These two particular allegations, although not in themselves crimes, carry significant weight in the legal system and often result in a prison sentence. Understanding the difference is crucial, as they must be attached to a specific crime.
For example, somebody is driving intoxicated by alcohol or drugs, or both. They get into an accident and hurt somebody else. Depending on how bad the injury is, that person could be charged with a felony DUI or a serious bodily injury. There could also be great bodily injury enhancements, which add three years to the back of any sentence for that felony DUI. This “GBI” enhancement is covered under California Penal Code 12022.7 PC.
It's not limited to DUI's these bodily injury allegations. It also has to do with batteries. You could cause serious injury to somebody. It involves a range of different crimes. The issue arises when someone intentionally causes harm to another party.
Then the question becomes, how bad is the injury? The worse the injury, the more likely you will be charged with great bodily injury or a severe injury that could elevate a typical misdemeanor case up to a felony case. This could have a profound impact on your life. Our Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys will explain this topic below.
Great Bodily Injury Adds Three Years to a Sentence
How they came up with great bodily injury and serious bodily injury has to do with victims of crime being taken care of and punishing those individuals who hurt other people. So, that's where the great bodily injury allegation came in. The problem with this great bodily injury allegation is that it tacks three years on the back of a sentence, which is bad enough to make any crime a strike in California.
Therefore, if you had a case, it would typically be classified as either a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the severity of the injury. It gets elevated up to a felony because of the great bodily injury allegation, or even a severe injury allegation.
If you admit that you inflicted great bodily injury against another person, that admission will cause the crime that you plead guilty or no contest to become a strike, and that means you can't get it off your record. You can't reduce it to a misdemeanor, and you will be required to serve 85% of any custody time that you're ordered to serve.
So, that's why knowing what great bodily injury is and what serious bodily injury is is significant, and unfortunately, it's very nebulous. In other words, the distinction between the two is a very fine line.
Often, it's subjective; sometimes, it's just obvious. For example, if you're driving a car drunk, you hit somebody. If you break a bone in their body – break their leg, for example, or break their collarbone, you could get charged with a felony DUI, where the serious bodily injury comes in. You could also get great physical harm because any broken bone is typically enough to get the great bodily injury allegation. Other examples of great bodily injury could include severe burns, loss of limb, or internal injuries.
Superb Bodily Injury Case Example
A critical distinction between a severe injury and great bodily injury is to be hit with that great bodily injury allegation; you have to inflict great bodily injury against somebody personally. I'll give you an example.
I had a case recently where my client was charged with a felony DUI, and they also put great bodily injury on the back of it. Now, the prosecutors realize that my client was not the one who caused great bodily harm and personally hit the other car.
The client blocked the freeway, which caused another car to hit the victim, so he could be charged with serious bodily injury because that does not force somebody to inflict the injury personally. You have to be the cause of the injury.
He could not be charged with significant bodily injury because he's not the one who hit the other car, even though it could be argued that he's the one who set the circumstances that caused the other vehicle to be hit. As you can see, some of this information can become quite complicated. I've had cases where my client was guilty of causing severe body injury but was able to get the three years of prison suspended and not imposed against the person.
But, if they still admit the great body injury allegation, that makes that crime a strike. So, on the one hand, you don't have to do the three years, but on the other hand, you still have a strike on your record. A strike on your record can have serious consequences for future legal issues, potentially leading to longer sentences or harsher penalties. So, it's a much better circumstance if you could get it struck altogether, but that takes work, skill, and experience. If you have a severe bodily injury allegation or a great bodily injury allegation, please call us to review the details.
