In California, if a DUI accident results in the death of another person, the charge the driver might be facing is called gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. In order for the prosecution to prove this, they must prove that the driver was intoxicated, killed another person, and committed a grossly negligent act. The grossly negligent act must be separate from the DUI charge. For example, if an intoxicated person is speeding and hits another vehicle, killing a passenger, they may be charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. The minimum penalty for this charge is four years in state prison. The maximum penalty is ten years.
The Epoch Times reports on a boxing champion that received a 10-year sentence for a DUI accident that killed a pregnant mother of four.
On September 9, 2018, 29-year-old Marcos Forestal Coutin plowed his BMW head-on into a Chrysler minivan. The driver of the minivan, 29-year-old Krystil Kincaid, died in the hospital, along with her unborn child.
Immediately following the accident, while Kincaid was trapped, critically injured in her vehicle, Coutin live-streamed the accident site from his cell phone.
Coutin had been driving his BMW in the southbound lane at a high rate of speed and veered into the northbound lane, striking Kincaid. Kincaid was on the phone with her husband at the time, and he overheard the crash.
Coutin initially pleaded not guilty to the charges. However, he switched his plea to guilty of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in March.
On June 28th, Coutin was sentenced to the maximum time allowable under the law of 10 years.
