Vehicular Homicide in Atlanta & Georgia

By: William C. Head, Criminal Defense Attorney Atlanta. My law partner and Criminal Defense Lawyer Atlanta Larry Kohn received a phone call from another lawyer in Georgia. That lawyer had a criminal case he could not handle. The case involved a woman charged in DeKalb County Superior Court with felony vehicular homicide. The crash happened on Memorial Drive in DeKalb County and involved multiple vehicles. Three children died in the collision. National and local news media outlets, including USA Today, reported that two drivers were street racing and caused the fatal accident. The community was in an uproar. Two people were arrested and charged with multiple counts of vehicular homicide under Georgia law. No alcohol or drugs were suspected by DeKalb County police. But reckless driving in Georgia is a predicate offense. It can support first degree vehicular homicide charges, which is a felony. See our related guide: Defending DUI and Other Serious Traffic Crimes in Athens, Georgia.

Vehicular homicide is one of several ways Georgia charges a death. For how it sits alongside the others, see our page on Georgia homicide offenses.

Vehicular Homicide Under Georgia Law

Vehicular homicide in Georgia is the crime of causing another person's death through a traffic violation, without malice aforethought. The offense is divided into two degrees. Each carries very different consequences.

First-degree vehicular homicide is a felony. A driver commits this offense by causing a death through one of several specific predicate violations. The predicate offenses are set by statute. They include reckless driving and reckless stunt driving such as drag racing. They also cover driving under the influence, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, leaving the scene of an accident that causes a death, or unlawfully passing a school bus. A driver declared a habitual violator who causes a death while driving on a revoked license also faces first-degree charges.

Second-degree vehicular homicide is a misdemeanor. This charge applies when a driver causes a death by violating any traffic provision other than the predicate offenses listed above. Common examples include following too closely, improper lane changes, or failure to yield.

The distinction between first and second degree often depends on the specific traffic violation the State can prove. Prosecutors must establish that the defendant committed the predicate offense and that this violation was the cause of the victim's death. Both elements are contestable. A felony conviction can carry years in prison. A misdemeanor conviction can mean up to 12 months in jail. Which one applies often hinges on which violation the evidence supports.

Anyone facing either degree of this charge should retain a vehicular homicide attorney as early as possible. Critical evidence can degrade or disappear quickly. That evidence includes the car's black box data, witness statements, and scene measurements. Early legal help preserves the facts that may shape the defense.

Penalties for Vehicular Homicide in Georgia

The penalties for vehicular homicide in Georgia vary sharply based on the degree of the offense and the predicate violation involved. See our related guide: Georgia Felony Vehicular Homicide & Serious Injury by Vehicle.

First-degree vehicular homicide carries a felony prison sentence. A conviction brings a prison term of three to 15 years. The same sentencing range applies when the charge is based on leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

When a habitual violator causes a death while driving on a revoked license, the sentencing range increases to not less than five years nor more than 20 years. Under that provision, the court may suspend, probate, defer, or withhold the sentence only after the person serves at least one year in prison.

Multiple deaths from a single crash can result in multiple counts. Each count carries its own sentencing range. A judge may order the sentences to run consecutively. A defendant facing three counts of first-degree vehicular homicide could face up to 45 years.

Second-degree vehicular homicide is punished as a misdemeanor. This means a fine of up to one thousand dollars, confinement of up to 12 months, or both.

Beyond the criminal sentence, a vehicular homicide conviction triggers automatic license suspension. The Department of Driver Services must suspend the license of any driver convicted of homicide by vehicle. A person declared a habitual violator faces license revocation for five years and additional penalties for driving during that revocation period.

Other effects also deserve attention. A felony vehicular homicide conviction can affect a job, a work license, housing, and – for non-citizens – immigration status. Sentencing depends on the facts, the defendant's prior record, and the county. Outcomes vary. Anyone facing these charges should ask a lawyer about their own case.

This Criminal Case Goes to Trial in DeKalb County Superior Court

When our law firm received the call, the woman charged with the crime had already been released from DeKalb County jail. Cory Yager and Larry Kohn met with the young woman and her family. They explained the situation clearly.

Based on the firm's extensive experience with felony vehicular homicide cases in Georgia, this case would have to go to jury trial. The only alternative was to accept a guilty plea and a lengthy state prison sentence. The State was not going to reduce or dismiss a case where three children had been killed.

One of the children had been thrown from the vehicle. The child was found 30 feet from the point of impact, down an embankment. Our client faced as much as 45 years in prison if convicted of causing the deaths of these three children.

Cory Yager's Experience as a Law Enforcement Officer Helped Win This Felony Homicide by Vehicle Case

Once hired, our law office sought the help of a seasoned accident investigator. This person had been trained as a State Trooper. The former police officer had worked thousands of car crash cases, many of them fatal.

He went to the scene and looked over every vehicle in the two crashes. He reviewed the black box data from the two at-fault vehicles. Nearly all cars carry a device that records how they were driven just before the airbags fire. People call that device the black box. The data it keeps can help or harm a defense. Except in rare cases of device flaws, the data shows exactly what was happening before a crash.

