San Marcos’ former resident, Karen Faye Honeycutt, 41, was charged with second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, drunk driving causing great bodily injury, and other crimes in connection with a crash in Temecula that killed her nine year old daughter and injured two of her sons on January 21st, 2011, according to the North County Times.
Honeycutt’s license was suspended for a previous DUI conviction at the time of this incident. She had two previous convictions for driving on a suspended license in the past two years, as reported by 10news.com.
A sentencing enhancement was added for having prior driving under the influence (DUI) convictions in San Diego County. It is alleged that she had four convictions since 1994; however, according to Vehicle Code Section 23540, the prior DUI offenses must be within ten years of this offense to be counted as a prior for purposes of sentencing. Punishment is enhanced with every prior driving under the influence charge within that ten year period.
Honeycutt is facing 22 years to life in prison if convicted as charged.
Anyone charged with a DUI should seek to hire an exclusively DUI defense firm that will aggressively defend your case. Do not just plead guilty even if you had a blood-alcohol content (BAC) over the legal limit of .08%. There may be defenses in your case that can lead to reduced charges with lesser punishment or even a dismissal! For a free, confidential consultation contact THE LAW OFFICES OF SUSAN L. HARTMAN today at 619-260-1122.