California residents who are seriously injured or who experience the death of their loved ones due to the negligence of intoxicated or drugged drivers should be able to trust in the legal system to help them achieve some sort of compensation and justice for their unnecessary losses and suffering. While this may seem logical to most people, the reality is that in some cases, achieving this sense of justice may take many years.
Such is the case for the family of one man who was killed by a drunk driver and for two other individuals who were injured in the same crash. The wreck took place almost three and a half years ago along a stretch of the U.S. Highway 101 when the drunk driver hit a cab in a head-on collision. At the time of the accident, the intoxicated driver’s blood alcohol content was found to be 0.13 percent in the lowest reading taken and as high as 0.16 percent in others.
The defendant’s legal team worked hard to have the blood tests declared inadmissable as evidence and it was only after the California Supreme Court ruled that the tests were usable that the man was able to be convicted and sentenced. He will spend 56 months in state prison and so far must pay more than $418,000 to one family. More financial restitution may be ordered.
While no amount of money can bring back a person from death, working with a lawyer to seek some compensation may help California families who are in this type of situation.
Source: PaloAltoOnline.com, “Former Stanford student gets prison for fatal DUI,” Sue Dremann, January 26, 2018