Vehicle Code (VC) 23152 criminalizes driving under the influence (DUI) and imposes severe penalties on convicted offenders. While the statute severely punishes offenders, particular factors in the case add to the punishment. One of the penalty-enhancing factors is DUI with a passenger under 14 under VC 23572. If you face penalty enhancement under this section, you risk additional and consecutive penalties on the standard DUI penalties. Besides, the prosecutor could charge you with an additional offense of endangering the life of a minor.

Therefore, you require an aggressive attorney to defend you against these penalties. At Monterey Criminal Attorney, we will explain all the likely outcomes of the charges and craft an elaborate scheme on the legal defenses to submit for a fair result.

Understanding DUI With a Child Younger than 14 as a Passenger

The law presumes children are innocent in all circumstances because their brains are not fully developed to differentiate right from wrong or comprehend the consequences of their actions. Children cannot defend themselves or make correct decisions without help from adults. Typically, minors stay under legal guardians' or parents' care and protection. Without legal guardians or biological parents, any adult close to a child should offer protection.

Unfortunately, children could suffer harm in the hands or care of those responsible for protecting them. The California legislature recognizes this, which is why it enacted statutes to safeguard the rights of minors. So, if, as an adult, you endanger or neglect a child’s needs, you risk additional penalties over the standard ones.

Drunk or drugged driving when a child younger than 14 is on board the vehicle endangers the minor’s life and is an aggravation of a standard DUI. Therefore, VEH 23572 is in place to safeguard young passengers from the unforeseen danger posed by DUI and discourage the habit by introducing additional punishment to offenders. Substances and alcohol impair your capacity to operate a car safely. Many car accident cases reported are caused by drunk driving. So, operating an automobile when impaired by substances or alcohol while a minor is on board endangers the life and well-being of the passenger because of the increased risk of an accident.

California statutes impose enhanced penalties for individuals who operate an automobile while intoxicated and with a minor as a passenger.  These penalties apply regardless of your driving pattern, your blood alcohol content (BAC), and whether you planned on harming the child.

If you face VC 23572 violation charges, you must hire a competent criminal attorney to defend you because you risk penalty enhancement on top of the standard DUI penalties.

Having the minor on board during the drunk driving is an aggravating circumstance. It worsens your offense, leading to more prolonged confinement and heftier fines. Again, you could face an additional count for child endangerment. A guilty verdict for the two violations results in two consecutive penalties.

VC 23572 Elements

The prosecutor or district attorney (DA) should demonstrate all the case’s facts to obtain a guilty verdict. The DA, acting for the state, has the burden of proof and must prove beyond moral certainty that you endangered a child’s life by operating an automobile while intoxicated. You will not be guilty if the prosecutor leaves room for doubt when proving the case’s facts. The elements the DA should prove are:

You Were Operating an Automobile While Impaired

The underlying aspect of a VC 23572 violation that the DA should demonstrate is that you were intoxicated, as it forms the basis for a guilty verdict. The prosecutor should show that you were drunk to be guilty of a VC 23572 violation.

California statutes that define DUI are VC 23152(a) and VC 23152(b). Under Section (a), an officer can stop you on suspicion of impaired driving and conduct multiple tests, including field sobriety tests (FSTs), to determine your intoxication levels. If the officer believes you are intoxicated, they will arrest you regardless of the BAC levels.

In contrast, Section (b) requires the arresting officer to conduct a breathalyzer or blood test to determine BAC levels. If the levels exceed the designated limit of .08%, the officer will face arrest and subsequent charges for violating VC 23152 (b).

An officer must corroborate their drunk driving suspicions using various tests. The first is the preliminary breath test, which gives the officer an estimate of your BAC. If the officers notice you are intoxicated, they will arrest you no matter the BAC level.

Another standard test is the FSTs. These are simple physical exercises to test your mobility.  These give the officer probable cause for an arrest, as a sober individual can efficiently perform them. Nevertheless, when you are intoxicated, you will record a low performance in the tests.

You should know that the tests are not mandatory. You can decline them, although declining them will result in harsher consequences if you are arrested and charged.

After arrest, the officer administers the breathalyzer test to establish the accurate BAC. They could also draw a blood or urine sample for chemical testing. Blood or urine tests are favorable because a sample is stored for future testing if you dispute the accuracy of the test results provided in court.

Once the officer collects sufficient evidence to demonstrate intoxicated driving, they will prepare a file containing all the evidence and submit it to the DA, who will decide the charges to lodge against you. The evidence the officer attaches to the file must be compelling and includes:

  • The police report
  • Surveillance footage showing your driving pattern or behavior
  • Breathalyzer or chemical test results

The officers can also include witness testimonies or statements to prove intoxication if there were people present during the chemical testing, traffic stop, or arrest. When an arrest happens at a sobriety checkpoint, the officer making the stop is usually the state witness, and they give testimony in court to show you are intoxicated.

During your charges, the prosecutor uses the police report and all the evidence in your file, including witness testimonies, to prove that you were intoxicated when you were driving.

