The Defendant was involved in an accident and hired the Firm to handle the 6 month license suspension due to an unlawful blood alcohol level given at the hospital. The Firm requested a formal review hearing to challenge the suspension of the Defendant’s driver’s license within the applicable 10 day window allowed by the DMV. The DMV did not send a notice of hearing to the Defendant nor did they send it to The Ticket Clinic. The client received a letter upholding the suspension of his driver’s license about 45 days after hiring our firm alleging that we failed to appear and that he waived his right to a hearing. Because the Firm did not receive notice, a call was placed to the DMV. They immediately issued a permit and held a new hearing about 50 days after the Firm had initially requested it. Florida law requires that a hearing be held regarding the suspension within 30 days from the date it was requested. At the first hearing (50 days out), the firm objected to moving forward, arguing that the hearing violated the Defendant’s due process rights because he was not afforded a hearing within 30 days. The DMV disagreed and upheld the suspension. The Firm appealed arguing to the 15th Judicial Circuit that our client’s constitutional due process rights were violated because we were not notified of the hearing that was scheduled within 30 days. The 15th Circuit agreed and entered a 6 page written opinion throwing out the suspension of our client’s driver’s license.
The Defendant was clocked going 97 mph in a 65 mph zone and then witnessed making an aggressive lane change in front of a sedan almost colliding into it. The vehicle continued to make aggressive lane changes and was stopped. As the vehicle came to a stop, all the windows went down. The driver then put all the windows up when asked to leave the passenger window down. The Defendant smelled strongly of alcohol and gave the officer a business card when asked for his license, insurance and registration. He was slurring his words and his eyes were red and watery. He had difficulty standing. He continually said he was lost because of his navigation and told the officer at times that he “loved” him and that he was very sorry. He also would interrupt the officer continuously and performed very poorly on roadsides. The roadsides were all captured on video. He could not even get through the alphabet. The Defendant was then videotaped at the jail where he refused to submit to a sample of his breath. The Firm vigorously negotiated with the State Attorney’s Office regarding the facts of the case and the charges for DUI. After weeks of negotiations, the State of Florida agreed to dismiss the charges for Driving Under the Influence.
The Defendant was driving around 3:00 a.m. without it's headlights and taillights on. The driver of the vehicle then turned them on and swerved over the left line and made a wide right turn. The vehicle then continued over the yellow lane marker three times and nearly struck the median. After being stopped, the officer noticed a strong odor of alcohol, his eyes were red and glassy and his speech was slow and slurred. He said he had “nothing” to drink and submitted to roadside exercises. He was swaying as he exited the vehicle. He performed poorly on the roadsides, not even being able to say the alphabet. During the alphabet task, and after butchering it, he said: “Boy, I screwed that up.” The Defendant was arrested and taken to the breath alcohol facility where he refused to submit to a sample of his breath. The Firm negotiated with the State Attorney’s Office pointing out inconsistencies with the video from the jail and the roadside explanation. The State Attorney’s Office agreed to dismiss the charges for DUI the week before trial.
he Defendant was seen swerving on the road, and she almost crashed into a police cruiser on the side of the road. As she continued to drive, she struck the center median. The Defendant drove into the Seminole Casino and jumped the curb, almost striking the metal gates. When the police made contact with her, she appeared confused and disoriented. She told the officer that she did not have any recollection of driving and almost getting into an accident. The officers asked her to perform roadside exercises, and she agreed. According to the police, she performed very poorly. She admitted to police that she had consumed some wine, as well as a prescription sleeping pill earlier in the evening. The attorney for the firm investigated the case. Prior to trial, the attorney was able to convince the State that the driving pattern was due to the consumption of the sleeping aid, which she had a valid prescription for. The State dropped the DUI charges.
The Defendant blew by a fully marked police car at a high rate of speed. The officer was doing 70 mph and the defendant was going at least 90 mph. The Defendant then accelerated again and was slowing to 40 mph and back to 80 mph while almost striking the median on multiple occasions. The vehicle was also swerving over two lanes of travel and then almost stuck a bridge as it went over the intercostal. The officer stopped the Defendant as it sped up to 80 mph in a residential neighborhood. The officer noticed that the Defendant was slurring his words, his eyes were droopy, glassy, bloodshot and watery and his movements were slow. He smelled like alcohol and the officer requested a DUI unit. The driving pattern and initial contact with the Defendant was captured via audio AND video. When the DUI unit showed up, the stopping officer “TURNED OFF” the audio. The Defendant allegedly told the DUI officer that he had 3 or 4 drinks at a bar and then refused to submit to roadside tasks after being told he would be arrested for refusing. After being arrested, the Defendant refused to submit to a sample of his breath. The State Attorney’s Office initially refused to drop the charges for Driving Under the Influence citing the Defendant’s clear impairment and horrible driving pattern for their reasoning. Thus, the firm set and took depositions in the case. At the depositions, the Firm was able to establish that the arresting officer was offered the opportunity to use the audio to record the Defendant’s statements and entire interaction with him. He declined and did not want the audio. The arresting officer then came into the depositions and denied that the stopping officer gave him the opportunity to use his audio microphone to record this contact. After bringing all of this to the attention of the State Attorney’s Office, they agreed to DISMISS the charges for driving under the influence.
