DUI and Child Endangerment in California

 Posted on February 06, 2015 in DUI

In those DUI cases in which a person is driving while drunk with a minor child below the age of 14, he is exposing himself to not just charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, but also felony or misdemeanor charges of child endangerment.

Under California law, it is illegal to drive under the influence of alcohol anyway. However, when you are breaking the law, and also have a minor in your car with you, the charges against you are aggravated. You are eligible for charges of child endangerment to be filed against you. You don't have to be involved in an alcohol-related car accident for these charges to be filed against you.

The law will not look at your intentions while driving under the influence of alcohol, or any of the excuses that you provide for driving with a minor in your car while intoxicated. It will not even consider the effects of the results of your intoxicated driving. California law will only look at whether you had a child below the age of 14 in your car at the time that you were driving under the influence.

A conviction of child endangerment however will depend heavily on the conviction for DUI. In other words, if you are not convicted of DUI, then the child endangerment charges will not stick either. For this however, it is important for your attorney to get your DUI charges dismissed or lowered, so that the child endangerment charges will not apply to you.

If, however, you are convicted of DUI and child endangerment, then you will be eligible for the DUI penalties that would normally apply to your case. Besides this, you will also be eligible for jail time for your child endangerment conviction.

If you are arrested for DUI, speak with a Los Angeles DUI lawyer about your legal options.