Those charged with drunk driving may incur additional criminal charges under certain circumstances. Moreover, those charges can be much more significant if the drunk driver caused an accident that led to the injuries or deaths of others. A soldier was recently charged with driving under the influence and a number of other alleged crimes after an accident took place in Tennessee.
The accident took place a few months ago, and a grand jury has now decided to indict the man. He is 26 years old and was driving a pick-up truck at the time of the accident. He is alleged to have driven that truck into another vehicle.
The driver of that vehicle died in the accident, and a passenger was injured. The soldier has now been charged with driving under the influence, vehicular homicide and other charges, totaling eight counts. It was reported that the man had a blood alcohol level of .18 percent, which was noted as more than twice the amount allowed by law.
The charge of driving under the influence can lead to loss of a driver's license in Tennessee, high fines and other possible penalties. A charge can also impact a person's employment. In this case, a blood alcohol content report indicates a test for intoxication was administered. When test results are used to pursue criminal charges, the manner in which the test was given, by whom it was given and other details of how a test was administered can be explored by the defense and, in some cases, result in a dismissal of those test results, meaning those results cannot be used against a defendant in the criminal process.
Source: fox13memphis.com, "Fort Campbell soldier charged in fatal accident", Feb. 8, 2016