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by Coppermine » Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:59 am luckygehrig wrote:Coppermine wrote:I don't know of anywhere that DUI is considered a felony. The determination is whether or not a crime has been committed, and a misdemeanor is a crime. Your friend doesn't need to worry about a felony charge... if DUI were a felony, there would be A LOT of non-eligible voters in this county (including our very own president).
Most states have accelerated deposition... that is, you basically pay a buttload of fines, take classes and lose your license for "only" a year, but charges are dropped provided you stay DUI free for up to 7 or more years.
The only chance a felony may be involved is if personal injury resulted. Of course it varies from state-to-state, but I know that a DUI conviction does NOT result in a felony conviction.
Not sure how it is everywhere else, but in Nevada there definitely are felony DUIs. If it's a DUI accident causing serious injury or death, it's a felony. If it's your 3rd DUI it's a felony. I'm pretty sure that there's one more instance where it could be a felony, but I have to get back to studying Spanish. And maybe the DA is still deciding whether or not to press charges. Although I think it would be almost mandatory for them to do it with a DUI seeing as how it's such a hot topic issue. They might be looking at other charges to tack on if any as well.
I should have made that point more clear; certainly a DUI may result in a felony if there is personal injury and/or significant property damage and I did forget to mention that in some states, but not all, a felony may result after several DUI convictions... I believe most states will charge you with a felony after 3.
However, the poster was worried whether or not his friend's DUI may be a felony if they sent a paper saying "determining if criminal charges will be filed." Now I'm not sure if misdemeanors were considered "criminal charges" and I don't think they are. I believe the paper may be a formality in all DUI cases to determine if a felony may result if certain conditions are met, such as personal injury or multiple offenses.
