Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

Voluntary intoxication occupies a unique position with regard to criminal law in Tennessee because it does not provide an actual defense to the commission of any crime but it can serve to negate the specific intent required by a criminal statute and thereby enable the defendant to avoid conviction. Some criminal offenses require that a specific intent on the part of the defendant exist in order for the defendant to be found guilty of the offense. First-degree murder, for example, requires that the killing of another individual be premeditated and intentional. Where a defendant is intoxicated, he or she may lack the ability to deliberate with regard to the offense (premeditate the killing) and thus may be able to avoid conviction under the first-degree murder statute.

Where an offense does not require a specific intent, however, voluntary intoxication will be no defense. For example, criminally negligent homicide in Tennessee does not require that the defendant have acted with any specific intent to kill but rather just that the defendant acted with a necessary level of negligence which resulted in the death of another individual. Voluntary intoxication will be no defense to a criminally negligent homicide charge because there is no specific mental state to negate and the intoxication may even be used at trial to prove that the defendant was indeed criminally negligent due to the intoxication. It is also noteworthy that voluntary intoxication is not a defense to a strict liability offense such as speeding, where the intent of the defendant is irrelevant.

Many such principles and defendants apply in certain situations but not in others, and it can be crucial for a defendant to know all of her available defenses and how the elements of each crime relate to her specific case before proceeding to trial. Thus, it is important to rely on an experienced criminal defense attorney who is familiar with Tennessee’s criminal code and can assist the defendant in presenting the most effective case possible.