We provide specialized winterization services to safeguard your pool during the off-season, and when spring arrives, we handle the thorough opening process.
We provide specialized winterization services to safeguard your pool during the off-season, and when spring arrives, we handle the thorough opening process.
A felony DUI involving an accident with injury is one of the most serious DUI charges under Missouri law. These cases carry prison exposure, long-term license consequences, and life-altering outcomes if not handled correctly from the very beginning.
Many people are surprised to learn that prior DUI or DWI convictions are not required for a DUI to be charged as a felony when an accident involves physical injury. In these cases, the felony classification is based on the injury allegation itself, not a driver’s history.
Although people commonly search for a DUI attorney, Missouri legally charges these cases as Driving While Intoxicated (DWI). DUI and DWI are often used interchangeably by the public. This page addresses felony DUI accident charges under Missouri DWI law.
Kissell Law Group has extensive experience defending serious felony DUI accident cases statewide, where timing, forensic evidence, and causation determine whether the charge stands or falls.
Under Missouri law, a DUI can be charged as a felony based solely on an alleged physical injury, regardless of whether the driver has any prior offenses, pursuant to RSMo §§ 577.010, 577.001, and 577.023.
In these cases:
Felony DUI accident cases are not simply “DUI plus injury.” They are legally and factually different cases.
To convict someone of a felony DUI based on an injury accident, the State must prove all elements of a DUI, plus additional elements related to the accident itself.
Specifically, the State must establish beyond a reasonable doubt:
Failure to prove any one of these elements means the felony charge cannot stand.
Criminal negligence is a separate legal element and is not presumed simply because alcohol is involved.
Under Missouri law, criminal negligence requires proof that:
Accidents happen for many reasons unrelated to intoxication, including road conditions, vehicle defects, weather, medical events, or the actions of other drivers.
Intoxication alone does not establish criminal negligence.
In felony DUI accident cases, timing is frequently the State’s weakest link.
The prosecution must prove:
These cases often involve:
As we have previously addressed in Missouri’s no-refusal DUI enforcement practices, probable cause and timing must exist before an arrest, not reconstructed later. Officers cannot arrest first and determine timing afterward.
If the State cannot reliably establish intoxication at the time of operation, it cannot meet its burden under RSMo § 577.010.
Many felony DUI accident cases involve unanswered questions:
If the timing of operation is unclear or speculative, reasonable doubt exists. These gaps often form the foundation of a strong defense.
Felony DUI accident cases often rise or fall on how the crash itself is interpreted, not simply on what a report claims.
Attorney Thomas Kissell has personally deposed Missouri State Highway Patrol forensic accident reconstructionists, including senior investigators responsible for complex crash analyses. Through that work, he developed his own analytical charts and methodologies based on electronic data, physics, roadway evidence, and vehicle damage, not assumptions.
We do not accept accident conclusions at face value. We test them.
Our forensic review commonly includes:
EDRs are often casually referred to as “black boxes,” but that term comes from aviation. In vehicle cases, EDR data is limited, specific, and context-dependent. Without proper interpretation, it can be misleading or flatly incorrect.
Crash Report Conclusions | Physical Evidence Analysis |
Narrative summaries and interviews | Objective electronic and physical data |
Estimated speeds | Actual speed and braking data from EDR |
Officer assumptions about fault | Physics-based reconstruction |
General impact descriptions | Measured crush damage and energy transfer |
Time inferred after the fact | Event sequencing from data and scene evidence |
Alcohol assumed as cause | Alternative causes evaluated and tested |
Conclusions accepted as written | Conclusions challenged and verified |
In serious injury cases, the truth is often found in the data, not the assumptions.
A felony DUI involving injury can result in:
The stakes are high, but outcomes depend on proof, not labels.
Felony DUI accident cases move quickly. Evidence disappears, timelines harden, and assumptions turn into charges.
Effective defense often requires:
These cases are not routine and should never be treated as such.
Every felony DUI accident case begins with a free consultation. Our team gathers detailed information immediately so the matter can be evaluated accurately. These cases are reviewed internally, including attorney review, before representation is offered.
Clients can expect:
We are selective in the felony cases we accept and take seriously the responsibility of defending clients facing life-altering charges.
If you are being investigated or charged with a felony DUI involving an accident with injury in Missouri, time matters.
If no one witnessed the accident, if the timing is unclear, or if intoxication at the time of operation is being assumed rather than proven, you need experienced defense immediately.
Contact Kissell Law Group today to discuss your situation and understand what options may be available.