A 27-year-old man was sentenced to 55 days in jail for violating his probation in a 2014 DUI case. The violation occurred in 2015 when the man crashed his 2006 Mazda 6 near Pittsburgh. A 23-year-old passenger died in the accident, and the man was charged with vehicular manslaughter. In the 2014 case, authorities say that the man had a blood alcohol content of .20 percent when he got into an accident in Stafford.
His blood alcohol level at the time of the 2015 crash was reportedly somewhere between .16 percent and .18 percent. He had told authorities at the time that he had swerved to avoid what he thought was an animal in the road. Authorities also said that he admitted to drinking prior to driving. Both the driver and the passenger had been consuming alcohol at the Seven Springs Resort and were on their way back to a vacation home when the crash occurred.
The judge presiding over the 2014 case said that he imposed the sentence because there was still no trial date in the case involving the Pittsburgh fatal crash. It is believed that the driver will serve only half of the 55-day sentence because the charge in the 2014 case is a misdemeanor. He was free on bond while awaiting trial on the vehicular manslaughter charge.
The penalties that a person may face in a DWI case can range from a fine to jail time. Other penalties may include the loss of driving privileges, probation and community service. An attorney may help a driver obtain a favorable outcome in his or her case by getting evidence suppressed or casting doubt on evidence admitted in the matter. This may result in a plea deal or a case being dismissed outright.
