Moms and Intoxication Manslaughter
Demetrio Duarte and Tim Molina recently handled a case that illustrates how our world continues to change. We regularly hear about individuals charged with intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault. We think about alcoholics who get out of a bar at 2:00 a.m., stumble to a car, drive onto the roadway and collide with an innocent driver when the drunk runs a red light driving 85 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour speed zone. However, this is not always the case.
This case involved a nice lady who was said to be intoxicated when she killed an innocent person on the highway. Every intoxication manslaughter case has consequences on each side of the equation. The victim was someone’s dad, father, boss, cousin, neighbor and families were eternally harmed. A life is gone; a family is destroyed; an income earner is missing from the budget; and a downward spiral begins.
But how does an intoxication manslaughter case affect the accused driver? In 2019, attorney Demetrio Duarte handled 3 intoxication manslaughter cases involving 2 single women and 1 married woman. Each very nice lady had children - - all who suffered because mom was arrested for driving while intoxicated and a collision led to someone dying. Each client suffered emotionally with the mental trauma of being involved in a fatal collision. Each client lost their job and needed family support to handle the practical decisions in their lives.
In this case, one small piece of a puzzle was put to bed for a devastated client with multiple legal problems stemming from an intoxication manslaughter accusation. As in most cases, the defendant was sued civilly for causing someone’s death. But the twist in this case involved a client who was also sued for divorce. The intoxication manslaughter case, the wrongful death action and the divorce are each individual matters in 3 different courts. Like many other women in her same position, our client had to face all of those consequences. While families want millions of dollars in compensation for a lost loved one, most drivers have an automobile liability policy that pays a maximum of $35,000.00 for a single claim. The State of Texas typically wants to send all defendants to prison - - where a maximum punishment is 20 years confinement. And in divorces, the offended spouse wants to take all of a defendant’s marital property and parental rights because the defendant is presumed to be a danger to herself, her community and her own children.
In this case, attorneys Demetrio Duarte and Tim Molina resolved a wrongful death claim and protected a mother’s rights to her children and her marital property. DWI has not been a man-only crime for decades. But recently, the number of women accused of intoxication manslaughter has increased. The collateral consequences of being sued, getting divorced, losing children, losing homes and losing jobs are always devastating. Luckily, Demetrio Duarte and Tim Molina were able to avoid catastrophic consequences for their client. With effective and experienced attorneys at her side, this client’s property rights, parental rights and civil damages in a wrongful death case were effectively managed. Everyone accused of intoxication manslaughter has rights in the civil and criminal courts. And thankfully another client’s rights were protected by Demetrio Duarte and Tim Molina.