Senate votes: no raise in minimum sentence for DUI manslaughter charges

Mason Brown
Staff Writer

Two weeks ago, the vehicle VCU sophomore Carolina Perez was in was struck at the intersection of Second and Canal streets. Perez, who sat at the point of impact in the accident, died later that morning.

Varinder “Vick” Chahal, the driver of the other car, had no injuries, as did his four passengers. Chahal is now facing charges of felony manslaughter, driving under the influence and refusal to submit to a blood or breath test.

Days before and mere blocks away, legislation killed by the Senate would have raised minimum sentencing for cases involving DUI manslaughter.

Had House Bill 49 passed, cases like the one involving Chahal – a 23-year-old VCU student from Springfield, Va. – would have had longer incarceration requirements in an effort to decrease incidences of drunken driving in the state.

Richmond prosecutors announced last week they would go before a grand jury to raise Chahal’s charge to involuntary aggravated manslaughter.

Richmond Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s attorney Tracy Thorne-Begland told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the reasoning for the elevated charges were because of he amount of alcohol consumed “as well as the aggravated driving behavior of accelerating into an intersection against the red light.”

One of Springfield’s representatives, Republican Del. Dave Albo, said HB49 was necessary to properly punish those responsible for DUI manslaughter.

“The reason for the bill is that with DUI manslaughter, about 8 percent of defendants get no jail (time) and another 8 percent get less than one year,” Albo said via email. “I think it should be much more, so the bill sets a floor on DUI manslaughter at no less than a year and aggravated DUI manslaughter at no less than five years.”

Cases like Chahal’s could have resulted in harsher charges if the bill had not died in the Senate committee.

According to Albo, the failure of the bill came down to money.

“(There were) no arguments against (the bill),” he said. “Anytime you increase punishments, you have to find the money for the prison space. In the House budget, we found the money. The Senate budget did not have any money in it for the bill and they don’t have a budget, so the bill died for lack of money.”

However, Albo said the bill will likely return in future sessions.

“We have been looking to do this for years,” he said. “It will come back some day.”

The Washington Regional Alcohol Program rallied for the passage of several DUI bills this sessions including HB49.

In the most recent statistic posted by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, 274 people were killed in alcohol-related traffic crashes in 2010.