On January 3, 2016 at approximately 2:09 am, a Hillsborough county Deputy responded to the vicinity of Golf and Sea Boulevard and Signet Drive, where she observed the Defendant's black 2015 Chevrolet parked oriented northbound in the southbound lane of travel. The Deputy attempted to make contact with the Defendant, but he began to drive away northbound on Golf and Sea Boulevard. The Deputy then initiated a traffic stop on the Defendant's vehicle. The Defendant exhibited multiple clues of impairment during the traffic stop. The Defendant refused to perform field sobriety exercises and breath test. The Defendant was arrested for DUI.
Results: The firm filed a motion to suppress the stop of the vehicle and on the day of the motion hearing, the State dropped the DUI charge.
While conducting selective enforcement and pursusant to a saturation patrol, the Defendant was stopped for traveling 17 miles above the posted speed limit. The Defendant had a strong odor of alcohol coming from his mouth, his speech was thick and slurred, and his eyes were bloodshot and glassy. He admitted that he was coming from a concert and was lethargic while locating them. The officer could not understand the Defendant because of his low and slurred speech. He was slow to exit his vehicle and had to use both of his hands to assist himself in getting out. When out of the car, he was swaying side to side. When asked to walk around the vehicle, the officer observed the Defendant lose his balance. He denied consuming any alcohol and refused to perform roadsides. After being arrested, he refused to give a sample of his breath. After reviewing the case, the State declined to file any charges against the Defendant.
On Sunday, December 20, 2015 at 12:28, a Tampa Police officer was advised that a red Honda Civic and a black care racing east on west Waters Ave towards Florida Ave. The black car had already been stopped by another officer.
The officer headed west on Waters Ave and observed a red Civic to be in the turn lane to go north of Florida Ave. The officer caught up to the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop. The Defendant explained to the officer that he had been at the light on Rome Ave when he and a black car accelerated to a high speed. The Defendant claimed he was not racing and the black car was always behind him.
Result: the case was set for trial and before the trial began, the State dropped the Racing charge.
On the morning of March 1, 2016, our client was exiting the Orlando International Airport traveling north on S.R. 436. Our client is not a resident of Orlando and did not know that although it's a 6 lane highway, the speed limit upon exiting is 35 mph. Our client was clocked by an officer with the Orlando Police Department at 65 mph in the 35 mph zone. The officer proceeded to do a "step out" where the officer steps out into the street and visually waives the driver down. Our client failed to stop and passed the officer changing lanes to get out of his way because she thought he was attempting to get the attention of another driver. The officer then got on his motorcycle and conducted a traffic stop on our client. The officer cited her with a criminal charge for failing to obey his lawful order in not stopping for him. Based on a review of our client's driving history, her statements about being unfamiliar with the area, and the misunderstanding, we were able to persuade the State to drop the criminal charge against our client.
Our client was pulled over in Seminole County. She consented to a search of her vehicle which lead to the officer finding some items commonly used to smoke marijuana. We discussed some potential options with our client and were able to convince the State to allow her to enter into a diversion program. Our client successfully completed the State's diversion program and the State dismissed the case against her.
Our client was allegedly at fault in a hit and run accident. The other vehicle involved took a picture of our client's license plate as he left the scene and called police. A Trooper from the Florida Highway Patrol responded and tracked our client back to his home using the plate provided by the other driver. Our client's vehicle was parked in the driveway and had noticeable damage to it consistent with the accident the witness described. The Trooper made contact with our client and during his investigation he discovered our client's license was suspended. Our client had multiple prior convictions for Driving While License Suspended making this offense a felony as opposed to a misdemeanor. Our client was placed under arrest and taken to jail on two separate charges of Driving While License Suspended as a Habitual Traffic Offender, which is punishable by a maximum of 5 years in prison and a $5000 fine. We began working on the case trying to exclude any evidence we believed was improperly obtained and arguing that a photo of a license plate could not prove who the actual driver of the vehicle was. During this same time, we worked with our client to fix his suspensions and obtain a valid driver's license. Based on our conversations and arguments over the phone with the prosecutor, the State dismissed both felony charges before we filed any motions or had our first court date.
The defendant was seen on his motorcycle approaching a red light along with 2 other motorcyclists. The officer heard the cyclists roaring their engines at the light. After the light turned green, the officer observed the 2 outside motorcyclists take off hard while the defendant in the middle lane leaned forward and accelerated hard enough to burn the rear tire. The officer could hear the tire squeal and see smoke as the defendant leaned forward and swept his feet back in classic drag racing position. The defendant pulled well ahead of both other riders. The defendant was clocked at 64 mph in a 40 mph zone during this acceleration. The defendant was stopped for racing. The defendant admitted that he was “being stupid.” All of the events were caught on the officer’s in-dash camera. Result: State dropped the Racing charge.
The police came into contact with the Defendant, and found him to be in possession of illegal mushrooms. He was arrested and charged with Possession of Psilocyn (mushrooms). Had he been convicted of this crime, the Defendant was looking at up to 5 years of prison. The attorney for the firm investigated the case, and was able to get the Defendant into a drug treatment program. Upon completion of the program, the attorney for the firm was able to get the State to drop the case completely.
Our client was returning to his office after a lunch break when he got into a small bumper to bumper accident with the vehicle in front of him. When he got out of his vehicle to make contact with the other driver, the other driver refused to speak with him while she was on phone with police. Our client attempted to have the other driver meet him in a parking lot down the road from the accident scene so he could get back to his office on time but the other driver refused to move. Our client left the scene to go to his office without exchanging all required information with the other driver. Police responded to the scene and started working the accident. Our client then returned to the scene after checking in at work. The officer cited our client with a criminal charge for Leaving the Scene of an Accident without properly exchanging information. Upon the outset, we noted the property damage estimate listed in the accident report and on the citation indicated a total damage amount of $0. We then requested and received a copy of the 911 call from the other driver, where our client can be heard explaining to the other driver where he worked, how close it was, and asking her to follow him there. Based on the circumstances we argued with the State that since there were no injuries, no property damage, and our client returned to the scene - there was no basis to file a criminal charge. The State agreed and dropped the criminal charge.
After 2am on January 10, 2015, our client was stopped for driving too slowly down the road in Downtown Orlando with her lights off. A police officer stopped our client and noticed her eyes were droopy, bloodshot, and watery. He also noticed the odor of alcohol coming from her breath and her vehicle. After performing field sobriety tests our client was arrested and eventually provided a breath sample of .136 and .137. We worked to get our client to begin some standard DUI conditions early on in her case. We eventually succeeded in getting our client admitted into a program for first time DUI offenders in Orange County. After our client successfully completed the conditions of the program, the State dismissed all criminal charges against our client.
The defendant was stopped for speeding. He completed the roadside exercises and refused the breath test. Defendant was acquitted by a jury of DUI.
The client was stopped by law enforcement for running a red light. Once stopped the Officer smelled the odor of marijuana and the odor of alcohol. The Officer requested the Client to submit to sobriety exercises, which the client completed. However the officer still arrested him for DUI and upon searching the clients vehicle discovered marijuana. The client did not admit to or know the marijuana was in the vehicle. After discussing the law on the issue as well as the clients background and the facts of the case, the Firm was able to get the State to agree to dismiss the DUI and the Possession of Marijuana charge.
