Motor Vehicle Homicide Defense Attorney Massachusetts

Motor vehicle homicide is one of the most serious charges a driver can face in Massachusetts. We defend people charged with motor vehicle homicide, and with other motor vehicle offenses throughout Greater Boston and Eastern Massachusetts.

Being charged with motor vehicle homicide is serious, and the decisions you make in the first days after a charge matter. We have defended people facing motor vehicle homicide charges for over 30 years in Massachusetts courts.

If you are reading this, a crash has taken someone's life, and you are the one being blamed for it. You may be grieving, frightened, and replaying every second of what happened. All of that can be true at once.

We represent good people who have had a really bad day, and few days are harder than this one. Most people charged with motor vehicle homicide never meant to hurt anyone.

Two features of Massachusetts law catch people off guard. The charge does not require any intent to harm anyone, and one form of it requires only ordinary negligence. At the same time, the Commonwealth must prove that your driving actually caused the death, and that question is often where these cases are decided.

If you are looking at charging documents, the first thing to know is that motor vehicle homicide is not a single charge. Massachusetts law divides it into separate offenses, and the one you are charged with shapes everything that follows.

Massachusetts recognizes three forms of motor vehicle homicide, based on whether the Commonwealth alleges impairment, negligence, or recklessness, along with a separate manslaughter charge for deaths caused by impaired driving. Every form requires proof that the driving happened on a public way or in a place open to the public, and that it caused the death of another person. Our guide to the motor vehicle homicide statute walks through its text in detail.

This is the most serious form of motor vehicle homicide. The Commonwealth must prove that you were operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or with a blood alcohol level of .08 or greater, and that you were also driving negligently or recklessly so that the lives or safety of the public might be endangered.

It is a felony. Upon conviction, Massachusetts law requires a sentence of at least one year that cannot be suspended, with no probation or parole until that year is served.

This charge requires no impairment at all. The Commonwealth must prove that you drove recklessly, which means more than careless driving: that you knew, or should have known, your driving posed a grave danger of death or serious injury to others, and that you chose to run that risk anyway.

It is a felony, but unlike the charge above, it carries no mandatory minimum sentence.

This charge can rest on either of two things: negligent driving alone, or impaired driving alone. The Commonwealth must prove that you drove in a way a reasonable person would not have and so created an unnecessary danger, or that you were under the influence or at .08 or greater, and that this driving caused the death.

The negligence standard is the same one used in operating to endanger cases: whether you drove as a reasonably careful driver would have under the same circumstances.

It is a misdemeanor, and a judge can impose probation rather than jail. But it cannot be resolved with a continuance without a finding or placed on file.

This separate charge is brought when the Commonwealth alleges both impaired driving and manslaughter. Manslaughter requires wanton or reckless conduct: intentional conduct that created a high degree of likelihood that substantial harm would result to another person. Negligence, even gross negligence, is not enough.

It is the most serious charge in this area. Upon conviction, Massachusetts law imposes a mandatory minimum of five years in state prison.

We know you are already thinking about what happens next. Here is what Massachusetts law allows, so that nothing catches you by surprise.

Motor vehicle homicide under the influence. Upon conviction, state prison for two and a half to 15 years, or jail or a house of correction for one to two and a half years, with a fine of up to $5,000 in either case. The sentence cannot be reduced below one year or suspended.

Reckless motor vehicle homicide. Up to two and a half years in a house of correction, or up to five years in state prison, or a fine of up to $3,000, or both a fine and imprisonment.

Misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide. Jail or a house of correction for 30 days to two and a half years, a fine of $300 to $3,000, or both. The 30 day minimum applies only if a judge imposes jail time, and probation is available.

Manslaughter while under the influence. Upon conviction, state prison for five to 20 years and a fine of up to $25,000. The sentence cannot be reduced below five years or suspended, with no probation or parole until five years are served.

No continuance without a finding. No form of motor vehicle homicide can be continued without a finding or placed on file. That makes early work on the facts, and on which charge the evidence actually supports, especially important.

Your license. A motor vehicle homicide conviction requires the Registry to revoke your license for 15 years, or for life after a subsequent conviction. An appeal does not put the revocation on hold, but the license is restored if the case ultimately ends in your favor. After a manslaughter conviction, the Registry may suspend for at least 15 years and up to life.

