California has what is known as an “implied” consent law. This means that by getting a California driver’s license, you agree to take to a breathalyzer test or a blood test to determine intoxication if suspected. While you can refuse the test, harsher DUI penalties can be a consequence if convicted. There are many reasons why police may not get a breathalyzer. Some people refuse. Other times, the DUI driver flees the scene. In such cases, police can use circumstantial evidence to prove DUI. They may also rely on field sobriety tests and witness statements to obtain evidence of DUI.
KTLA reports on an intoxicated driver who was sentenced to six years in prison for a hit and run crash.
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office announced on Friday that Brittnee Monique Crawford was sentenced to six years in prison. The sentencing came after Brittnee pleaded no contest to a charge of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
The charges stem from a pre-dawn accident in which Crawford struck and killed Paul Kevin Grover, 62, on Jan. 9, 2014.
Initially, Crawford told a witness to the collision that she would take the fatally wounded jogger to the hospital. However, the witness contacted police. When they arrived, Crawford fled from the scene on foot.
The witness described Crawford as highly intoxicated and police found evidence indicating intoxication inside the vehicle.
Crawford was not caught and arrested for the crime until January 2018. She was not charged with DUI because prosecutors said it would be “virtually impossible” to prove DUI without breathalyzer or blood evidence of intoxication.
In the two years while Crawford was evading police, they built the case against her. This resulted in a warrant being issued for her arrest in 2016, but police were unable to find her. When Crawford was arrested in 2018, police also arrested her boyfriend, who was accused of lying to detectives who were trying to locate the suspect.