The Car Occupant During Arrest Was A Minor Younger than 14

After furnishing the court with sufficient proof that you drove while intoxicated, the next element the prosecutor demonstrates is that a minor younger than 14 was on board. The DA findings on age must be accurate because you would not be guilty under VC 23572 if the child were older.

The DA will require the minor’s birth certificate or other additional documents the parent or legal guardian provides to prove the child’s age.

Nevertheless, the prosecutor will have challenges proving this element if you are not the passenger’s parent or guardian and cannot trace them. With no one to provide supporting documents, the DA should check with several registration officers to corroborate the car occupant’s age and name. The DA could also check with foster homes and adoption agencies to gather evidence to support the minor’s age. Besides, your risk of child abduction charges for having an unknown child in your vehicle.

It is possible to have a passenger younger than 14, even if you do not know their name or parents. For instance, you are driving home after a night of drinking and find a minor on the road and decide to give them a lift. Unfortunately, before arriving home, you are stopped at a sobriety checkpoint and arrested for drunk driving. Nevertheless, even after arrest, no one comes forward to claim the child, making it difficult for authorities to establish the child’s age to enable them to charge you with a VC 23572 violation. The prosecutor and officers must go through several data centers to identify the child and their age.

The DA will prove the element of age successfully if they provide legitimate legal documents supporting the minor’s age being below 14. Ensure that your attorney corroborates the accuracy and legitimacy of the records provided to deter false proof from being used in the trial.

Apart from birth certificates and legal documents, the prosecutor can rely on the passenger’s testimony to prove their age. The DA will ask a sequence of questions to determine the minor’s date of birth to show they are younger than 14.

You Knowingly Endangered the Child’s Life

The final aspect of the offense the DA should prove is that your conduct put the child’s life in danger or at risk of harm. If no one forced you to drive while intoxicated with the child occupying the car, you are guilty of a VC 23572 violation.

It is difficult for the prosecutor to demonstrate your state of mind while driving. So, they depend on circumstantial evidence and the facts the arresting officer provides. If the child were supposed to be elsewhere, like school, when you were arrested, it would be easy to prove you acted willfully. Again, if you forced or coerced the minor into the car, it means your actions were deliberate.

The evidence the DA depends on to prove this element includes:

  • Witness testimonies
  • Police report
  • Other investigative reports
  • Surveillance footages

VC 23572 Penalties

Having a child on board your vehicle while driving while impaired is considered an aggravation of the standard DUI. Therefore, when the DA demonstrates all the aspects of a VC 23572 violation beyond moral certainty, you risk sentence enhancement in addition to your standard DUI penalties as follows:

  • No more than 48 hours of jail confinement for a first-time offender
  • At most ten days of jail incarceration for a second-time offender
  • Mandatory thirty days of jail confinement for a third-time offender
  • Mandatory ninety days of jail confinement for a fourth or subsequent offense

These penalties are imposed in addition to those for baseline DUI offenses. For example, if it is your first drunk driving offense and you had on board a child younger than 14, the mandatory 48 hours of jail incarceration will be imposed on top of the following penalties for a first DUI violation:

  • 36 to 60 months of misdemeanor or formal probation
  • Mandatory DUI school for approximately three months
  • Monetary court fines of at most $2,000
  • Withdrawal of driving privileges for at most six months, although you can apply for a restricted permit immediately.
  • At most six months in jail

VC 23572 Aggravating Factors

Even though having a child below 14 as a passenger while driving while impaired is aggravating, you could face additional penalties in addition to the penalty enhancement for aggravating factors present in your case. The aggravating circumstances that could further enhance your VC 23572 penalties are:

  1. A BAC of at Least .15%

The legal BAC for adult motorists is .08% or less. Anything above this limit is unlawful, considering you incapable of operating an automobile safely. So, if your blood alcohol levels during arrest were .15%, it means you were excessively intoxicated and could have easily caused an accident. Therefore, this level of BAC is deemed an aggravating factor, primarily because of the danger you posed to your passenger, leading to additional and consecutive penalties.

  1. Declining DUI Tests

Declining preliminary screening, FSTs, or chemical tests aggravates your VC 23572 penalties, especially declining the tests after arrest. Declining these tests denies the officers the evidence they must submit to the prosecutor for formal charges. So, once you are charged, you risk additional penalties upon conviction for contempt of court or delay in court procedures.

Declining the tests could also infer that you are guilty of drinking and driving. Therefore, the prosecutor could rely on the preliminary findings to file charges. If found guilty, the court will impose additional penalties.

  1. Reckless Driving

If you demonstrate patterns of reckless driving while drunk or drugged driving with a minor as a passenger, you will attract harsher penalties when found guilty. The court considers the danger you put the child in through reckless driving to increase your penalties.

A Conviction for Both a VEH 23572 Violation and Child Endangerment

California PEN 273a defines child endangerment as knowingly putting a child in situations where they are likely to sustain harm or death. One of these instances is operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a minor below 14 on board. If you drive while impaired with a passenger younger than 14, you risk:

  • VEH 23572 penalty enhancement
  • Child endangerment under PEN 273a
  • Both PEN 273a and VEH 23572 violation charges

However, you cannot be convicted for two separate offenses because of the same conduct. The double jeopardy clause under PEN 687 prohibits the prosecutor from trying you for two separate crimes stemming from the same conduct. However, you risk conviction for both standard DUI without a passenger in the car and child endangerment. You risk the PEN 273a violation charges regardless of the minor’s age and whether the DUI is a misdemeanor or felony.

