A Florida Highway Patrol Trooper pulled the defendant over in Okeechobee County for speeding 69/60 and cited him accordingly. Additionally, the trooper issued the defendant a criminal citation for allegedly attaching a tag not assigned to his vehicle. The firm’s attorney determined the trooper’s decision to issue a criminal citation for the unassigned tag was unlawful based on current case law. Counsel convinced the prosecutor to drop the criminal charge; Additionally, counsel convinced the Court to dismiss the client’s speeding ticket despite the fact the citation was lawfully written. All charges and citations dropped.
The defendant was at a bar and ran into his ex-girlfriend. He was with another girl and she became upset. He left and was in his vehicle in the parking lot with his new girl. His ex-girlfriend found an off-duty police officer at the bar and explained to him that her ex-boyfriend was following her around the bar all night stalking her, and that his license was currently suspended due to a previous DUI. The officer walked out to the vehicle and asked the defendant for his license. The defendant responded that it was suspended and he was then arrested. The state made an offer of 30 days in jail and we filed a motion to suppress. After the motion was heard, the judge decided that our argument was correct and the officer had no probable cause to approach and detain the defendant. The judge granted our motion and the case was dismissed.
The defendant was involved in a traffic accident when she drifted off the side of the road and over-corrected bringing her car into the other lane, side-swiping a trailer. The defendant displayed slurred speech, watery/bloodshot eyes and trouble maintaining balance. The defendant admitted to taking 2 Darvocet pills within the last few hours. The defendant performed poorly on field sobriety exercises and was arrested for DUI. The defendant then refused to take a breath test. Result: the State dropped the DUI.
The Client was involved in a high speed accident. Afterwards the officer who arrived on the scene suspected the Client of DUI. The Officer asked the Client to submit to roadside exercises to determine if he as DUI, but the Client refused. The Client was then arrested for DUI and refused a breath sample while at the station. The State charged the client with leaving the scene of the accident in addition to the DUI charge. The State refused to drop the charge so the Firm took the case to trial. At trial the jury returned with a not guilty verdict on the leaving the scene charge and could not come to a decision on the DUI charge. Rather than retry the DUI charge, the State agreed to dismiss the DUI charge
Facts: The Defendant was stopped at about 9:00 p.m. traveling 51 in a 35 mph zone. Upon making contact with the Defendant, his eyes were red and glassy and his speech was slurred and mumbled. His face was flushed, he had slow dexterity and there was an odor of alcohol coming from his breath. He fumbled through his documents and often looked sleepy when contact was made with him. His movements were slow as was his speech. After running his license, the officer came back to the defendant’s car and the defendant stated “Yes, I know, I had a few drinks.” He then stated he had 3 beers and he was coming from a restaurant. The Defendant was swaying back and forth during the walk and turn, missed heel to toe on 4 steps, stepped off the line and made an improper turn. During the one leg stand, the defendant was not counting properly and was swaying back and forth. He failed to keep his eyes closed during the finger to nose as instructed and touched the tip of his nose with the middle of his finger instead of the tip every time. During the Alphabet task the Defendant said “H, I, G” instead of “H, I, J” and then said “I lost it man”. He then tried again and said “X, W, Y, Z” instead of “W, X, Y, Z”. He was arrested and then refused a breath test. The State attorney’s office took a look at the Breath Testing Video and after consulting them about the certain other factors (including the officer’s sworn testimony at the Formal Review Hearing at the Department of Motor Vehicles), the State agreed to drop the DUI.
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.
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.
