Killing Someone While DUI: Manslaughter or 'Watson Murder?'

DUI deaths are unfortunately, a relatively common occurrence. When someone other than the drunk driver dies in a DUI collision, the drunk driver is typically charged with manslaughter. In rare cases however, the defendant can be charged with murder, which results in a much harsher sentence.

DUI murder, known informally in legal circles as “Watson Murder,” is the result of a 1981 California Supreme Court decision that upheld Robert Lee Watson’s second-degree murder conviction. He left a bar in Redding after consuming far too much alcohol. An hour and a half later, he killed two people by colliding with their Toyota in an intersection.

His blood alcohol content was 0.23 thirty minutes after the accident, and two hours after he left the bar.

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Obviously, Watson was deserving of a harsh punishment. He was traveling at more than twice the speed limit with more than twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system. The vehicular manslaughter charge must have seemed like a slap on the wrist to prosecutors.

He was charged and convicted of second degree murder.

Watson had some interesting arguments. The two charges essentially require the same elements. Both require disregarding a known danger and killing someone as a result. Legal principles dictate that the more specific charge be used in such instances. However, the court held that there was a difference between the two charges: implied malice.

Manslaughter requires a showing of gross negligence, which is the exercise of so slight a degree of care as to raise a presumption of conscious indifference to the consequences.

Watson Murder requires a showing of implied malice, which is when a person, knowing that his conduct endangers the life of another, nonetheless acts deliberately with conscious disregard for life.

If negligence is “I don’t care”, implied malice is “this is really dangerous to others and I don’t care.” This knowledge element can be difficult to prove, as the prosecutor has to show that the drunk driver was aware of the danger and proceeded to drive anyway.

Many counties (including LA and OC) have decided to make it easier to convict repeat offenders. They now require those convicted of DUI to sign the following “Watson Advisement:”

I understand that being under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or both, impairs my ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. Therefore, it is extremely dangerous to human life to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or both. If I continue to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or both, and as a result of my driving, someone is killed, I can be charged with murder.

In addition to the advisement, knowledge for repeat offenders can also be demonstrated by the completion of an alcohol education course, which is required of every person convicted of DUI. Because of this knowledge requirement, most Watson Murder defendants are repeat offenders.

Related Resources:

• Consult a Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney (FindLaw)
• ‘Bad News Bears’ Actress Dies in DUI Accident (FindLaw’s Los Angeles DUI Blog)
• School Bus Drugged Driver Kills Pedestrian With Kids Onboard (FindLaw’s Los Angeles DUI Blog)
• Fatal Laughing Gas DUI Nets Only One Year in Jail (FindLaw’s Los Angeles DUI Blog)