Vehicular Assault under New York Penal Law 120.03 and 120.04

Vehicular assault charges are usually added to felony or misdemeanor DWI complaints where there has been an injury to someone other than the driver of the vehicle as a result of an alcohol- or drug-related accident.  For example, in People v. Mojica, 62 A.D.3d 100, the defendant allegedly “drove a pickup truck through a red traffic light and struck a marked patrol car driven by a city police officer, Richard Poluzzi. Officer Poluzzi, who was removed from the scene by ambulance and transported to St. Francis Hospital, suffered head injuries and spent one month in an in-patient rehabilitation facility before returning to work six months after the accident, in January 2007.”
The elements of the basic charge, PL 120.03, are as follows:
§ 120.03 Vehicular assault in the second degree.
A  person  is guilty of vehicular assault in the second degree when he
or she causes serious physical injury to another person, and either:
(1) operates a motor vehicle in violation of subdivision  two,  three,
four  or  four-a of section eleven hundred ninety-two of the vehicle and
traffic law or operates a  vessel  or  public  vessel  in  violation  of
paragraph   (b),   (c),  (d)  or  (e)  of  subdivision  two  of  section
forty-nine-a of the navigation law, and as a result of such intoxication
or impairment by the use of a drug, or  by  the  combined  influence  of
drugs  or of alcohol and any drug or drugs, operates such motor vehicle,
vessel or public vessel in a manner that causes  such  serious  physical
injury to such other person, or
(2)  operates  a  motor  vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of
more  than  eighteen  thousand  pounds  which  contains  flammable  gas,
radioactive  materials  or explosives in violation of subdivision one of
section eleven hundred ninety-two of the vehicle and  traffic  law,  and
such  flammable gas, radioactive materials or explosives is the cause of
such serious physical injury, and as a result of such impairment by  the
use of alcohol, operates such motor vehicle in a manner that causes such
serious physical injury to such other person, or
(3) operates a snowmobile in violation of paragraph (b), (c) or (d) of
subdivision  one  of section 25.24 of the parks, recreation and historic
preservation law or operates  an  all  terrain  vehicle  as  defined  in
paragraph   (a)   of  subdivision  one  of  section  twenty-two  hundred
eighty-one  of  the  vehicle  and  traffic  law  and  in  violation   of
subdivision  two,  three,  four,  or  four-a  of  section eleven hundred
ninety-two of the vehicle and traffic law,  and  as  a  result  of  such
intoxication  or  impairment  by  the  use of a drug, or by the combined
influence of drugs or of alcohol and any drug or  drugs,  operates  such
snowmobile  or  all terrain vehicle in a manner that causes such serious
physical injury to such other person.
If it is established that the person  operating  such  motor  vehicle,
vessel,  public  vessel,  snowmobile  or all terrain vehicle caused such
serious physical injury while unlawfully intoxicated or impaired by  the
use  of  alcohol or a drug, then there shall be a rebuttable presumption
that, as a result of such intoxication  or  impairment  by  the  use  of
alcohol  or  a drug, or by the combined influence of drugs or of alcohol
and any drug or drugs, such person operated the motor  vehicle,  vessel,
public vessel, snowmobile or all terrain vehicle in a manner that caused
such serious physical injury, as required by this section.
Vehicular assault in the second degree is a class E felony.
The enhanced class D felony of Vehicular Assault in the First Degree requires first the commission of second-degree vehicular assault, but also requires the presence of at least one of 6 different “bump-up” circumstances, including (i) committing the crime after “blowing” a .18 or higher (Penal Law 120.04(1)); (ii) committing the crime with knowledge that your driver’s license is suspended (Penal Law 120.04(2)); (iii) committing the offense with a prior DWI on your record (Penal Law 120.04(3)); (iv) causing “serious physical injury” to another person (Penal Law 120.04(4)); (v) committing the offense with a prior homicide on your record (Penal Law 120.04(5));  or (vi) committing the offense with a child 15 years of age or younger as a passenger (Penal Law 120.04(6)).
One of the best strategies for defeating the charge at trial would seemingly be to challenge the DWI element.   Other strategies would probably entail challenging whether the injury was severe enough to constitute physical injury under the Penal Law definition.
If you or a loved one has been arrested for DWI or Vehicular Assault, your best bet will always be to consult with an experienced DWI lawyer before proceeding.
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