased are not the ones pressing charges. It is the county prosecutor.

I do not see the purpose in calling my brother a jerk, or attacking my family. You know nothing of my family or what kind of people they are. Are you only on this website so that you can spew your retched nonsense to anyone who posts a message?

I do understand that someone died in this accident, and if it was one of my family members I would be terribly upset. But, I would remember that it was an accident and not the drivers fault. I would not want an innocent person to be locked up for the rest of their life because of a mistake. If the person who caused the accident was negligent and ran the stop sign on purpose, or was drunk or on drugs, that would be a different story.

Look, he ran a stop sign and killed someone. Period! He is being charged with THAT, not an accident. This family getting a large sum of money is none of your business.

Stop trying to play down such a serious thing, it was not an accident.

 

[Sugaliz]

I agree with you. It happened and we have to accept it. I was only posting the situation because I have no clue what to expect, nor does my family. I just want to be informed...
I thought this was a forum for free "advice".

It was determined by the investigators that he was not going over 40 mph. The impact of the crash did not kill the passenger.