Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

It is always a horrible idea to drive while intoxicated, so when a couple from California decided to find a designated driver rather than to drive home in such a condition they were undoubtedly using great judgment. However, their judgment was not as crisp when they decided to bestow that honor upon a thirteen year-old boy. Not wanting to add to an already long list of DUI convictions, the couple decided their best move was to rely on the thirteen year-old to get them home safely. Unfortunately for the couple, the boy apparently got nervous when he drove onto a busy street and stopped in the middle of the road. Police approached the stopped vehicle to see what the problem was and the couple’s plan was foiled. The female member of the couple was charged with child endangerment and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Her male counterpart was not charged.

Minus aggravating circumstances, child endangerment and contributing to the delinquency of a minor are both Class A misdemeanors in Tennessee, punishable by up to eleven months and twenty-nine days of imprisonment and a fine not to exceed $2,500. Thus, the penalties for these offenses may not be as severe as would the DUI charge if a person already has multiple DUI convictions; however, the real danger in using a thirteen year-old as a designated driver lies in the potential of facing much more serious charges. For example, if the designated driver were to cause or be involved in an automobile accident that resulted in the death of the driver or someone else, the person responsible for allowing the adolescent to drive the car could face a host of very serious charges that encompass a wide spectrum of behavior such as reckless homicide and criminally negligent homicide. These are felony charges and carry much more severe penalties than the misdemeanor charges described above.