Greeley Vehicular Assault and Homicide Defense Lawyer

A vehicular assault or vehicular homicide charge in Weld County carries weight that most criminal charges simply do not. These cases combine the complexity of serious felony prosecution with accident reconstruction science, toxicology disputes, and often, enormous public pressure on prosecutors to secure a conviction. Reid DeChant has handled serious felony cases at both the public defender level and in private practice, and he brings that depth of experience to anyone facing a Greeley vehicular assault or homicide defense situation. This is not a charge where general criminal defense knowledge is sufficient. The details of how the accident happened, how blood was drawn, and how the investigation was conducted all matter in ways that can determine the outcome.

What Colorado Law Actually Charges in These Cases

Vehicular assault and vehicular homicide are distinct offenses under Colorado law, and the difference between them is not just severity. The structure of each charge shapes the entire defense strategy.

Vehicular assault occurs when a driver causes serious bodily injury to another person either through reckless driving or while driving under the influence. The reckless driving version is a class 5 felony. The DUI version is a class 4 felony, carrying a presumptive sentencing range of two to six years in the Colorado Department of Corrections. Vehicular homicide, where a death results, follows the same split: reckless driving causing death is a class 4 felony, while DUI causing death escalates to a class 3 felony with a presumptive range of four to twelve years.

Prosecutors in Greeley and Weld County have discretion in how they charge these cases, and that discretion matters. A case involving impairment allegations will almost always be charged under the DUI prong, because the penalties are heavier and juries tend to respond strongly to intoxication evidence. But the DUI prong requires proof of actual impairment, not just the presence of a substance. That distinction is where defense work begins.

How Weld County Investigates Fatal and Injury Crashes

The Colorado State Patrol and the Greeley Police Department both have specialized accident reconstruction units. After any crash involving serious injury or death, a reconstruction team will photograph the scene, measure skid marks and debris fields, download data from event data recorders (the vehicle’s “black box”), and prepare a formal report that often takes weeks to complete. That report will be central to the prosecution’s case.

What the reconstruction report shows, and what it leaves out, matters. Reconstruction analysts work from physical evidence and make assumptions. Those assumptions can be challenged. Speeds can be calculated differently depending on road conditions, vehicle weights, and the analyst’s methodology. A defense-side accident reconstruction expert can review the same evidence and reach different conclusions, or at minimum expose weaknesses in the prosecution’s analysis.

US 34, US 85, and I-76 all run through or near Greeley, and serious accidents on these corridors are common. The stretch of US 34 between Greeley and Loveland, and the agricultural roads throughout Weld County, see significant traffic from both commuters and commercial vehicles. When an accident occurs on a road with known hazards, poor lighting, or inadequate signage, those conditions become part of the factual record. Road conditions do not excuse impaired driving, but they can complicate the causation analysis that prosecutors must establish.

Toxicology in DUI-Based Vehicular Cases

A large share of vehicular assault and homicide prosecutions rest on blood test results. Colorado’s express consent law requires drivers to submit to chemical testing, and in serious crash cases, blood is typically drawn at the hospital or by law enforcement request. The resulting BAC number often becomes the centerpiece of the prosecution’s evidence.

That number is not as straightforward as it appears. Blood samples must be drawn within two hours of driving under Colorado law for the results to carry the statutory presumption of impairment. Samples must be properly preserved, stored, and tested by accredited laboratories using validated methods. Chain of custody documentation must be complete. If any of these requirements were not met, the toxicology results can be challenged, suppressed, or at minimum subjected to cross-examination that raises reasonable doubt.

Drug-related vehicular cases present additional complexity. Unlike alcohol, THC and other controlled substances do not produce a clear impairment threshold. Colorado has a per se limit of five nanograms of active THC per milliliter of blood for driving purposes, but impairment from cannabis varies considerably by individual tolerance. Prescription medications complicate the picture further. A driver who tested positive for a legally prescribed sedative after an accident is not automatically impaired in the legal sense. Reid’s experience with DUI-drug cases translates directly to vehicular homicide charges where drug impairment is alleged.

