Facts: The Defendant was pace clocked traveling 62 in a 40 mile per hour zone and observed weaving within his lane. He then made a blind turn at an intersection without looking at 25 miles per hour. The officer made contact with the defendant and smelled a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath, he had bloodshot/glassy eyes and slurred speech. When asked for his license and registration, he fumbled through his glove compartment documents for about a minute before he told the officer that he didn’t have his registration. When asked if he had been drinking he said he had one with dinner and then changed his story to having several beers throughout the day but stuck to the “one beer per hour rule.” He was asked to step out of his car where the officer said he was unsteady on his feet. When asked to submit to roadsides the defendant asked what would happen if he didn’t do them. The officer told him that he would have to make his decision based upon what he saw at the time and may have to arrest him for DUI. The Defendant then turned around and put his arms behind his back and said, “well I guess it’s time to go to jail.” After being taken to the jail, the Defendant was asked to submit to a sample of his breath to determine the alcohol content and he refused. He could not recall what road he was on and joked around constantly with the officer on video. The State of Florida offered 120 days in jail along with a 10 year license suspension before trial. The Firm took the deposition of the Lieutenant who had also observed the driving pattern. He also made observations of the Defendant on scene which were inconsistent with what the arresting officer testified to. The State failed to call the Lieutenant to the stand so the Firm did. During closing arguments, the Firm’s position was that the State failed to give the jury the entire story and didn’t want them to hear the holes in their case. The jury returned a verdict in 3 minutes of not guilty.
Defendant involved in a crash where defendant rear-ended another vehicle and did poorly on roadside sobriety exercises. Defendant was arrested and refused to submit to a breath test. DUI case was dropped.
The defendant stopped the vehicle at a green light. The police followed the defendant based upon an anonymous tip that the defendant was driving recklessly. The defendant was arrested for DUI and blew .177 and .180. Motion to suppress the stop was granted. DUI case Dropped.
On May 22, a Tampa Police Department Officer was on duty at the traffic light at Armenia and Kennedy Blvd. facing south bound. He observed a red BMW and one other vehicle turn right onto Armenia traveling northbound. Both vehicles were traveling the wrong way down a one-way street. Upon reaching the intersection at Kennedy, both vehicles stopped. When the light for south bound traffic on Armenia changed to green, the car next to the officer waited for the 2 vehicles to proceed. The vehicles did not move so the officer flashed his lights at them, but they did not respond. As the light turned back to red, the BMW turned left onto Kennedy Blvd. The officer attempted to stop both vehicles, but only the BMW pulled over. The officer made contact with the Defendant, the driver of the BMW, and immediately noticed an odor of an alcoholic beverage. The Defendant also had bloodshot/drowsy eyes and is speech was slurred. The Defendant was relocated to a parking lot to perform field sobriety exercises. The Defendant performed the exercises poorly, indicating impairment. The Defendant was placed under arrest for DUI. After being read Implied Consent Law, the Defendant refused to submit to a breath test. Results: The firm filed a motion to suppress which was scheduled to be heard the morning before the trial. Before the motion was heard by the Judge, the state dropped the DUI charge.
An officer was approached by a passerby at approximately 6:55 a.m. that a vehicle was partially in a canal on Military Trail. The officer arrived on scene and saw the truck had driven over a guardrail and smashed through it. The vehicle was resting on a fence that divides the roadway from the Canal. The Defendant stated that his power steering went out and that he drove off the road. The other person on scene said that the Defendant abruptly swerved to the left and went through the guardrail. There were no brake marks on the roadway. The Defendant’s eyes were red and bloodshot and his face was flush. He was pacing around in the area and continuously smoking or chewing gum. He produced incorrect documents and had a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath. He stated he was coming from the Blue Boar Local Bar and that he had 4 to 5 beers. He was requested to perform roadside tasks and refused to perform them. After being arrested for Driving Under the Influence, he was taken to the Breath Center where he was asked to submit to a sample of his breath to determine the alcohol content. The Defendant refused to give a breath sample. The Firm filed a motion to suppress any and all statements made to the officers on scene as a violation of the accident report privilege due to the Defendant not being Mirandized. The State agreed to exclude all of those statements. Additionally, the Firm took the depositions of the arresting officer and the crash scene investigator. Both transcripts indicated that the facts were not sufficient for the State to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The crash officer admitted in deposition that the Defendant was “not exhibiting the normal signs of someone who was impaired.” Result: The State read both the transcripts and dropped the DUI charge.