The Defendant was seen swerving in the road and not able to maintain a lane. She also stopped for several seconds and did not move when the light turned green. Upon being stopped the officer noticed an odor of alcohol, bloodshot/glassy eyes and the driver was chewing gum very rapidly. She stated she was not swerving and that she had nothing to drink. Her speech was slurred and slowed and questioned everything the officer asked of her. She consented to roadside tasks and performed poorly. After being arrested, the Defendant gave a breath sample of .081 and .080. The firm retrieved the videos of the driving pattern and the roadsides as well as the breath testing facility videos. After reviewing the driving patter, the Firm filed a motion to suppress alleging that the stop was not based upon reasonable suspicion. In addition to that, the Firm spoke with the State Attorney assigned to the case regarding the strength of the roadside video and the low breath reading. The day before the motion to suppress, the State of Florida agreed to dismiss the charges for Driving Under the Influence.
The defendant was stopped at 3:30am by the Edgewater Police Department for speeding and driving with her high beam headlights on. The officer noticed the smell of alcohol and blood shot, glassy eyes upon making contact with the driver and asked her to perform field sobriety exercises. The driver began to perform the exercises, however was unable to complete them and was placed under arrest for DUI. During a search incident to arrest a pipe was found which the driver admitted was used for smoking cannabis. There was nobody else in the vehicle to which possession of the pipe could be attributed. The driver was then taken back to the Edgewater Police Department and given a breath test, the result of which indicated the client had a .16 BAC (twice the legal limit). After litigating the issues and lengthy negotiations with the State, we were able to convince the State to reduce the DUI charge and dismiss the paraphernalia count.
On Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at approximately 2248 hours, a DUI officer was called to the area of MacDill Ave and W. Azeele St. in reference to a possibly impaired driver. A stop had been initiated by the DUI supervising sergeant for speeding. During the course of the traffic stop, the Sergeant noticed several cues of impairment and he requested a DUI investigator to further the investigation. Upon making contact with the driver, the DUI officer noticed she had an abnormal lack of alertness and appeared to be intoxicated. She deeply stared at the officer and her eyes were bloodshot, watery and glassy. In speaking with her, the officer could note a distinct odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her breath and her speech was slurred. She admitted to consuming 3 beers. The Defendant exited the vehicle sluggishly after agreeing to perform field sobriety exercises. She was unsteady on her feet and held onto the door to keep her balance. She displayed multiple clues of impairment when the officer checked her eyes. When the officer began to give the instructions for the walk and turn exercise, the Defendant indicated that she had anxiety problems and stated she was having an anxiety attack, though she did not exhibit any of the typical signs of an anxiety attack such as rapid breathing. When asked if she was diagnosed with anxiety or taking medication for it, she stated no. She then stated she was having an asthma attack, which she stated she did take medication for. The officer felt it was clearly apparent that she was trying to stall or evade the sobriety exercises. The officer then placed her under arrest for DUI. Once at the jail, the officer had the nurses on duty check on the Defendant for any type of distress. The nurses determined she did not require any type of medical attention, so the Defendant was requested to perform a breath test. The Defendant refused to submit to a breath test and was booked for DUI. Result: The case was set for trial and at the last call pretrial date, the State dropped the DUI charge.
The defendant was stopped at 3:30am by the Edgewater Police Department for speeding and driving with her high beam headlights on. The officer noticed the smell of alcohol and blood shot, glassy eyes upon making contact with the driver and asked her to perform field sobriety exercises. The driver began to perform the exercises, however was unable to complete them and was placed under arrest for DUI. During a search incident to arrest a pipe was found which the driver admitted was used for smoking cannabis. There was nobody else in the vehicle to which possession of the pipe could be attributed. The driver was then taken back to the Edgewater Police Department and given a breath test, the result of which indicated the client had a .16 BAC (twice the legal limit). After litigating the issues and lengthy negotiations with the State, we were able to convince the State to reduce the DUI charge and dismiss the paraphernalia count.
The Defendant ran a red light and then took a longer than usual to pull over. The driver had bloodshot eyes that were pinpointed. She was unable to focus on simple tasks and fumbled over copies of her registration and insurance. She continued to state that her husband works for North Palm and that she was not drunk. She began shaking during roadsides and admitted to taking seven different kinds of drugs. She could not balance properly on 2 of the roadsides and performed poorly according to the officer. She was arrested and asked for a breath and a urine sample. She refused a urine sample but gave a breath sample of .000. The State of Florida filed felony charges due to the Defendan’t prior convictions. However, the attorney for The Ticket Clinic emailed the State Attorney and had numerous phone conferences regarding the legal problems with the case. The Firm was prepared to file motions to dismiss and suppress for an illegal arrest. The State of Florida agreed that there was no probable cause for the arrest and dismissed the charges for Driving Under the Influence.
The defendant was stopped for running a red light. The Officer made contact with the driver and noticed an odor of alcohol on his breath, his eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and his speech was slurred. The officer also claimed that the driver appeared confused when he was asked to produce his license, registration, and insurance. Based on his observations, the officer requested that the driver perform field sobriety exercises. Based on his poor performance, he was arrested. He was taken to the station where he blew under the legal limit. After the results, the officer performed a drug recognition examination. The officer concluded that the defendant was on pain killers. The officer requested a urine sample and the defendant refused to provide one. Our office set the case for trial. Prior to the trial, the prosecutor met with her supervisor to determine how they prosecute the case. We explained that the case was weak and there were many holes in the case that the state would not be able to fill. After the meeting, the prosecutor decided to dismiss the case.
The defendant was stopped for speeding. He completed the roadside exercises and refused the breath test. DUI charge dropped.
