The Defendant passed a DUI Task Force Deputy traveling at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour on the exit ramp from I-595 on to I-95 Northbound. The Defendant maintained those speeds and made over 8 lane changes within heavy traffic. The Deputy finally caught up to the Defendant’s vehicle on the Sunrise Boulevard exit ramp. The Deputy Stopped the Defendant’s vehicle and noticed the Defendant to have the odor of an alcoholic beverage, bloodshot eyes and a flushed face. The Defendant was asked to perform roadside exercises and did so. During the walk and turn exercise, the Defendant lost her balance during the instructional stance, started the exercise to early and missed touching heel to toe on 6 separate steps and used her arms for balance. On the finger to nose, the Defendant repeatedly used the incorrect portion of her finger and missed the portion of her nose that she was instructed to touch on several occasions. The Defendant was arrested for both reckless driving and DUI and submitted to the breath test which resulted in readings of .094/.094 g/210L, well above the legal limit. The Defendant was found not guilty of reckless driving and DUI after a jury trial.
The defendant went shopping in a well known retail store in Port St. Lucie with her husband. After selecting merchandise, the defendant was waiting in the check-out line. Store security confronted her husband and accused him of shoplifting by placing items in his pockets. The husband fled the store. Failing to apprehend the husband, store security turned their attention to the defendant, who voluntarily remained on scene. Security accused her of assisting her husband with his alleged theft and demanded her to walk to a back office to be interrogated. Confused and feeling harassed by security, she attempted to peacefully walk out of the store; but the police were called and arrested the defendant for petit theft and resisting a merchant. After meeting with the Firm’s Treasure Coast Attorney, it became apparent to counsel that she had no knowledge of her husband’s actions and was wrongfully accused based on the unfortunate notion of “guilty by association.” Counsel immediately pulled video from the multiple cameras in the retail store. The video images clearly showed our client was simply shopping. The video images not only failed to show she was in any way assisting her husband commit a crime, it also did not show she even had knowledge of his actions. Furthermore, counsel immediately recognized that the State could not prove the “resisting merchant” charge because there was no allegation that our client intended to prevent the store from retrieving stolen merchandise, a required element to the offense. Armed with multiple defenses, counsel set the case for trial. Recognizing the strong case the Firm’s counsel was prepared to present to a jury, the prosecutor dropped all charges.
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.
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 stopped for stealing ice from a store. After completing the roadside exercises he was arrested and refused breath testing. DUI charge dropped.
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.
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.