Facts: The Defendant was seen driving a 4 wheeler ATV All Terrain Vehicle towards a Palm Beach County Deputy. The Defendant was driving on a road he was not allowed to drive on. The officer activated his emergency lights and sirens and the Defendant looked at the Officer and did a U-turn. The Defendant then looked back numerous times and suddenly increased his speed. The ATV then turned right onto another street and stopped at the dead end of the road. The driver identified himself to the Officer and was arrested for Fleeing and Eluding an Officer. The Firm prepared numerous documents and letters for the Office of the State Attorney to provide to them indicating that there were no independent witnesses and that they did not have enough evidence to convict the Defendant of the charges. After a review of the case, the Office of the State Attorney declined to file the charges.
On June 23rd, the Defendant was stopped for driving without headlights at night on N. Republica De Cuba Ave and E. 8th Ave. Upon making contact with the Defendant, the Officer noticed several cues of impairment. A DUI investigator was called to the scene. The DUI officer observed the Defendant sitting in the driver’s seat of the vehicle. The Defendant had an abnormal lack of alertness. He was slow and lethargic and appeared to be intoxicated. He had a fixed deep gaze and his eyes were extremely bloodshot, watery and glassy. The officer also observed a distinct odor of alcoholic beverage coming from the Defendant’s breath. The Defendant performed field sobriety exercises which he complied. As the Defendant exited his vehicle, he was unsteady on his feet and had a noticeable sway. The Defendant performed poorly on the field exercises and displayed multiple clues of impairment. The Defendant was then placed under arrest for DUI. The Defendant provided a breath sample of .046 and .045. He also provided a urine sample to test for chemical or controlled substances. Results: Based on discussion with the firm, the State dropped the DUI charge.
Officers saw the defendant exit the vehicle after a traffic accident. The officers made contact with the defendant and noticed an odor of alcohol as well as glassy, bloodshot eyes. The defendant performend poorly on the roadside sobriety exercises. The defendant's breath alcohol content registered .083/.084 on the intoxylizer. Case dismissed by the State.
The defendant was seen speeding in his car and making a turn from the wrong lane. Once he was stopped, the officer noticed that there was an odor of alcohol, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and he was having trouble producing documentation for the car. Roadside exercises were requested and the defendant performed poorly according to the officer. After the arrest, the defendant was asked to submit to a breath test, and he agreed. The results were .093 and .092. All charges were dropped during the jury trial.
On July 21, 2010 the Defendant was accused of causing an accident causing an injury and leaving the scene of the accident (Felony). After coming into contact with the police officer near the scene of the accident, it was also discovered that the Defendant’s driver license was expired, which was a criminal violation as well. After investigating the case, the firm explained to the State Attorney’s case filing department, that this was a case of mistaken identity, and the Defendant was not the driver at the time of the crash. The State Attorney continued their investigation, and concluded that they would not be able to prove their case beyond every reasonable doubt and dropped all criminal charges against the Defendant.
The Defendant was driving westbound on Sunrise Boulevard approaching Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. The Defendant then drove over a concrete median separating Westbound Sunrise Boulevard and Northbound Federal Highway causing crippling damage to his vehicle. Officer Troiano of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department was the first on scene a saw the Defendant outside of his vehicle. He noticed the Defendant to have the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage; bloodshot eyes; flushed face; slurred speech; and that the Defendant was extremely unsteady on his feet. Officer Troiano requested the assistance of Deputy Faccini of the DUI Task Force. Deputy Faccini made contact with the Defendant and also noticed that strong odor of an alcoholic beverage; bloodshot eyes; flushed face; slurred speech; and that the Defendant was extremely unsteady on his feet. Deputy Faccini administered roadside sobriety exercises on video that reflected the Defendant to be extremely impaired. The Defendant could not come close to completing one roadside exercise without almost falling over. The Defendant was arrested for DUI and was asked to submit to a breath test. The Defendant responded to the request for a breath test by stating “I know I am going to blow over”. The Defendant sat down to give the breath test with two valid samples and blew a .212 g/210L on the first and began to avoid giving a second sample by blowing improperly into the machine on purpose. The Deputy took the Defendant’s action as a refusal to comply with Florida Law. All DUI charges were dropped by the State of Florida.
Defendant was stopped for failing to maintain their lane of travel on ten occasions. After performing roadside exercises on video the defendant was arrested. The defendant refused the breath test. Aquitted by a jury of the DUI.
