Nashville DUI Child Endangerment

I was seated at a restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee the other evening, upon being seated I noticed a couple next to me with one small child of approximately 2 years old, I also noticed two empty wine bottles on the table with their dirty dishes from their meal. I thought to myself, I bet these people have no idea what they are about to do, they looked like a nice family and I am just guessing, but would assume they have never had a Nashville DUI or any type of arrest for DUI in Tennessee.

It was not so much the DUI that I was thinking about, I am sure the couple never gave it one thought that if they got pulled over by the Metro Police Department they might have another charge far greater than a DUI, they may have a child endangerment charge. The two charges of DUI and child endangerment do not merge, however under the DUI there is a mandatory time of 30 days and a 1 thousand dollar fine for violation of the DUI laws associated with child endangerment in Tennessee. Further problems include the judge contacting the state Department of Human Services to report the conviction, the list of problems from this charge can go on for quite awhile.

The penalties only get worse in regards to child endangerment and a DUI when the child is hurt in an accident and you are charged with a DUI. If the child suffers serious bodily injury and you are charged with a DUI you can face a class D felony and 2 to 4 years in the jail, if the child is killed in an accident and you are DUI charged, you may face a class C felony which carries a 3 to 6 year penalty. The other issue that you may face is stacking of the sentences, since DUI and child endangerment are separate offenses, one may face the possibility of the two sentences being stacked, that is doing your jail time for the DUI in Tennessee, and then doing your jail time for the child endangerment charge in Tennessee.

Finally there is the issue of you having two children in the car and being arrested for DUI, does that mean there are two separate charges for child endangerment in Tennessee? The answer to that question is no, you can only be charged with one violation of child endangerment no matter how many children are in the car.

Not all DUI charges in Tennessee go to the young party going crowd, DUI charges in Tennessee span a large volume of people from every walk of life.