DUI Manslaughter in Florida, Charges and Penalties

Overview
We interviewed subject matter expert Robert Malove, a Board Certified criminal trial attorney (one of fewer than 400 in Florida) and founding member of the National College for DUI Defense, of The Law Offices of Robert David Malove, to give you the best possible answers on DUI manslaughter charges in Florida. This article explains the elements of the charge, the 4-year mandatory minimum, the Criminal Punishment Code scoresheet that sets the real sentence, and how blood evidence is contested.

A Note Before You Read
This article answers the question the way Florida law answers it for most people. Your case has its own facts, and small details change outcomes. Nothing here is legal advice for your specific situation. If you want an answer about your case, call The Law Offices of Robert David Malove at (954) 861-0384. There is no pressure to hire anyone; you will simply get a straight answer.

A crash ended a life, and your name is attached to it. You may have spent that night in a hospital while a nurse drew blood you never agreed to give. You may be home now, weeks later, with no charge on file, watching the mail. Or you may be reading this because the person who died was yours, and you need to understand what the law does with the driver.

If that is you, and you need to know what DUI manslaughter in Florida actually carries, the direct answer is this: it is a second-degree felony under section 316.193(3)(c)3. of the Florida Statutes, it carries a mandatory minimum of 4 years in prison and a maximum of 15, and the number a courtroom actually produces is set by a sentencing scoresheet that starts well above the minimum.

This article walks through the elements the State must prove, the mandatory minimum and the ceiling, the scoresheet math that drives the real sentence, how blood evidence works after a fatal crash, and where these cases are defended. The answers come from a recorded conversation with Robert Malove, a Board Certified criminal trial attorney and founding member of the National College for DUI Defense, in his own words.

DUI manslaughter in Florida is causing or contributing to the death of a person or an unborn child while driving under the influence. It is a second-degree felony carrying a mandatory minimum of 4 years in prison, a maximum of 15, and a sentence calculated on Florida’s Criminal Punishment Code scoresheet.

The charge is built from specific parts:

• Impairment: normal faculties impaired by alcohol, a chemical substance, or a controlled substance, or a blood or breath alcohol level of .08 or higher
• Operation: driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle
• Causation: the operation “causes or contributes to causing” the death, in the statute’s own words
• Grade: a felony of the second degree, rising to first degree if the driver knew or should have known a crash occurred and failed to give information and render aid, or has a prior qualifying conviction
• Sentence: a 4-year mandatory minimum under section 316.193, with the working floor set by the scoresheet in section 921.0024

Board Certified criminal trial attorney Robert Malove of The Law Offices of Robert David Malove defends DUI manslaughter cases across Florida, and in his experience the sentences in these cases start around 12 years, three times the statutory mandatory minimum.

TL;DR

• Second-degree felony. DUI manslaughter is charged under section 316.193(3)(c)3. and is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
• 4-year mandatory minimum. The statute requires at least 4 years in prison for every DUI manslaughter conviction.
• The scoresheet sets the working floor. A single death scores 194 points, which computes to a lowest permissible sentence of 124.5 months, about 10 years and 4 months.
• Each death multiplies points. Victim injury points run 120 per death, so sentences climb sharply when a crash kills more than one person.
• Blood is the battleground. Police can take blood by force after a fatal crash, and whether that result survives into evidence is often the central fight.

The State Must Prove Impaired Driving and a Death the Driving Caused or Contributed To

Section 316.193(3) builds DUI manslaughter from three parts: a violation of the DUI statute, operation of a vehicle, and a death that the operation “causes or contributes to causing.” Every part must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

The impairment element can be established two ways under section 316.193(1): the driver’s normal faculties were impaired, or the driver had a blood alcohol level of .08 or more grams per 100 milliliters of blood, or a breath alcohol level of .08 or more grams per 210 liters of breath. Robert Malove described both routes in our interview; the State can build its case on impairment evidence, on the number, or on both together.

The causation language matters. “Causes or contributes to causing” means the State does not have to prove the driver was the sole cause of the death. The statute also reaches the death of “any human being or unborn child,” with “unborn child” carrying the meaning given in section 775.021(5).

