A Port St. Lucie Police Officer observed the Defendant’s vehicle drifting, straddling and weaving on the roadway. Upon initiating a traffic stop, a DUI enforcement officer was called to the scene to investigate. The DUI enforcement officer noticed a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from the Defendant’s mouth. When the officer asked the Defendant to exit the vehicle, the Defendant needed to use his vehicle to steady himself. The Defendant admitted to drinking alcohol, however, he could not remember the bar in which he was coming from. The Defendant performed poorly on the field sobriety tasks and provided a breath reading of .102. Defense counsel attended the Department of Motor Vehicle Formal Hearing attempting to retain the Defendant’s driving privileges. At the hearing, Defense Counsel recognized conflicting testimony between the officer who initiated the traffic stop and the DUI enforcement officer. Defense Counsel immediately prepared legal documents challenging the evidence based on the strikingly different testimony of the two officers. After two extensive legal hearings in front a judge, the State agreed to drop the DUI charge.
The defendant was stopped for swerving. He completed the roadside exercises and refused the breath test. Defendant was acquitted by jury of DUI.
The defendant was approached by an officer after he exited a bar and was walking to his car. The officer told him that he saw him drive around a \"road closed\" sign and park in a no parking zone. The defendant responded that he forgot his credit card in the bar and had to get it. The officer made observations consistent with impairment and decided to begin a DUI investigation. The defendant refused to perform field sobriety exercises and refused to give a breath sample. He was arrested. Halfway through the trial, we argued that there was little to no evidence that our client was driving the vehicle. The judge agreed and dismissed the case.
The Defendant was working for Coca-Cola and filling his work truck with fuel at a service station in Hollywood, Florida. Simultaneously, a fight arose at the gas station that did not include and was unrelated to the Defendant. Hollywood Police Officers responded to address this fight. In their efforts to arrest the people involved in the fight, the Officers threw a female against the side of the defendant’s work truck The Defendant exited his truck and asked for the officers\' name and badge number to give to his employer to address the damage to the vehicle. The Defendant repeatedly requested the name and badge number of the Officers and was arrested for obstructing the arrest of the female participant in the fight for doing so. After the firm’s investigation of this case and proof that the Defendant did not obstruct the arrest, the State dropped all charges.
The Defendant was driving on Lakeworth Road without his headlights on. The officer paced the vehicle traveling 53 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone. The Defendant’s vehicle then began to swerve within its lane. After initiating a traffic stop, the Officer noticed that the Defendant’s breath smelled like alcohol and his eyes were glassy, red and bloodshot. His movements were slow and he had difficulty completing thoughts or sentences. While standing, he would stumble to the left or right. After each question posed by the officer, the Defendant would request that it be repeated since he was “unable to focus on what was being said”. While walking to the parking lot to do the roadside exercises, he stumbled several times and slowed to catch his balance. He spontaneously stated that he “came from McKenna’s Bar and only had 4 beers”. His speech was slow and deliberate. He performed poorly on roadside exercises and was arrested for DUI. He stopped the one leg stand and said he just couldn’t do it and repeated a letter in the alphabet while singing it instead of saying it slowly. At the Breath Facility, he gave two samples of his breath which yielded results of .055 and .059. He was questioned about his consumption of alcohol at the breath facility and he responded by stating that he “was no longer under the influence”. The Firm contacted the State Attorney’s Office pre-filing to attempt to stop the charge of DUI from being filed against the Defendant. After speaking with the State of Florida, the Firm was able to convince them that the case could not be proven beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt and the State declined to file the charges.
Deputy responded to a person down call. Upon arrival, the Deputy observed a vehicle stopped in the turn lane. The vehicle had a green light and did not turn. The brake lights were the only lights illuminated on the back of the car. The Deputy initiated his emergency lights and approached the vehicle. The Defendant was seen sleeping in the driver seat with his head down and seat belt on. The vehicle was running and the gear shift was in drive. The Deputy opened the door and the Defendant’s arm fell and he continued to sleep. The Deputy was finally able to wake the Defendant. The Deputy gave the Defendant multiple commands for him to put the car in drive, which he did not do. The Deputy then reached into the car and put it into the park. The Deputy then turned the car off and put the keys on the top of the car. A DUI investigator was then called to the scene. When the DUI investigator arrived, she noted an odor of an alcoholic beverage on the Defendant’s breath. She also noted his eyes were bloodshot and glassy and his speech was slurred. The Defendant stated that he was tired from work, but had been out drinking. Defendant admitted to drinking 3 long island ice teas at a pool hall earlier in the evening. The Defendant performed field sobriety exercises which showed clues of impairment. On the walk and turn exercise, the Defendant was unable to maintain his balance in the start position, stumbled out of balance twice, stopped with each step to regain balance and missed touching his heel to toe. On the One Leg Stand exercise, he had to put his foot down multiple times. The Defendant was then arrested for DUI. He provided a breath sample which had a .128/.137 breath alcohol content. The case was set for trial and after extended discussions with the State Attorney’s Office, the firm was able to get the DUI charge dropped.