In this case, our client was traveling at 82 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone. A woman was turning left at the intersection of Memorial Drive and Constitution Avenue in DeKalb County. Another vehicle in the lane next to our client was also traveling at high speed – 83 miles per hour.

The State brought in several witnesses who had observed the crash. Mr. Yager was a former police officer. He had personally investigated many fatal accidents. He was designated to cross-examine the police and accident investigators for both sides of this case. Although law partners, Cory Yager and Larry Kohn had never tried a jury case together. Our firm's tag team approach worked well.

His police background let him speak the language of officers at a crash scene. Our two Atlanta lawyers split the task of examining witnesses at trial.

As the woman with three child passengers turned left, that vehicle was struck in a T-bone fashion. The vehicle in the lane next to our client hit her. That impact landed on the rear passenger door. It caused severe harm to the three children in the back seat.

The force of that crash pushed the vehicle into our client's lane of travel. Our client's car sheared off the front bumper of the car with the children inside. The second crash was just as severe. The car with the children spun out of control and struck a guard rail. That impact threw a child from the car.

The evidence was clear that our client was driving too fast. She was on a heavily traveled roadway. The police alleged that she was racing the car next to her. This caused a mother to lose all three of her children.

The offer prior to trial was for our client to serve ten years in prison. Our client had never been in trouble before. After conferring with our client, our criminal defense attorneys in Atlanta did not accept the District Attorney's offer.

Cory Yager and Larry Kohn prepared the case for trial in December of 2017. The law partners tried the case to a 12-person jury for a full week.

The Delicate Task of Cross-Examining the Grieving Mother of the Three Dead Children

Perhaps the most difficult trial experience Partner Larry Kohn has had as a defense lawyer was cross-examining the mother who lost her three children. Mr. Kohn had to politely and delicately attack her credibility.

Our criminal justice attorneys convinced the trial judge to allow the defense team to point out a key fact. The children were not restrained in seat belts and car seats. This was a hotly contested pre-trial motion. The prosecutor fought against it. In Georgia vehicular homicide cases, courts usually treat the negligence of passengers who were decedents as not relevant. But some evidence existed that ejection meant the children would not survive. So the seat belt issue was part of our defense strategy.

Our attorneys fought this motion hard. They showed the judge how important this fact was to the criminal defense. They were able to argue several related factors to the jury.

First, our criminal law attorneys admitted that our client was driving too fast. That admission gave us credibility with the jury. Our attorneys then argued that the first accident – impact – was the catastrophic event. It launched the children from their seats and ultimately killed the three children.

Next, our Atlanta attorneys were able to show that the mother of the children improperly turned in front of oncoming traffic. Last, our law partners argued that she failed to restrain her children.

The jury convicted our client of reckless driving. This is a misdemeanor offense with a maximum of 12 months in custody. But the jury found her not guilty of all three counts of vehicular homicide. Those three counts carried a possible sentence of 45 years in state prison.

Her co-defendant, the male driver of the other speeding car next to our client, was not so fortunate. He was found guilty of all three counts of first degree homicide by vehicle. This is a felony. He was sentenced to 45 years in a Georgia state prison, with the first 30 years in custody.

Few cases of this size ever reach a jury in Georgia. A full acquittal on every felony count in a case this charged is rare. These cases have much on the line and much evidence of fault against the client.

Mr. Yager and Mr. Kohn continue to use their trial skills to help accident victims. They also help people charged with causing serious accidents involving felony vehicle homicide. The accident occurred in April of 2015. Trial concluded on December 15, 2017.

Vehicular Manslaughter Lawyer: Defending the Lesser-Included Charge

Many people search for a vehicular manslaughter lawyer when a loved one faces charges after a fatal car accident. In Georgia, vehicular manslaughter is not a separately named statute. Instead, the term commonly refers to two different charges depending on the facts.

The first is second-degree vehicular homicide. This misdemeanor charge applies when a driver causes a death through a traffic violation that is not one of the enumerated predicate offenses for first-degree. A vehicular manslaughter attorney handling this type of case often focuses on whether the traffic violation actually caused the death. The attorney also examines whether an intervening event broke the chain of causation.

The second is involuntary manslaughter. A person commits this offense by causing a death without intent through the commission of an unlawful act other than a felony. Upon conviction, the penalty is one to ten years in prison. In some vehicular death cases, prosecutors may charge involuntary manslaughter instead of – or alongside – vehicular homicide.

A vehicular crimes attorney evaluating a first-degree vehicular homicide case will assess whether the charge can be reduced to a second-degree offense. The attorney will also explore resolving the case as a lesser traffic violation. Key defense strategies include:

• Challenging the predicate offense. If the State cannot prove reckless driving, driving under the influence, or another predicate violation beyond a reasonable doubt, the first-degree charge fails.
• Attacking causation. The defense may show that another driver's conduct, a mechanical failure, or a road hazard – not the defendant's violation – was the actual cause of death.
• Accident reconstruction and black box analysis. Black box data can show speed, braking, and steering in the seconds before impact. That data sometimes contradicts the State's theory of the crash.
• Witness credibility. Eyewitness accounts of high-speed crashes are often wrong. Cross-examination can expose the gaps between witness statements, physical evidence, and the black box data.

