A DUI can affect a Wisconsin resident's life on many levels. It can cause a person to lose the person's driver's license temporarily or indefinitely. It can lead to excessive court costs and fines that deplete a person's savings or cause the person to go into debt. It can require a period of incarceration that causes an individual to lose that person's job or other important relationships.
However, people can overcome DUI charges.. Individuals facing DUI can sometimes work with prosecutors to negotiate their charges and penalties to be less invasive on their daily lives.
More severe alcohol-related driving charges can have even greater impacts on the accused individuals' lives. When others are injured or killed, drunk driving charges can carry much more significant penalties. A person charged with a crime related to drunk driving can face long jail sentences and other severe criminal sanctions.
For example, a Wisconsin man was charged with multiple counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle when the vehicle he was allegedly driving suffered an accident and two of the passengers died. An additional passenger was injured and for that the man is also facing an additional criminal count. Authorities allege that the man was driving more than 120 miles per hour at the time of the crash and that he was intoxicated.
Though prosecutors will have to prove the elements of each criminal charge, this man has an uphill battle to fight in defending his charges. People in a similar situation have the right to work with an attorney to prepare a defense to the charges brought against them.
Source: Twin Cities Pioneer Press, "Wisconsin man accused of driving drunk at 125 mph in fatal crash," May 22, 2014
