Criminal Vehicular Homicide: When a Crash Becomes a Crime
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BY MN CRIME STAFF
Following a fatal crash, scanner listeners often ask why a driver hasn't been charged with murder. In Minnesota, deaths caused by driving usually fall under Criminal Vehicular Homicide statutes, not murder statutes.
This charge sits between traffic violations and intentional killing. It essentially criminalizes negligence.
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The Elements of CVH
A driver can be charged with Criminal Vehicular Homicide if they cause the death of another person under any of these conditions:
Gross Negligence: Operating the vehicle in a "grossly negligent" manner (e.g., extreme speeding, driving the wrong way).
Negligence + Influence: Driving negligently while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Leaving the Scene: Causing a collision and fleeing (Hit-and-Run).
Defective Maintenance: Driving a vehicle known to be unsafe (e.g., known bad brakes) after receiving a citation for it.
Murder vs. CVH
CVH: Maximum sentence is generally 10 years. However, if the driver has a qualified prior driving conviction within 10 years, the maximum increases to 15 years.
Second-degree murder: Can be charged if the driver intended to hit the victim or was fleeing police (Felony Murder rule).
Third-degree murder: Can be charged if the driving was “eminently dangerous to others" and performed with a "depraved mind" (e.g., driving 100 mph blindly through a parade).
While the devastation caused by a fatal crash is identical to that of a homicide, Minnesota law distinguishes sharply between lethal negligence and lethal intent. For victims' families, the penalties for Criminal Vehicular Homicide often feel insufficient, yet prosecutors face a steep uphill battle to prove the "depraved mind" required for a murder conviction in a traffic incident.
Unless there is clear evidence that a driver weaponized their vehicle or acted with extreme indifference to human life, the justice system treats these tragedies as crimes of recklessness rather than crimes of malice.
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