Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

A fifty-five year-old bus driver from New York recently pleaded guilty to child endangerment and driving while intoxicated after she took students on a terrifying bus ride while reportedly driving a school bus while intoxicated. Students apparently begged the driver to stop because she was in no condition to operate the school bus. The driver felt that the students were overreacting and continued to drive, reportedly speeding, running over a mailbox, and rolling backwards down a hill. Some students finally opened the emergency door at the back of the bus so they could get out, putting a stop to the incident. Luckily, neither the bus driver nor any of the passengers suffered any injuries. The bus driver’s attorney said that her actions were caused by a bad reaction between alcohol and some prescription medication she was taking. The personal injury issues concerning her conduct are further discussed here.

DUI has been discussed at length in some of our previous blogs, so this blog will take an alternate path and deal with child endangerment. Tennessee’s codification of the crime of child endangerment can be found in T.C.A. section 39-15-401(c). This statute deals primarily with child abuse cases, but the statute is constructed in such a way that it could technically be applicable to the bus driver’s situation. The most interesting thing about this statute from a criminal defense standpoint is its requirement that a person “knowingly” expose a child to personal injury in order to be convicted of the offense of child endangerment.

Continue reading "Child Endangerment: "Knowing" Requirement" »

In modern society, debates rage about which methods of discipline are appropriate for parents to use with their children. Most of the debate is focused on the ethics of spanking versus non-physical means of punishment and proponents of both sides differ as to what is acceptable and what amounts to going too far. In an effort to define with greater clarity what does indeed “go too far,” an Iraqi immigrant father living in Arizona recently ran his daughter over with the family car because he felt she was becoming too Americanized. The dad was apparently upset that the daughter was not living in comport with traditional Iraqi values and thus ran her over with the belief that she had caused the family too much dishonor to be allowed to live. He was later arrested at the Atlanta airport, but there is no word yet on what charges he will face. As of the writing of this article, the daughter remains hospitalized.

In Tennessee, the father would be looking at a litany of charges, most notably some sort of attempted murder charge (assuming the victim does not die from the injuries) depending on the circumstances surrounding the incident and the father’s mental state. Criminal attempt is an “inchoate offense,” which basically means that the person charged is accused of acting with the intent to commit the offense or attempting to commit the offense but did not actually follow through with the commission of the offense in such a manner that the offense attempted can be charged. For example, the father in this case allegedly attempted to kill his daughter by running over her with his vehicle and took steps to accomplish that goal. If the father’s plan would have been successful, he would have been guilty of murder. However, if the daughter does not die as a result of the attack, one of the necessary elements of a murder charge, a “killing,” is absent under the circumstances. Thus, the father can only be charged with attempted murder.

Continue reading "Dad Runs Daughter Over with Car as Punishment: Criminal Attempt" »

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.

Continue reading "Thirteen Year-Old Becomes Designated Driver" »