A Second-Degree Felony With a 4-Year Mandatory Minimum and a 15-Year Ceiling

A DUI manslaughter conviction is a felony of the second degree, punishable by up to 15 years in prison under section 775.082, and the statute leaves no room at the bottom: “A person who is convicted of DUI manslaughter shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 4 years.”

The charge rises to a felony of the first degree, with a 30-year ceiling, in two situations spelled out in section 316.193(3)(c)3.: the driver knew or should have known the crash occurred and failed to give information and render aid as section 316.062 requires, or the driver has a prior conviction for DUI manslaughter, BUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, or vessel homicide. Staying at the scene and rendering aid is a legal duty, and the moments after impact decide whether the ceiling is 15 years or 30.

The Criminal Punishment Code Scoresheet Sets the Working Floor Near 10 Years

The 4-year mandatory minimum is rarely the number that controls a sentence. Florida sentences felonies on the Criminal Punishment Code scoresheet in section 921.0024, and for DUI manslaughter the scoresheet’s own arithmetic starts far above 4 years.

The math for a single-death case runs this way. DUI manslaughter under section 316.193(3)(c)3.a. is a Level 8 offense on Florida’s offense severity ranking chart, worth 74 primary offense points. The death of the victim adds 120 victim injury points. That is 194 points before anything else is scored. When total points exceed 44, the lowest permissible sentence in prison months is the total minus 28, reduced by 25 percent: 194 minus 28 is 166, and 75 percent of 166 is 124.5 months. The scoresheet floor for a single bare count is about 10 years and 4 months in prison, and under section 921.0024(2) the lowest permissible sentence is the minimum a trial court may impose absent a valid reason for departure.

Scoresheets rarely stay bare. Additional charges from the same crash, injuries to other people, and the defendant’s prior record each add points, and every added point raises the floor. That is the machinery behind what Robert sees in his own cases:

“The consequences of a DUI … manslaughter are severe. They start around 12 years,” Robert Malove said in our interview.

The 12-year figure describes his experience in practice. The written commands sit beneath it: the statute’s floor is 4 years, the scoresheet’s floor for a single bare count is 124.5 months, and the cases he handles tend to score above the bare count.

Each Additional Death Multiplies the Points

Victim injury points are assessed for each victim, 120 for every death, so a crash that kills two people roughly doubles the working floor.

Run the same arithmetic with two deaths. The first count of DUI manslaughter is the primary offense at 74 points. The second count scores as an additional offense at Level 8, worth 37 points. Two deaths add 240 victim injury points. The subtotal is 351 points, and the formula produces a lowest permissible sentence of 242.25 months, a little over 20 years, before any other field of the scoresheet is touched.

“I’ve had clients who’ve killed multiple people, and, of course, the penalties go up because they’re on the … criminal punishment code, score sheet … for the number of victims and death. You can accrue a lot of points, and … it could add up quickly,” Robert said.

After a Fatal Crash, Police Can Take Blood by Force and Subpoena Hospital Records

Blood works differently when someone dies. In a misdemeanor DUI, officers can request a breath test and cannot compel a blood draw. When a crash involves death or serious bodily injury, section 316.1933 directs an officer with probable cause to require a blood test, and it authorizes reasonable force to obtain the sample.

“They can request you to give blood, and if you don’t provide it, they can forcibly take it from you … and they can also subpoena the blood records if you’re at a hospital,” Robert said.

So the State usually holds a number, from a compelled draw or from subpoenaed hospital records, and the defense fight becomes whether that result was obtained, preserved, and analyzed the way the law requires.

The Arrest Often Comes a Month or Two After the Crash

In fatal-crash cases the driver is frequently released from the hospital with no charge on file, because the blood has not been analyzed yet. The case is waiting on the lab.

“Sometimes people are released from the hospital, and they’re arrested a month or two later,” Robert said, once the blood work has been evaluated.

No single document in your hands settles your position during that gap. An unfiled case is an open investigation, and your position is determined by what the blood analysis shows and by the State Attorney’s filing decision.

The gap is also working time, and the thing to do today is bring a lawyer in before the filing decision. Robert’s office uses the early weeks to visit the scene, look for Ring cameras and other private recordings before they are overwritten, and review body-camera footage, where an officer’s unguarded comment is sometimes preserved. His clients also stop answering insurance company inquiries until the case is over.