The Defendant drove his vehicle behind closed businesses located in Plantation, Florida. Fearing for the safety of those businesses, Officer Santy of the Plantation Police Department followed the Defendant. Upon coming into contact with the Defendant, the Defendant was standing by the driver’s side of his vehicle changing his clothing. The Defendant had the odor of an alcoholic beverage, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and was acting with a sleepy and lethargic demeanor. The Defendant also appeared to be disoriented as to the time and his location and could not remember the name of the restaurant he was coming from. The Defendant was asked to do roadside sobriety exercises and performed poorly. The Defendant then submitted to the breath test, which registered .115/.109 g/210L on the intoxilyzer. The State dropped all DUI charges
The defendant was driving his vehicle in a business shopping plaza when an officer who was approaching to the north witnessed him pull out of the plaza without stopping and shoot all the way across the street. The officer cited the defendant with making an improper turn pursuant to Florida Statute 316.151. The defendant made a u-turn and the officer conducted a traffic stop. The officer ran the license of the defendant and it showed that he was charged with driving on a suspended license for a ten year DUI revocation. The State Attorneys Office was seeking 30 days in Palm Beach County Jail. The firm filed a motion to suppress arguing that the defendant was stopped in violation of the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The State agreed and dismissed the charges on the date of the motion to suppress.
The Defendant was seen by a member of the Broward Sheriff’s Office DUI Task Force driving over the concrete median separating the eastbound from the westbound lanes of Broward Boulevard. Upon making contact with the Defendant, the Deputy detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage, glassy eyes and a flushed face. The Defendant admitted to taking Xanax and consuming one beer and a glass of wine. The Defendant performed poorly during roadside sobriety exercises and refused the breath test. The State dropped all DUI charges upon sitting for a jury trial on the matter.
The defendant was stopped for doing 32 mph in a 20 mph zone in downtown Jupiter. The officer noticed the defendant had bloodshot, glassy eyes and his speech sounded slurred. He also noticed a strong odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage coming from his breath as he spoke. The defendant stated he was coming from Jumby Bay Bar and that he drank 4 or 5 beers. The defendant was moved across the street, questioned and then submitted to field sobriety exercises. During the questioning, he spoke with a slur and the officer asked “do you normally talk with a slur?” The defendant stated “no I don’t.” During the walk and turn, the defendant was told to count to nine on the first steps and he counted “1,2,3” “1,2,3” “1,2,3”, instead of the way he was instructed. On the turn, the video showed the defendant take a stumble backwards almost falling back. During the one leg stand, the defendant counted to 15 one thousand and said “five one thousand”. The defendant was arrested and taken to the breath alcohol testing facility where he refused to give a breath sample when it was requested of him. When asked whether he was drinking he stated he was and that he was at a few different bars. When asked whether he could feel the effects of the alcohol and whether he was under the influence, the defendant paused and then stated: “not particularly”. The firm filed a motion to suppress his statements made to the officer when he moved for the roadsides arguing that he was in custody and was not read his Miranda warnings. The Judge agreed and would not allow the questions and answers into evidence for the trial. On the day of trial, the State of Florida dropped the DUI charge.
The defendant was driving on Camino Real Boulevard when she flipped her vehicle and crashed into a tree on the median. Police Officers arrived from the Boca Raton Police Department and the defendant was bleeding from cuts on her legs. The defendant was alone in her vehicle. She told the police that a cat jumped out into the road and she swerved to miss the cat. She also stated several times to the medics that she had a glass of wine that evening. She refused to go to the hospital. When the officer spoke to the defendant, he noticed that he could smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from her person, her eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and her speech was slurred. Another officer noticed what appeared to be marijuana in plain view inside the vehicle. It did in fact test positive for marijuana. The defendant was arrested and taken to the Boca Raton Police Department. She was told at the station that the officer was now conducting a DUI investigation and asked the defendant to perform roadside tasks on video camera. The defendant refused the tasks even after being threatened that she would additionally be charged with DUI. Subsequently, the officer requested a sample of the defendant’s breath and the defendant refused as well. The Firm pointed out to the State that the officer did not contemplate the charge of DUI until after he had gotten back to the station and therefore, it didn’t seem as though he had probable cause for the charge. The State agreed and dropped the DUI charge as well as the Marijuana Charge.
The defendant was driving on Hypoluxo Road east of Congress Avenue in Boynton Beach. The vehicle appeared to be traveling at a high rate of speed and was in fact traveling 58 mph in a 45 mph zone. The defendant was not wearing his seat belt. The defendant was stopped and the officer approached the vehicle. The officer smelled an obvious odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage coming from the defendant’s mouth. His eyes were glassed and he seemed dazed. He was fumbling around inside his vehicle looking for his paperwork. He produced an expired registration and then a current one. He said that he was coming from a friend’s where he had half a beer and then threw it up. He then said that he does not drink much and should have been wearing his seat belt. He seemed disoriented and told the officer that he takes Abilify, Lexipro and other cholesterol pills. During the walk and turn, he started too soon, pointed his toe in the air and said he “would count like he was in the military”. When he started, he almost fell down and at the ninth step he forgot what to do. He then did an “about face” instead of turning properly and stood there having to be reminded what to do. During the one leg stand, he placed his leg up as if he were placing it on an object and did not look down at his leg. He got to the 10 count and asked “how’s it go now?” During the finger to nose, he proceeded through the cycles with his arms and hands 14 times without being asked to do anything and swayed during the entire task. The defendant was arrested and gave a breath sample of .021 and .021. The officer then requested a urine which turned showed results of Abilify, Lexapro and Cholesterol medications. The Firm contacted the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department Crime Lab to discuss the substances that were allegedly in the defendant’s system. After speaking to the toxicologist, the defense drafted a letter to the case filing division advising them that the substances found in the defendant’s system are not “controlled” under Florida Law and therefore the breath reading and urine results would not be enough to establish a prima facie case of guilt. The State agreed and declined to file charges
