California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Batchelor, E054475 (Cal. App. 2014):
degree of care as to raise a presumption of conscious indifference to the consequences. . . . The test is objective: whether a reasonable person in the defendant's position would have been aware of the risk involved.'" (Id. at p. 1204.) However, "gross negligence cannot be shown by the mere fact of driving under the influence and violating the traffic laws." (People v. Von Staden (1987) 195 Cal.App.3d 1423, 1427 (Von Staden.)
In People v. Ochoa, the court determined that the evidence was sufficient to support the defendant's conviction of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated when the "defendant, (a) having suffered a prior conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol, (b) having been placed on probation, (c) having attended traffic school, including an alcohol-awareness class, and (d) being fully aware of the risks of such activity, nonetheless (e) drove while highly intoxicated, (f) at high, unsafe and illegal speeds, (g) weaving in and out of adjoining lanes, (h) making abrupt and dangerous lane changes (i) without signaling, and (j) without braking to avoid colliding with his victims' vehicle." (People v. Ochoa, supra, 6 Cal.4th at p. 1208.)
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