How are multiple drunk driving offenses by the same person handled in a civil lawsuit against them in Mobile Alabama?
Some people who choose to drive under the influence manage to habitually get behind the wheel and commit several offenses related to drunk driving, even after their license is suspended or they have already served time in jail.
The District Attorney in Mobile was dealing with a situation where a driver who had multiple convictions for DUI related incidents and other crimes kept driving drunk and harming people on multiple occasions.
Former police officer has multiple serious charges related to driving under the influence within a decade
One man in the Mobile area has left behind a trail of multiple injuries and deaths due to his excessive drinking and propensity to get behind the wheel illegally.
The suspect’s first case was in 2011. When he was driving home after drinking, his pickup truck illegally crossed a two lane highway and struck a 76 year old woman driving in the opposite direction. The woman died shortly afterward at the scene of the accident.
In June of 2014, the man was pulled over in Citronelle for driving under the influence again, and a chemical test found that his blood alcohol content was over twice the legal limit. There were also several empty beer cans that were found in his car during the traffic stop.
In 2018, he was involved in another crash where he again crossed over the yellow center line on the road in the same pickup truck as the prior accident and collided with a car driven by a pregnant woman. The woman and her two sons were injured and taken to the hospital after the crash, where she was forced to give birth early by C section.
Over the course of the last eight years the man has served jail time and been on probation, but it seems that he has managed to avoid spending more than a year or two at a time in prison for multiple offenses. These is even after being charged with felonies related to drunk driving that have left people injured or dead. He also received a very lenient sentence from a judge that did not choose to revoke his probation after the 2014 offense, which is usually standard if a criminal defendant commits a similar crime while still serving their probation time.
Evidence of prior offenses
In all trials, character evidence such as prior criminal acts is difficult to introduce for a number of reasons. Each trial is supposed to be about one particular incident. It is considered inappropriate for a jury to infer guilt or fault based on previous unrelated incidents or a person’s habits or character. This preserves the integrity of each case rather than creating a situation where a jury may simply decide that someone is a bad person and deserves punishment. Although this may seem problematic, trials are supposed to be about neutral judgment and fairness. If a person is truly guilty of an offense, it should be proven by evidence related to that offense alone and not other unrelated problems from a person’s past.
The fact that the defendant has multiple prior records for similar drunk driving offenses can be factored into sentencing after a criminal trial, but in a civil case for damages, it is not likely to have much of an effect on the amounts awarded to a victim or their family. The main purpose of a civil lawsuit is to give compensation relative to the injuries and harm caused by the defendant. Things like medical expenses and lost wages are much more relevant to this amount than the defendant’s past acts.
There are drunk driving accident attorneys available in the Mobile area
If you have been hurt by a drunk driver near Mobile or anywhere in Alabama, there are lawyers who specialize in these kinds of cases. The expertise of an accident lawyer will help you receive the most compensation allowed by law.