The Defense Fight Centers on Whether the Blood Result Survives

A blood result is evidence only if it was collected, preserved, and analyzed under the rules that govern forensic blood testing, and in Robert’s experience those rules are sometimes broken. He described cases won because no blood result could be introduced at all, either because the collection and handling rules were not followed or because the sample spoiled before it could be reliably evaluated.

Board Certified criminal trial attorney Robert Malove of The Law Offices of Robert David Malove holds a Master of Forensic Science degree from The George Washington University and is licensed to conduct breath alcohol testing on Intoxilyzer series instruments, and he applies that training to whether the number the State holds was produced the way the rules require. His path into the science ran through the Metro-Dade Police Academy’s field sobriety testing course and certification in breath test administration:

“Not many criminal defense attorneys that I know of ever had the certificate to administer breath tests,” he said.

Timing belongs to the same fight. A blood draw happens after the crash, sometimes well after, and alcohol continues to absorb in the interval. A number measured at the hospital is a fact about the moment of the draw, and the defense question is what it proves about the moment of driving.

A Case This Serious Deserves a Straight Answer

A DUI manslaughter case is defended one decision at a time, and the first decision is who advises you. Robert began his career as an assistant public defender in Miami and was designated a Florida DUI Training Attorney there in 1995, teaching young lawyers how these cases are defended. His firm now handles DUI cases statewide, from its Fort Lauderdale DUI lawyer practice to its Miami DUI lawyer office.

What he offers in a case with a death in it is candor. He stated the firm’s aim plainly:

“We try to do our best to … leave the client off in a better position than the one that they were when they found us. And we hope that if people have substance abuse problems, that we encourage them … to get the treatment that they need,” he said.

Board Certified criminal trial attorney Robert Malove of The Law Offices of Robert David Malove pushes clients whose underlying problem is alcohol toward treatment, because a defense that ignores the drinking leaves the client worse off no matter what happens in court.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is DUI manslaughter in Florida?

DUI manslaughter in Florida is driving under the influence and, by that operation of the vehicle, causing or contributing to causing the death of a human being or an unborn child. It is charged under section 316.193(3)(c)3. of the Florida Statutes as a second-degree felony, with a mandatory minimum of 4 years in prison and a maximum of 15 years.

What is the mandatory minimum sentence for DUI manslaughter in Florida?

The statute requires a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 4 years for every DUI manslaughter conviction. In practice the controlling number is usually the Criminal Punishment Code scoresheet, which computes a lowest permissible sentence of 124.5 months, about 10 years and 4 months, for a single bare count. Robert Malove’s observation from his own cases is that sentences start around 12 years.

When does DUI manslaughter become a first-degree felony?

Two paths raise the charge to a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years: the driver knew or should have known a crash occurred and failed to give information and render aid, or the driver has a prior conviction for DUI manslaughter, BUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, or vessel homicide.

Can police take blood without my consent after a fatal crash?

Yes. When an officer has probable cause to believe an impaired driver caused death or serious bodily injury, section 316.1933 directs the officer to require a blood test and permits reasonable force if the driver does not submit. Blood drawn by a hospital for treatment can also be reached by subpoena. Whether the result was lawfully obtained and preserved is where much of the defense work happens.

Why has no one been arrested if someone died in the crash?

Blood analysis takes time. Robert Malove sees drivers released from the hospital and arrested a month or two later, after the blood work has been evaluated. A quiet stretch after a fatal crash usually means the filing decision is still pending, and defense work can begin in that window, before charges are filed.

Talk to a Florida DUI Lawyer About a DUI Manslaughter Charge

Robert Malove is a Board Certified criminal trial attorney, one of fewer than 400 in the state out of more than 100,000 active members of the Florida Bar. The distinction requires at least 25 contested cases and a minimum of 20 jury trials every 5 years.

If you are under investigation, have been arrested for DUI, are facing a second charge, or have a conviction on your record and want an expert criminal defense attorney on your side, fill out this form or call us now at (954) 861-0384.

The Law Offices of Robert David Malove serves clients across Florida, with DUI defense teams in nine offices: Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Fort Myers, Fort Pierce, Gainesville, Key West, and Sarasota.