Criminal Vehicular Operation: Proving the Elements

Criminal vehicular injury “CVO” is a Minnesota criminal offense that usually accompanies a DWI charge where someone has gotten hurt in a collision. There are several ways for a Minnesota attorney to defend a CVO charge.

If the BAC of the defendant is not over .08, the State has to prove driver negligence cased the collision. In one case I handled in Hennepin County, I represented a driver who had struck a little boy that had darted into traffic from between two parked cars, directly into my client’s lane of travel. A necessary element that the state had to prove in that case was that the driver was negligent and caused of the collision.

In this case, we hired an accident reconstructionist to provide an opinion that the collision would have occurred even if my client had been completely sober. The opinion was supported by fact witnesses who saw the collision and were able to provide the time, distance and speed facts necessary. In essence, my client was driving within the speed limit and staying within his lane of travel. Keeping a proper lookout and his reaction were not factors in the cause of the collision. The boy had darted into traffic too close to my client’s vehicle for him to react in time to stop.

This was an important step in his defense. We were able to get the felony CVO charges dismissed because the State was unable to prove every element of the offense. My client pled guilty to a misdemeanor DWI. As a Minnesota criminal defense attorney, I believe in making the State prove every element of the crime necessary.

If you have any questions concerning a criminal charge in Minnesota, please call me or visit my website.

John Scott, 612-840-8961