(a) Aggravated vehicular homicide is vehicular homicide, as defined in § 39-13-213(a)(2), where:

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class A felony15 to 60 yearsup to $50,000
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
criminal case

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 39-13-218

  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Defendant: means a person accused of an offense under this title and includes any person who aids or abets the commission of such offense. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
  • Government: means the state or any political subdivision of the state, and includes any branch or agency of the state, a county, municipality or other political subdivision. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
  • Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) The defendant has two (2) or more prior convictions for:

(A) Driving under the influence of an intoxicant or boating under the influence, as defined in § 69-9-217(a);
(B) Vehicular assault; or
(C) Any combination of such offenses;
(2) The defendant has one (1) or more prior convictions for the offense of vehicular homicide; or
(3) There was, at the time of the offense, twenty-hundredths of one percent (0.20%), or more, by weight of alcohol in the defendant’s blood and the defendant has one (1) prior conviction for:

(A) Driving under the influence of an intoxicant or boating under the influence, as defined in § 69-9-217(a); or
(B) Vehicular assault.
(b)

(1) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, “prior conviction” means an offense for which the defendant was convicted prior to the commission of the instant vehicular homicide and includes convictions occurring prior to July 1, 1996.
(2) “Prior conviction” includes convictions under the laws of any other state, government, or country that, if committed in this state, would have constituted one (1) of the three (3) offenses enumerated in subdivision (a)(1) or (a)(2). In the event that a conviction from a jurisdiction other than Tennessee is not specifically named the same as one (1) of the three (3) offenses enumerated in subdivision (a)(1) or (a)(2), the elements of the offense in the other jurisdiction shall be used by the Tennessee court to determine if the offense constitutes one (1) of the prior convictions required by subsection (a).
(c) If the defendant is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, the indictment, in a separate count, shall specify, charge and give notice of the required prior conviction or convictions. If the defendant is convicted of vehicular homicide under § 39-13-213(a)(2), the jury shall then separately consider whether the defendant has the requisite number and types of prior offenses or level of blood alcohol concentration necessary to constitute the offense of aggravated vehicular homicide. If the jury convicts the defendant of aggravated vehicular homicide, the court shall pronounce judgment and sentence the defendant from within the felony classification set out in subsection (d).
(d) Aggravated vehicular homicide is a Class A felony.
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