At arraignment. If the prosecution shows at arraignment that a breath or blood test measured .08 or more, the judge must suspend your license until the case ends, for up to 30 days. If it shows you refused a test, the suspension is 180 days, and longer for anyone under 21 or with a prior OUI conviction.

A fatal crash can also lead to separate charges of operating under the influence or leaving the scene, each with its own consequences. A conviction also becomes part of your criminal record and your driving history, and for anyone who is not a U.S. citizen, any plea or disposition should be reviewed for immigration consequences before it is accepted.

A charge is not a conviction. These cases often turn on a few seconds of driving and on hard questions about cause, and both can be examined and challenged.

Right now it may feel as though the outcome is already decided, because someone died. It is not. The Commonwealth must prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt, and there are real defenses available.

Your driving did not cause the death. Causation is a separate element with two parts, explained below, and it is often where these cases are decided.

The driving was not negligent. A crash, even a fatal one, is not by itself evidence of negligence. The Commonwealth must show how it happened and that the negligence was yours.

The driving was not reckless. For the reckless felony and for manslaughter, careless driving is not enough. Showing that the driving did not rise to that level can be the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor.

A sudden emergency. When a driver has to make a split-second decision in an emergency, the question is whether they acted as a reasonable person would in that emergency, not how it looks in hindsight.

The impairment evidence. For the charges that depend on alcohol or drugs, the Commonwealth must prove impairment or a blood alcohol level of .08 or greater. Breath and blood tests, field sobriety tests, and officer opinions can all be examined and challenged.

The crash reconstruction. Fatal crash cases usually rely on a police reconstruction of what happened. An independent reconstruction, vehicle data, road conditions, and video can show a very different sequence of events.

You were not the driver, or the location element is missing. The Commonwealth must prove you were operating the vehicle, and that the driving happened on a public way or in a place open to the public.

Unlawfully obtained evidence. If the stop, a search, a blood draw, or police questioning did not follow the law, that evidence can be challenged and may be suppressed.

Every case is different. Call (978) 969-2890 to talk through your situation and your options.

In a motor vehicle homicide case, proving how you were driving is only half the case. The Commonwealth must also prove that your driving caused the death, and Massachusetts law breaks that into two separate questions.

First, the Commonwealth must prove that the death would not have occurred but for your conduct. Your driving must have been necessary to bring it about.

If the death would have happened even without what you did, you are not responsible for it. The timing of events, the medical evidence, and what others were doing can all bear on this question.

Second, the Commonwealth must prove that a reasonable person in your position would have foreseen that the conduct could result in serious injury or death. It does not have to prove that the exact way the harm happened was foreseeable, but the death must have been a natural and probable consequence of what you did.

The other driver's negligence, or the negligence of the person who died, does not excuse you if your driving was also a cause. It matters when it was the sole cause of the death. Where more than one cause was at work, how events unfolded in the final seconds is often the heart of the defense.

If you have just been arrested, released, or received a summons, take a breath. Here is what you need to do right now.

● Don't talk to police without a lawyer present, even if an officer says the questions are routine.
● Don't discuss your case with anyone except your attorney.
● Don't contact the family of the person who died, even to express sorrow, until you have talked with us.
● Ask us before filing the crash report. Massachusetts law requires a written report within five days of a crash involving a death, and what you write can become evidence.
● If your license was taken at arraignment, call us right away, because a request for a hearing on that suspension must be made within ten days.
● Talk to us before repairing or releasing your vehicle, because its condition and its data can be important evidence.
● Preserve evidence that might help, such as dashcam footage, photographs of the road and your vehicle, and the names of any witnesses.
● Write down everything you remember while it is fresh: the route, the time, the weather and lighting, and the traffic around you.
● Don't post about the crash or your case on social media.
● Follow all court orders and conditions of release.

Contact an experienced Massachusetts criminal defense attorney. Call (978) 969-2890. Phones answered 24/7 by a real person.

You do not have to carry this alone. Alongside the legal defense, we can connect you with counseling and support for what you are going through.

Acting early gives your lawyer the best chance to secure video and vehicle data before they are lost, and to reach witnesses while their memories are fresh.