A motor vehicle homicide charge affects your life in ways that extend far beyond the possibility of jail or prison. Even before your case is resolved, you may face the loss of your driver’s license, difficulty maintaining employment, financial strain, damage to your reputation, emotional stress, and uncertainty about your future. These consequences can begin immediately after the crash and continue long after the criminal case ends.
When people think about a motor vehicle homicide charge, they often focus on what happens in court—the verdict, the potential prison sentence, or the fines. Those consequences are serious, but they are only part of the picture.
If you are trying to understand how a motor vehicle homicide charge affects your life in Massachusetts, this guide explains the legal, financial, professional, personal, and emotional consequences of facing these charges, as well as the steps you can take to protect your rights and your future while your case is pending.
How Does a Motor Vehicle Homicide Charge Affect Your Life and Employment?
Massachusetts uses a system called CORI, the Criminal Offender Record Information database, to track criminal charges and convictions.
What is CORI and how does a motor vehicle homicide charge appear on it?
Once a criminal case reaches arraignment, information about the charge may appear on a Massachusetts CORI, depending on the type of CORI access involved. A felony conviction can have longer-lasting consequences for employment and background checks.
Can employers see a motor vehicle homicide arrest before conviction?
Many employers conduct CORI checks during the hiring process, and a felony conviction for a crime involving a death is the kind of record that gives employers pause. Even in fields that follow ban-the-box policies limiting when employers can ask about criminal history, a conviction of this nature typically comes out eventually.
How does a felony conviction impact long-term career prospects?
The practical effect on your career, both immediately and long-term, can be severe. A motor vehicle homicide conviction can close doors to employment you were otherwise qualified for, limit advancement in your current position, and follow you through background checks for years.
Can a motor vehicle homicide conviction cost you your professional license?
If you work in a licensed profession, a felony conviction can put your license at serious risk.
Which professional licenses are at risk after a felony conviction?
This includes lawyers, physicians, nurses, teachers, social workers, and many others. A felony conviction may have serious consequences for a professional license, depending on the profession, the licensing authority, and the circumstances of the conviction.
When should you address professional license concerns?
Losing a professional license does not just affect your current job. It can effectively close off your entire career path. This is one of the most devastating collateral consequences, and it is one that requires attention from the very beginning of a case, not after a conviction.
What are the immigration consequences of a motor vehicle homicide conviction?
For non-citizens, a motor vehicle homicide conviction can have consequences that go far beyond anything a criminal court can impose.
Is motor vehicle homicide an aggravated felony under immigration law?
Can a green card holder be deported for motor vehicle homicide?
Even lawful permanent residents with decades of ties to this country are not immune from deportation if convicted of certain felonies.
Why do criminal and immigration attorneys need to coordinate?
If immigration status is a factor in your case, it is essential that your criminal defense attorney coordinates closely with an immigration attorney from the start. The plea you accept in criminal court can determine whether you remain in the country.
How does a felony conviction affect housing, gun rights, and travel?
A motor vehicle homicide conviction triggers restrictions that touch nearly every part of daily life.
Do you lose your right to own firearms after a motor vehicle homicide conviction?
A felony conviction in Massachusetts results in the loss of the right to possess firearms under both state and federal law. This matters not just for people who hunt or own guns for personal protection, but also for anyone whose profession involves firearms.
Can a felony conviction prevent you from renting an apartment?
Felony convictions also complicate housing applications. Many landlords run background checks, and a serious conviction can disqualify you from rental housing or subsidized housing programs.
Can you travel internationally with a motor vehicle homicide conviction?
Can a motor vehicle homicide charge affect child custody?
If you are involved in a custody dispute or family court matter, a motor vehicle homicide charge, let alone a conviction, can be raised as a factor relevant to the best interests of a child.
Will family court consider a criminal charge even if it is unrelated to parenting?
A pending criminal case may be raised in a custody proceeding, although the significance of the charge will depend on the circumstances and its relevance to the child’s welfare and the parent’s ability to care for the child.
Can you face a civil lawsuit even if you are acquitted of motor vehicle homicide?
Parallel to the criminal case, the family of the person who died may pursue a civil wrongful death lawsuit.
What is the difference between criminal and civil wrongful death cases?
Criminal and civil cases are separate, and a not-guilty verdict in a criminal case does not prevent a civil plaintiff from winning a wrongful death judgment. Civil cases use a lower standard of proof — preponderance of the evidence rather than beyond a reasonable doubt.
How much can a wrongful death judgment cost?
A judgment can result in significant financial liability that follows you for years, including wage garnishment and liens on property, regardless of what happened in the criminal case.
Why do early decisions in a motor vehicle homicide case matter so much?
None of this is meant to overwhelm you. It is meant to make clear that the decisions made early in a motor vehicle homicide case have consequences that extend far beyond the courtroom.
What should you consider beyond the criminal verdict?
Understanding the full scope of what is at stake is part of making informed decisions about how to fight these charges. An experienced defense attorney will not just focus on the criminal case in isolation. They will help you understand and prepare for everything that follows.
Speak with a Massachusetts Criminal Defense attorney
If you are facing a motor vehicle homicide charge, the stakes extend far beyond the verdict. Your career, your immigration status, your housing, your parental rights, and your financial future may all be on the line. The earlier you understand the full picture, the better positioned you are to protect it.
If you or a family member is facing a motor vehicle homicide charge in Massachusetts, the Law Office of Matthew W. Peterson offers free consultations. Our team, led by a trusted Boston criminal defense attorney with over 15 years of combined legal experience in court and trial, will help you understand not just what happens in court, but what happens after. Call or text 617-295-7500, or send us a message below, and we will help you figure out where you stand and what comes next.
