Our client was charged for a misdemeanor of leaving the scene of an accident. Florida Highway Patrol alleged that our client sideswiped another car on Interstate 95 and then left the scene of the crash. After our Treasure Coast Attorney met with the client, it became clear that our client’s actions were reasonable and appropriate for the situation. It was found that after the cars sideswiped each other, our client immediately exited the highway to find a safe location to exchange information with the other driver. However, the other driver continued driving on the highway and failed to exit. Our client drove home and contacted the police to report the crash. Our client satisfied the actions a person is required to do under Florida Law. It appeared there was a misunderstanding between the two drivers on where they should safely pull over. The trooper used poor discretion to charge our client when our client had no intent to avoid responsibility. Based on this legal analysis, our firm’s attorney convinced the prosecution to drop all criminal charges.
The Defendant was stopped for speeding by Officer John Hanson of the Pembroke Pines Police Department DUI Task Force. The Officer approached the vehicle and noticed the Defendant to have the odor of alcohol on his breath, slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and was unstable while standing unassisted. The Defendant admitted to consuming four drinks while at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The Defendant was then asked to do roadside sobriety exercises and performed poorly on all of them. The Defendant could not maintain a straight line on the walk and turn and missed heel to toe on several steps. The Defendant could not say the alphabet correctly despite being given 3 opportunities to try and could not touch the tip of his finger to the tip of his nose. He could not maintain his balance at all on one leg either. The Defendant was arrested for DUI and submitted to the breath test which resulted in readings of .159/.152 g/210L. The Firm filed a Motion to Suppress the Unlawful Detention of the Defendant for roadside exercises based upon the conduct of the officer reflected on the videotape. The Judge agreed that the officer forced our client to participate in exercises (clearly voluntary under Florida Law) without first asking his consent and suppressed all of the evidence after the initial traffic stop. The State dropped all charges.
The defendant was charged with a misdemeanor of leaving the scene of an accident and a civil infraction of violation of a traffic control device. Port St. Lucie Police alleged she drove through a red light, struck a child on a bicycle in a crosswalk and then left the scene of the accident. The defendant had never been in trouble before and therefore she was shocked and confused about the situation. Furthermore, she was concerned she would be sued by the child’s parents if she was found guilty. After our Treasure Coast Attorney met with the defendant and calmed her, it became clear that she was in fact not guilty of a crime at all. Although she did indeed eventually leave the scene of the accident, it wasn’t before she stopped her car and spoke with the child. The child told her that he was alright, did not need any medical attention and began to leave the scene. The defendant satisfied the actions a person is required to complete under Florida Law. Moreover, the defendant drove straight home and contacted police to report the incident. The defendant was also adamant that she had the green light and therefore had the right-of-way. It appeared the police reacted on emotion to a crash involving a child and inappropriately disregarded Florida Law. Based on this legal analysis, our firm’s attorney convinced the prosecution to drop all charges including the civil infraction.
Facts: The Defendant was observed traveling westbound on Atlantic Avenue at 2:00 a.m. tailgating another vehicle. He then made a sharp lane change and continued changing lanes in and out of traffic. He was paced going 60 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone. He then began driving on the solid white line for 2 blocks in the middle of 2 lanes. The Defendant then blew through a solid red traffic light that had been red for 3 or 4 car lengths. The Officer conducted a traffic stop and noticed the Defendant had bloodshot, glassy eyes. He smelled an odor of alcohol coming from his breath and his movements were slow while retrieving his documents. He told the officer he had been drinking at Cabanas celebrating his daughter’s engagement and that he “was going a little too fast”. He said he had 2 vodka beverages. His speech was slow, slurred and mumbled according to the officer. The Defendant failed to maintain his balance during the starting position for the walk and turn, started before being told to, missed heel to toe on every single step, stepped off the line 2 times and took 10 steps on the return instead of the 9 as instructed. During the one leg stand task, the defendant swayed while balancing, used his arms to balance, put his foot down 2 times and stopped counting at 20 and started over instead of continuing to 30 as instructed. During the Finger to Nose task, the Defendant failed to return his arm to his side and touched his nose with the middle of his finger on every attempt instead of using the tip of his finger. During the counting task, the Defendant skipped the number 14 and had to correct himself and used his arms to recover his balance. He was taken to the Breath Alcohol Testing Facility where he was asked to submit to a breath. At first, he was not sure if he should take one and then decided to submit to a breath test. He blew a .096 and .093. He told the officer he got to Cabanas at 9:00 p.m. and drank 2 vodka sodas. He was not sure when he had his first and was not sure when he had his last. The Firm argued that the State could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt and no evidence was admitted to show what the Defendant’s breath was “at the time of driving”. Additionally, the Officer’s testimony was inconsistent with the video evidence of the Defendant and therefore he was not a credible witness. After deliberations, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.