A felony conviction can carry years in prison. A misdemeanor conviction means up to 12 months in jail. Which one applies often hinges on two factors. First, which predicate offense the prosecution can prove. Second, whether the defense can undermine the causation link.

Common Defenses to Georgia Vehicular Homicide Charges

A vehicular homicide attorney evaluates every angle of a fatal crash case. The defenses available depend on the predicate offense alleged, the quality of the State's evidence, and the specific facts of the collision. Common defense strategies include the following.

Challenging the predicate offense. First-degree vehicular homicide requires proof of a specific underlying violation. If the charge rests on driving under the influence, the defense may challenge the traffic stop. It can also attack field sobriety testing, breath or blood test procedures, or the chain of custody for chemical evidence. If the charge rests on reckless driving, the defense must show that the driving did not rise to the level of reckless disregard for safety. Without a valid predicate offense, the first-degree charge cannot stand.

Causation defenses. The State must prove that the defendant's violation caused the death. Intervening causes can break that link. Another driver's negligence, a sudden mechanical failure, a road defect, or the victim's own conduct may have been the actual cause of the fatal outcome. Georgia courts ask whether the defendant's violation was the proximate cause. That element is often heavily contested.

Accident reconstruction. Crash experts use physical evidence to rebuild the wreck. They read skid marks, debris patterns, vehicle damage, and road layout. Their work can contradict the State's version of events and support the defense theory.

Black box data. The black box records speed, throttle, brake use, and other vehicle data in the seconds before a crash. This evidence can help or hurt the defense. A close reading may show that the driver was slower than alleged, or that the brakes went on before impact.

Fourth Amendment challenges. When the predicate offense is driving under the influence, the defense may challenge the legality of a blood draw. If law enforcement obtained blood without a valid warrant or an applicable exception, the results may be suppressed.

Comparative fault of other drivers or the victim. Georgia's vehicular homicide statute does not include a formal comparative negligence defense. But evidence that another party's conduct contributed to the fatal result can raise reasonable doubt. This doubt can concern whether the defendant's violation was the cause of death.

Every case is different. The strength of any one defense depends on the facts. A seasoned defense attorney can spot which strategies apply after reading the crash file, the State's evidence, and the facts of the arrest.

Frequently Asked Questions About Vehicular Homicide in Georgia

What Is the Difference Between First-Degree and Second-Degree Vehicular Homicide in Georgia?

First-degree vehicular homicide is a felony. It requires proof that the driver caused a death through a specific predicate violation. These violations include reckless driving and reckless stunt driving. They also include driving under the influence, fleeing or eluding police, hit-and-run after a fatal crash, and unlawfully passing a school bus. Second-degree vehicular homicide is a misdemeanor. It applies when a driver causes a death through any other traffic violation not listed as a predicate offense. The degree of the charge depends on which traffic law the State can prove the defendant violated.

What Is the Sentence for Vehicular Homicide in Georgia?

First-degree vehicular homicide carries a prison term of three to 15 years. When a habitual violator causes a death while driving on a revoked license, the range increases to five to 20 years. Second-degree vehicular homicide is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to one thousand dollars. Sentencing depends on the facts, the defendant's prior record, and other details. Outcomes vary from case to case.

Is Vehicular Manslaughter the Same as Vehicular Homicide in Georgia?

Georgia law does not use the term vehicular manslaughter as a formal charge. People commonly use it to refer to vehicular homicide – particularly second-degree vehicular homicide. In some cases, prosecutors may instead charge involuntary manslaughter when the facts support it. The charges carry different penalties and different elements that the State must prove. Ask a lawyer which charge you are facing. The defense strategy may differ depending on which statute applies.

What Defenses Can a Vehicular Homicide Attorney Raise in a Georgia Case?

Defenses depend on the facts of the case and the predicate offense alleged. Common strategies include challenging the underlying traffic violation and disputing causation by showing an intervening cause or another driver's fault. Attorneys also analyze electronic data recorder data and accident reconstruction evidence. They may raise Fourth Amendment challenges to blood draws in cases built on driving under the influence. A defense attorney may also challenge witness credibility and the reliability of the State's crash investigation. The defenses that fit vary with the facts. A full case review is needed.

Speak With a Georgia Vehicular Homicide Attorney

Vehicular homicide cases move quickly. Police pull the black box data, collect physical evidence from the scene, and talk to witnesses in the hours and days after a fatal crash. Once that evidence is in hand, challenging it gets harder. Early involvement by a defense attorney can help preserve critical data and protect your rights from the start.

The stakes in a first-degree vehicular homicide case are severe. A conviction carries a prison term of three to 15 years, depending on the facts. This is not a charge to face without experienced legal counsel.

Kohn & Yager LLC offers free consultations to people and families facing vehicular homicide charges in Georgia. Our vehicular homicide attorneys have tried these counts to a jury verdict in a Georgia Superior Court. On your first call, we will review the basic facts of your case. We will explain the charges and potential penalties. We will discuss what steps to take next. Call today to speak with a vehicular homicide attorney who handles these cases in Georgia Superior Courts.