Child Endangerment Penalties

A PEN 273a violation is a wobbler, allowing the prosecutor to file it as a misdemeanor or felony contingent on the severity of your accusations and criminal record.

When drunk driving does not pose the threat of death or great bodily harm, the violation is chargeable as a misdemeanor whose guilty verdict carries at most half a year in jail and $1,000 in court fines.

In contrast, a felony PEN 273a violation attracts:

  • 24, 48, or 72 months of prison confinement
  • No more than $10,000 in court fines

Alternatively, the judge could impose 48 months of felony probation instead of prison confinement.

The prosecutor rarely charges child endangerment alongside VC 23572. They preserve PEN 273a chargers for severe cases. For instance, when you commit a DUI with a child under 14 in the vehicle and it happens to be your first offense, the prosecutor will charge you with a VEH 23572 violation. Nevertheless, when you have an extremely high BAC, and you are a repeat offender, the DA could charge you with child endangerment instead of VC 23572 for DUI with a minor younger than 14 on board. Consult your DUI attorney immediately after arrest to negotiate with the prosecutor for a lesser charge that does not attract severe penalties.

Contesting VEH 23572 Charges

Penalty enhancement under VEH 23572 happens when the prosecutor proves that you drove while intoxicated in contravention of VC 23152(a) or 23152(b).

An experienced attorney will convince the court to drop your charges or reduce your penalties using the following legal defenses:

  • You were not operating the vehicle
  • You had rising BAC
  • Police lacked probable cause for arrest
  • The breathalyzer was not correctly calibrated
  • The intoxication signs the officer relied on were for a medical condition and not drunk driving

Child Custody Issues

If you were only giving the child a lift when you were arrested, you would not have child custody issues. However, if the passenger in the vehicle is your child, you will have problems with child protection services. The agency will investigate if you have primary custody of the child and cancel the primary care obligation when necessary.

Therefore, you should take VC 23572 sentence enhancement seriously and ensure you win to avoid losing child custody.

However, before the CPS revokes your custody, they review the VEH 23572 sentencing report to understand your offense's circumstances. Besides, they will assess your home and conduct background checks to ensure the child’s safety. You should cooperate with CPS investigators but avoid disclosing self-incriminating information. The goals of the investigators include:

  • Checking if your house is safe
  • Finding out whether you are struggling with alcohol or substance addiction
  • Interview individuals around you to establish if you have a drunken or drugged driving habit
  • Find out if you are brutal to the child
  • Establish if you provide the minor basic needs like food, shelter, education, and clothing

Ensure that your criminal attorney is present when answering questions because some will be intrusive and could offend you.

When seeking the services of an attorney, ensure that you find one with experience handling the VEH 23572 case. It will be disheartening if you lose child custody. Therefore, you want a legal representative who has dealt with situations like these because they understand how to help you retain custody.

Court Processes in DUI with a Child Under 14 On Board

VC 23572 is a sentence enhancement that provides additional penalties for a standard DUI offense. So, when charged with a DUI, you will attract additional penalties over the baseline offense for having a passenger younger than 14 on board. The processes leading to VC 23572 sentence enhancement include:

Police Investigations

DUI investigations start in various ways, including:

  • A traffic stop due to a car-related issue
  • A traffic stop due to a violation
  • A car accident where police respond

After the stop, the officers look for intoxication signs like mouth odor, red-shot eyes, slurred speech, and a flashed face. When the officer observes these signs, they conduct further investigations, including FSTs and breath tests.

The Arrest

Once police have probable cause for arrest, they will take you to the nearest station or hospital for the chemical tests. Breath test results will be out immediately, while the blood or urine test takes some days.

After arrest, you will be released on bail or your own recognizance. Nevertheless, before pretrial release, the officer will send your file to the DA, who will analyze your case to decide on the preferred charge. You will be released without bail if no charges are lodged against you.

DMV Proceeding

After arrest, police confiscate your license and send it to the DMV. You should request a hearing with the DMV within ten days to avoid default license suspension in 30 days.

The Court Procedure

If the evidence against you is sufficient to file charges, the prosecutor will file formal charges in court. The process is lengthy and complex. Also, the stakes are high because an unfavorable outcome could result in incarceration, hefty fines, and loss of child custody. Therefore, you require an experienced attorney to guide you through the process for a fair verdict.

Find a DUI Defense Attorney Near Me

When you face drunk or drugged driving charges with an allegation that a minor younger than 14 was on board the vehicle when you drove, you should consult with an experienced criminal lawyer because you risk penalty enhancement if found guilty. Contingent on the case’s facts, you could face an additional charge of child endangerment or lose child custody. We understand the penalties at stake at Monterey Criminal Attorney, so we will negotiate for a charge reduction or favorable penalties. Contact us at 831-574-1791 to discuss your DUI with a passenger under 14 case.