FACTS: The Defendant was observed by a witness passed out behind the wheel of his car in a Publix parking lot. His head was down with his chin hitting his chest. After hitting the drivers door and hitting the window several times, the driver could not be woken up. The car was running and the Defendant’s hand was on the shifter. When the Police arrived, the Defendant was woken up and he admitted to drinking 5 or 6 beers. When asked to perform roadside exercises, he refused and was arrested for Driving Under the Influence. He was taken to the Breath Alcohol Testing Facility where he refused to submit to a lawful test of his breath. The State declined to file charges for Driving Under the Influence.
Facts: The Defendant was parked behind closed businesses late at night around 1 a.m. When the officer noticed the vehicle, he drove towards him and the Defendant immediately pulled out of the area and left the scene. The tint on the windows was too dark for the officer to see in the car. A DUI officer was called to the scene due to the defendant smelling of alcohol and showing other signs of impairment. The Defendant was standing against his pickup truck when the DUI officer arrived and his eyes were bloodshot and glassy and his eyes were droopy. His speech was slurred and he had a difficult time focusing. He stated he was coming from the bar and had 5 beers. He told the Officer that his speech is normally not slurred. The Defendant said he had been through this “shit before” and refused to do any roadside exercises. He was arrested for Driving Under the Influence and taken to the West Palm Beach Police Department where he was asked to submit to a lawful sample of his breath to determine the alcohol content. The Defendant refused to give a breath sample. When asked whether he could feel the effects of the alcohol on video, the defendant said “Yes”. He also changed his story and said he had not been drinking at all. The Firm took depositions of the first officer who stopped the Defendant as well as the arresting officer. The State had initially offered a plea involving four months in jail. After filing a motion to suppress arguing that the Defendant was stopped without any reasonable suspicion of criminal activity and providing the State Attorney with copies of the depositions, the State of Florida dropped all charges against him.
The defendant made a left turn in front of a police car, causing the police car to brake to avoid a collision. Once stopped he completed the roadside exercises and refused a breath test. .DUI charge dropped.
Facts: The Defendant was parked behind closed businesses late at night around 1 a.m. When the officer noticed the vehicle, he drove towards him and the Defendant immediately pulled out of the area and left the scene. The tint on the windows was too dark for the officer to see in the car. A DUI officer was called to the scene due to the defendant smelling of alcohol and showing other signs of impairment. The Defendant was standing against his pickup truck when the DUI officer arrived and his eyes were bloodshot and glassy and his eyes were droopy. His speech was slurred and he had a difficult time focusing. He stated he was coming from the bar and had 5 beers. He told the Officer that his speech is normally not slurred. The Defendant said he had been through this “shit before” and refused to do any roadside exercises. He was arrested for Driving Under the Influence and taken to the West Palm Beach Police Department where he was asked to submit to a lawful sample of his breath to determine the alcohol content. The Defendant refused to give a breath sample. When asked whether he could feel the effects of the alcohol on video, the defendant said “Yes”. He also changed his story and said he had not been drinking at all. The Firm took depositions of the first officer who stopped the Defendant as well as the arresting officer. The State had initially offered a plea involving four months in jail. After filing a motion to suppress arguing that the Defendant was stopped without any reasonable suspicion of criminal activity and providing the State Attorney with copies of the depositions, the State of Florida dropped all charges against him.
