Driving is a privilege that people have deemed a right and some believe it is even okay to drink and drive having a license gives no one the right to endanger lives. With PEOPLE v. WATSON, the defendant had multiple DUI’s and was found guilty of second degree murder based on a theory of “implied malice. ” This case left a precedent of ensuring that every person caught driving under the influence faces prosecution by signing a “Watson Advisement.
However, there is enough educational warning about the dangers of driving under the influence that even in the first DUI a person should be charged with deeper punishment. After reading statistics like this the average person realizes there’s nothing they can do to protect themselves; thus solidifying that a driver under the influence is at the most fault. In California, there are three felony driving under the influence charges that involve the death of another person.
These include second-degree murder, also known as “Watson” murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Of these three felony charges, a Watson murder is the most serious offense and has the harshest penalties “Watson murder” branches from the California Supreme Court Case People v. Watson. This case shaped the possibility that someone can be convicted of second-degree murder when killing someone in a crash while driving.
The three essentials that the prosecution must prove to convict someone of Watson murder include: 1) that the death resulted from an intentional act, (2) the natural consequences of that act are dangerous to human life, and (3) you knowingly acted with conscious disregard to that fact. There need not be intent to kill another human being. The hardest to prove is Implied Malice, meaning the person acted with a conscious disregard for another human’s life. If convicted of a DUI second-degree Warson murder the person faces penalties ranging from 15 years to life in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, and a strike on your record under California Three Strikes Law.
Today, we obey the laws but we must be forewarned before punished to the fullest effect for breaking the laws. In the PEOPLE v. WATSON signing a “Watson Advisement” must make the second offense more punishable but people shouldn’t be allowed the chance of a second offense. From a young age warnings about driving under the influence are as common as the “ABC’s. ” In the California Driver’s Handbook there is an in depth section about alcohol, drugs, and how they don’t mix with driving.
On majority of freeways and highways there are billboards with warnings about driving under the influence. There are countless organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Students Against Drunk Driving(SADD), Dads Against Drunk Driving (DADD), and Families of Murdered Victims working against drinking and driving by spreading awareness continuously. Liquor stores, bars, and restaurants have warning signs. When stepping behind the wheel while intoxicated there is no way a person wouldn’t realize what they’re doing is dangerous and if they don’t they shouldn’t drink.
DUI cases are handled like pedophilia and rape cases: the defendant gets off the hook through some obscure loophole or malarkey reason and spends maybe a few years in prison or even just probation only to commit the crime again. When a person is arrested for a DUI they are held for a period of time to sober up and released on bail with a court date. A DUI without injury is a slap on the wrist of fines, loss of their driver’s license for approximately six months, and attendance of DUI Classes, which is not a lesson learned.
In California, approximately 34% of people will repeat the same offence. Because the lack of severity for punishment in our DUI laws people still push the limits of what they can do under the influence. The average number of people who die annually in drunk driving crashes should show us that our laws must be stricter and account for plenty of forewarning that if you drive a vehicle after consuming alcohol or other substances you or more likely to injure or kill yourself or another person. It is proven that the body lacks control and response when altering the state of mind.
As a parent, we teach our children every day to do good, be a good person. We also teach them not to harm others or themselves. DUI crashes are not an accident. An accident is a mistake that people can recover from and an apology can heal. When a person drinks, and gets behind the wheel of a vehicle they take the risk of every individual out on the road in their hands. I sat on the board for MADD Orange County for three years. Being the Chair Person for their annual “Walk Like MADD” fundraiser and speaking at the events I had empathy for the families and friends of people who lost their lives.
At this point I had never had this experience so I didn’t quite understand the full of what the laws meant to these people. On February 15th of this year my son and his girlfriend were driving home from dropping a friend off. His girlfriend 18 years old driving and my son 19 the passenger. Laughing enjoying each other’s company made my fears come to life. They were hit by a 27-year-old man who got in his vehicle while intoxicated and drove through these kid’s car. The young girl was ejected from the vehicle and passed away after three brain surgeries and a week in the hospital on life support.
My son was taken by ambulance to a trauma center where he was patched up spent the night in the hospital all along not knowing the status of his girlfriend. My son and I spent the next month grieving with feelings of guilt of “why her, what happened, what if”, attending counseling, church and staying up at night just holding him while he cried and hated himself for surviving. He has had to postpone going to the Navy as his spine is fractured. Yes, I am grateful he is alive and yes, he wished he had dies. At first I wanted this 27-year-old man who hit my kids to suffer. After a few months’ time, I now know it is not suffering I want.
It is that I want him and every other person who gets in a car while intoxicated to know that they are destroying their own lives and the families they injure. We all know better than to drink and drive. That is why so many people have not been cited for a DUI. Raising children is a hard task and to have someone take all that hard work, love and future and take them away from you is devastating. The law says it is hard to prove a person driving while drunk must be forewarned that their actions could kill. With the resources, today there is no excuse for driving intoxicated.
There are free and inexpensive ride services. The forewarning that drinking impairs driving is on ever alcohol label, in every bar, liquor store, Billboard, and in our schools. California produces the least amount of “Don’t Drink and Drive” advertisement of other states and countries and you still see it at every turn of your head including over ten pages in the DMV handbook that most must study before getting a license. People should not need any more warning that driving while intoxicated can hurt themselves or other people. If we have harsher punishments and stop sheltering people they might take our laws serious.
