Restitution to Victims in California DUI Cases
Understanding the scope of restitution in DUI cases, particularly in Los Angeles, can be a complex task. It's crucial to grasp that any financial loss incurred by a party due to a DUI accident is typically the responsibility of the driver. This underscores the need for expert legal advice in such situations.
Then, most of the time, we'll see that this has to do with some accident that you were involved in. Part of any resolution in the case will be that you have to pay restitution to any victims related to the DUI case.
The law presumes that anybody who gets in a DUI accident is responsible for the accident. Reasonable evidence would have to refute that presumption.
A perfect example would be my DUI case, where my client was driving along intoxicated. He was over a .08, and somebody made an illegal left-hand turn in front of him, and there was an accident.
The police came to the scene. I asked my client whether he'd been drinking. They gave the field sobriety test and tested his breath, and he was over a .08, so he was arrested for a DUI. Of course, the greedy prosecutors were trying to hold him responsible for the restitution.
But, I was able to show that there's a sign right in the middle of the street where the person turned left that you cannot make a left-hand turn there, so we were able to rebut the presumption in that case, and my client did not have to pay restitution to the alleged victim in the case.
But it can be challenging. Sometimes, you've got a sign right there clearly showing that the person drove right over where they're not allowed to go.
So, in most cases, the person's going to have to pay restitution, and what that means is, if the other party or parties is out any property damage or any additional money out of their pocket, then the DUI driver will have to compensate the person.
Insurance plays a significant role in DUI cases. If the victim has insurance, the driver may argue that the insurance company covered the restitution. This highlights the importance of being financially prepared for such situations.
Insurance and DUI Victim Restitution
The issue will be whether the person is out any money that needs to be covered by insurance.
Let's say they get their car taken care of, but they have a $500.00 deductible and have to pay that out of their pocket. As the DUI driver responsible for the accident, you would be responsible for paying that money.
Let's say you or they didn't have any insurance. Then you would be responsible for paying the money. This situation underscores the importance of having insurance, as without it, you would be personally responsible for all the damages and restitution. If they had insurance, their insurance company would take care of their restitution, but they would still be liable for the damages they caused.
If so, you would likely be responsible for paying the restitution. Still, that restitution would go to the insurance company because they lost money because of your negligent DUI driving.
Most of the laws related to restitution and DUIs are all slanted toward the victims. The one thing that the victims can't get is they can't get pain and suffering in a criminal case.
They could undoubtedly sue you civilly and claim that not only did you claim property damage, but you also caused them to suffer a great deal because of the injury, and in that case, they could try to get the money civilly from you.
Civil Lawsuit By A DUI Victim
Criminal and civil are paralleled often, so we'll get cases where it's a DUI. Somebody gets hurt. Their car is damaged.
They lose time from work and get a personal injury attorney trying to get the money from either the defendant in the case or the defendant's insurance company, and so a lot of times, I have to deal with those attorneys. It's a real pain trying to deal with them because they're trying to get as much money as possible.
They're trying to show that the person they're representing is seriously hurt because they want to drive that restitution up as high as they can, and that creates a big problem for the criminal defendant because prosecutors are usually listening to what the personal injury is saying, listening to what the victim in the DUI case is saying so sometimes they're trying to get more restitution than the person is entitled to.
So, that's where you'll need an attorney to fight them and challenge them at every step. As part of any deal in a DUI case, you're going to have to admit liability for purposes of restitution. Your attorney will play a crucial role in challenging the amount of restitution, ensuring that you are not unfairly burdened with excessive financial obligations.
But when it comes to paying the restitution and how much the refund is, we try to get that locked in before you make a deal on a DUI case most of the time. Sometimes, that's not reasonably possible to do.
Restitution Hearing
The one good thing is that you are entitled to a restitution hearing even after you plead guilty in a DUI case. At this hearing, the judge determines how much the restitution is and whether the victim has provided a certain amount of refund. This hearing is an opportunity for your attorney to present evidence and arguments to support a fair and reasonable restitution amount.
So, that would mean the victim would have to get on the witness stand and submit documents to the court and the prosecutor showing how much money came out of their pocket due to their DUI conduct.
So, if you have a case and it looks like you'll be owed a lot of restitution, you want your attorney to be there for you and try to do everything they can to limit your exposure and the damages related to your DUI criminal case.