The defendant was charged with 5 separate counts of DUI causing Property Damage as a result of a 5 car accident that occurred in I-95 near Hollywood, Florida. Florida Highway Patrol Troopers arrived on scene to investigate the cause of the crash. According to the police paperwork several people involved in the accident identified the Defendant as the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident. The Officers noticed the Defendant to have the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage; bloodshot and watery eyes, flushed face and that he was unsteady on his feet. The officers then requested that the Defendant participate in Roadside Sobriety Exercises after making those observations, which the Defendant did. During the exercises, The Defendant could not walk in a straight line, and could not walk heel to toe during the walk and turn exercise. The Defendant was unable to hold his foot off of the ground and nearly fell over during the one leg stand. The Defendant was then arrested for DUI and refused to submit to a breath test. The Firm did a thorough investigation of the case and was able to prove through the use of depositions (sworn statements) that the officer was less than truthful in stating that other parties were able to identify our client as the driver. As a matter of fact, all of the parties gave depositions stating that each had no knowledge of who the driver was at the time of the crash, contrary to what the officer placed in his “sworn” reports. The State dropped all charges.
The Defendant made a right turn from the middle lane at Town Center Road and Military Trail and then failed to maintain its lane several times. The vehicle kept drifting in and out of the lane. After stopping the vehicle the Officer noticed that the driver smelled of alcohol and her eyes were bloodshot, glossy and she had slurred speech. A DUI officer arrived and asked her if she had been drinking. She stated she just came from Blue Martini and she had been drinking. The Defendant could not walk heel to toe during the walk and turn and did not have good balance during the One Leg Stand. Additionally, she was unable to touch her finger to her nose. During the alphabet task, the Defendant skipped the letter K and only got to the letter S the first time. On the second try, she was only able to get to the letter S. The Defendant was placed under arrest and taken to the Breath Facility at the Boca Raton Police Department. She was asked to submit to a breath sample where she got very argumentative, continually yelling and arguing with the officers about whether to take the breath test. After a significant period of time, the Defendant took a breath test which yielded results of .083 and .085. The Defendant also admitted to taking medication including sleeping pills. The Firm filed motions to exclude a number of different portions of the roadside videos as well as the breath testing videos regarding different medications she takes and the sleeping pills. All of the medications the Defendant took were not “controlled substances” under Florida Law. Thus, the firm argued, they were not admissible should the case have gone to trial. The State agreed to exclude those statements and portions of the video. Result: A week before the trial the State agreed to drop the DUI.
The defendant was a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over by Florida Highway Patrol in St. Lucie County. The driver admitted to the trooper that his driver’s license was suspended. The trooper arrested the defendant for Permitting an Unauthorized Person to Drive claiming the defendant admitted to knowing the driver did not have a valid license but let him drive because she was tired. Defense Counsel immediately demanded a trial. At trial, Defense Counsel cross examined the trooper and was able to show the trooper made material assertions at trial that were not included in his sworn affidavit. Additionally it was established the trooper never investigated who the vehicle actually belonged to; therefore the prosecutor was unable to prove an essential element of the charge – that our client possessed ownership, dominion or control over the vehicle. The Judge dismissed all charges in the middle of trial, prior to Defense Counsel even putting on his evidence. The judge found the prosecutor failed to establish all the necessary elements to proceed further. Our client was found to be NOT GUILTY.
A Fort Lauderdale Police Officer saw the Defendant’s vehicle driving without its headlights on. The officer attempted to stop the Defendant’s vehicle however the Defendant kept driving until she pulled into a parking lot of a convenience store approximately one half mile from the location where he initiated his lights. The stopping officer detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the Defendant’s breath, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and a flushed face. The DUI investigator arrived on scene and made identical observations to those of the stopping officer. The Defendant was then asked to submit to roadside sobriety exercises and she admitted to consuming two glasses of wine between the hours of 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. The Defendant performed poorly during the exercises and was not able to follow instructions. Based on the foregoing, the Defendant was arrested for DUI and refused to submit to a breath test. After the Defendant’s arrest, a blue cup filled with an alcoholic beverage was found inside the defendant’s vehicle under the driver’s seat. Result: The State dropped all DUI charges.17/06/2010
