A 20-year-old man is currently facing charges of violating house arrest as well as a reckless endangerment charge in connection with a fatal accident. The Tennessee assistant district attorney has stated, however, that the charges will most likely be revised to vehicular homicide. A hearing was recently held to determine the merits of the criminal case.

According to reports, the man was behind the wheel of the car that ran through a red traffic signal and smashed into another vehicle being driven by a cancer specialist. The accused driver’s car hit the victim’s so forcefully that witnesses a couple of car-lengths away reportedly felt tremors from the collision. A witness who was traveling behind the man claims that the driver did not apply his brakes before the collision.

It was unclear if the driver of the other car died at the scene or at some point after. An officer testified at the hearing that the man’s blood alcohol level was recorded at .184 at the time of the wreck. The hearing was also held to determine whether the accused man had violated house arrest, which had purportedly been ordered for a previous under-age drinking offense.

Once the Tennessee prosecutor’s office obtains the official autopsy reports, the charge against the driver will likely be amended to reflect a vehicular homicide in connection to the victim’s death as per the district attorney’s statement. If the state does amend the charges, then the punishment he could face if a conviction were obtained could run up to 12 years in prison. The driver has likely retained experienced counsel, which will ensure that his rights to a fair and impartial trial will be protected. Furthermore, he is entitled to challenge the evidence and the case that the state will present against him, while also launching a vigorous defense as this case heads to trial in the coming months.

Source: wsmv.com, “Man accused in deadly crash appears in court“, Adrianne Flores, Aug. 21, 2014