Causation Is a Genuine Defense Issue

Perhaps the most underappreciated defense issue in vehicular assault and homicide cases is causation. The prosecution must prove that the defendant’s conduct, whether recklessness or impairment, actually caused the accident and the resulting injury or death. Where another driver’s negligence, a pedestrian’s actions, or a road defect contributed to the crash, causation is genuinely contested.

Colorado courts have recognized that causation in vehicular cases requires more than showing the defendant was impaired and an accident occurred. The impairment or recklessness must have been a cause of the accident. This means that in cases where an unimpaired driver would have been equally unable to avoid the collision, the causal link can be disputed. That is not a technicality. It is a substantive element of the charge that the prosecution bears the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt.

Cases where the victim contributed to the accident, such as a pedestrian crossing outside a crosswalk at night, or a driver who ran a red light, require careful investigation of the full sequence of events. The reconstruction evidence that prosecutors rely on can often be read in multiple ways, and a thorough defense examines all of them.

Questions People Ask About Vehicular Assault and Homicide Charges in Greeley

Can a vehicular homicide charge be reduced to a lesser offense?

Yes. Plea negotiations in vehicular cases sometimes result in charges being reduced, particularly where the causation evidence is contested or where the impairment evidence has weaknesses. The outcome depends on the specific facts, the strength of the defense investigation, and the prosecutor’s assessment of trial risk. No result can be guaranteed, but cases that appear straightforward at the outset often have meaningful defense leverage once the evidence is fully examined.

What happens to my driver’s license while the criminal case is pending?

If the vehicular charge includes a DUI allegation, the DMV will initiate a separate express consent proceeding against your license. This administrative action runs parallel to the criminal case and has its own deadlines and hearing process. Reid handles both the criminal and DMV components of DUI-related vehicular cases, which matters because decisions made in one proceeding can affect the other.

Does it matter that I was not legally drunk according to the test?

Yes, it matters significantly. If your BAC was below 0.08 percent, the DUI prong of vehicular assault or homicide does not apply in the same way. The prosecution would need to rely on the recklessness theory, which carries different penalties and requires proof of a conscious disregard for a substantial and unjustifiable risk. That is a harder standard to meet, and the defense approach changes accordingly.

What role does the victim’s family play in the prosecution?

Under Colorado’s victims’ rights laws, the family of a person killed in a vehicular homicide has the right to participate in plea discussions and to be heard at sentencing. This does not control the outcome, but it does influence how prosecutors approach these cases. In Weld County, as elsewhere, family advocacy can affect a prosecutor’s willingness to negotiate. Understanding this dynamic is part of how these cases are managed effectively.

How soon should I contact a defense attorney after a serious accident?

The investigation begins immediately after a crash. Accident reconstruction teams document the scene before it changes. Medical personnel begin drawing blood. Witnesses are interviewed while memories are fresh. The earlier a defense attorney is involved, the more options exist for preserving evidence, identifying witnesses, and positioning the case before the prosecution’s narrative is fully formed.

Are there immigration consequences for a vehicular homicide conviction?

For non-citizen clients, a felony vehicular conviction can trigger severe immigration consequences, including removal proceedings. This is not a secondary concern. DeChant Law takes immigration consequences into account when evaluating plea options, and non-citizen clients facing these charges need a defense attorney who understands the intersection of criminal and immigration law.

Will my case go to trial, or is a plea more likely?

Most criminal cases resolve without trial, but vehicular assault and homicide cases are among the more likely to go to trial because the stakes are high and the evidence is often genuinely disputed. Reid is a trial lawyer with actual courtroom experience in serious felony cases. That background shapes how he prepares every case, because proper trial preparation changes how prosecutors evaluate a case, whether or not it ever reaches a jury.

Facing a Vehicular Felony Charge in Weld County

A vehicular assault or homicide defense in Greeley requires someone who has been inside serious felony cases, understands how reconstruction evidence works, and is prepared to take a case to trial when that is the right path. Reid DeChant’s background as a public defender across multiple Colorado counties, combined with his private practice experience, gives him a realistic view of how these cases are built and where they can be won. The Weld County District Attorney’s office prosecutes these charges aggressively, and the defense needs to match that effort from the very beginning. DeChant Law handles the full scope of these cases, from the initial DMV action to the felony defense in district court.