Witnesses observed the Defendant crash into his neighbor’s parked car. The neighbor saw the Defendant exit the vehicle and go inside his house. Shortly after, the Defendant exited the house with his wife and indicated that she was the one who was driving. When police arrived, they smelled the odor of alcohol on his breath, saw bloodshot eyes and a flushed face. Police arrested the Defendant for DUI and requested a breath sample. The Defendant complied. Because of the Defendant’s multiple priors, it was filed as a felony charge, punishable by up to 5 years in prison. The attorney for the firm prepared the case for trial. The State dismissed the case against the Defendant.
The client was alleged to have wrecked her vehicle in a drainage ditch. When the officers arrived they saw witnesses and and the client standing near her vehicle with her keys in her purse. The witnesses told the the officers that they had to pull the client from her vehicle, and the client admitted she as driving and crashed into the ditch. The officer smelled alcohol and had the client do roadside sobriety exercises, which she did poorly on. She then gave a breath sample that was nearly three times the legal limit. The client was then charged with a second DUI enhanced crash. The Firm investigated the case thoroughly and found a fatal flaw in the officers investigation, in that he failed to take down the witnesses identification. Based upon this, the Firm filed a motion to exclude the clients admission of driving based upon case law. The state agreed and dismissed the DUI charge.
On January 14, 2016 a Hernando County Deputy observed a a vehicle pass him at approximately 50 mph in a 40 mph zone. The vehicle then crossed over the fog line then signaled to change lanes. The vehicle then began to change from the right lane to the left lane but straddled the centerline. The vehicle then began tailgating the vehicle ahead of it.
The Deputy then initiated a traffic stop and made contact with the driver, the Defendant. The Defendant had bloodshot/watery eyes and an odor of alcohol on his breath. The Defendant ignored the question when Deputy asked if he had been drinking. The Defendant then submitted to field sobriety exercises which indicated impairment. The Defendant was then arrested for DUI. The Defendant then provided breath samples of .129 and .129. The Defendant's license was suspended for child support so he was also charged with driving while license suspended with knowledge.
Results: the firm set the case for trial and prior to trial the state dropped both the DUI and Driving while suspended charges.
Our client was charged with Reckless Driving after a police officer allegedly clocked him at 140 mph in a 70 mph zone on I-4 around 3am. In court, the attorney argued the officer failed to show how our client's alleged high speed driving in the early hours of the morning without more rose to the level of reckless driving. The State argued that the level of the speed alone was enough to prove that our client was in fact driving recklessly as a matter of driving twice the speed limit. We presented arguments to the court that there was no indication in any report or citation that our client's driving put any other person at risk or in danger and was insufficient to sustain the charge. The Judge asked the State if there was any evidence any other motorists were at risk, and when the State responded that they did not know, the Judge replied, "Well then the Defense's argument seems to be right, don't ya think?" The State responded by dismissing the case against our client.
According to the police, the Defendant was driving erratically and switching lanes back on forth on the Turnpike. She slammed on her brakes, causing other traffic to slow down, then changed lanes again and accelerating to a high speed. The officer pulled her over and noticed the strong odor of alcohol on her breath, flushed face and slurred speech. The officer conducted a DUI investigation. According to the officer, the Defendant performed very poorly on the roadside exercises. The officer placed the Defendant under arrest and asked her to provide a breath sample. The Defendant refused. The attorney investigated the case and prepared for trial. The State dropped all DUI related charges.
Our client was charged with Reckless Driving and Felony Fleeing and Eluding (2nd Degree Felony, punishable by up to 15 years in Florida State Prison). The video captured by the arresting officer showed our client traveling more than 90 mph in a 35 mph zone. When the officer's lights were activated, out client continued driving causing a van to swerve off of the road. Our investigation revealed that the officers speedometer had not been properly calibrated to legally measure speed. After filing a Motion to Suppress and informing the State Attorney's office about the problems with their evidence, the State agreed to drop all felony charges. The speeding ticket was dismissed as well!
Our Client got stick in the mud while attempting a u-turn on a rural interstate. The client was attempting to free himself from the mud when State Troopers arrived on the scene. The troopers noted a strong smell of alcohol on our clients breath and that he had bloodshot glassy eyes and slurred speech. Our client refused the Breathalyzer. The officers asked our client to do field sobriety exercises which he voluntarily did. The police report indicates a very bad performance on the exercises, and there was no video to contradict this. However, there was audio where our client spoke clearly in a Haitian accent. At a motion to suppress hearing the officers testified badly under cross examination and gave conflicting testimony. While our motion was denied, the poor testimony at the hearing convinced the State Attorney to offer our client a Reckless Driving in lieu of a DUI.
According to the police, the Defendant was observed driving 82 mph in a 45 mph zone. When the pulled him over, they noticed a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, his speech was slurred and his eyes were bloodshot and glassy. The Defendant stumbled as he walked away from his car. The officer asked him to perform roadside exercises. They completed one exercise (horizontal gaze nystagmus) and the Defendant’s performance was very poor. The Defendant refused to continue with roadside exercises. The police arrested him and asked for a breath test. The Defendant refused. The attorney investigated the case and prepared for trial. The State dropped all DUI related charges.
After picking up a friend from a medical office, our client unknowingly backed into an occupied car and left the scene. The friend passed away a few weeks later from unrelated medical reasons, but not before the Firm’s attorney was able to speak with him at the hospital and document his testimony. The deceased friend verified that neither he nor our client were aware that their vehicle made contact with another car. The Firm’s attorney set the case for trial and was prepared to request the Court to accept the deceased’s testimony under a hearsay exception, despite the prosecutor’s objection. On the day of trial, the prosecutor dropped all charges.
The Defendant was traveling on I-595 Westbound and crashed into another vehicle at a high rate of speed. A Florida Highway Patrolman arrived at the scene of the crash and witnessed the Defendant place a large piece of bubble gum in her mouth. The patrolman noticed that the Defendant had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her facial area and her eyes were bloodshot, red and watery, the patrolman requested that the Defendant perform roadside sobriety exercises and she agreed. The Defendant performed the roadsides poorly. The Defendant actually walked backwards during the second set of 9 steps during the walk and turn. She also used her arms for balance and did not touch heel to toe. During one leg stand, the Defendant put her foot down repeatedly, swayed significantly, and repeated several numbers while counting. The Defendant was arrested for DUI and refused the breath test. The State dropped all charges.
On September 20, 2015 at approximately 3:43, Tampa Police Corporal conducted a traffic stop at 32nd St N. and 8th Ave E in Tampa for operating the vehicle on the roadway with no headlights. The Corporal noticed several signs of impairment after making contact with the driver. A DUI investigator was called to the scene to conduct field sobriety exercises, which the Defendant agreed to perform. During the exercises, the Defendant showed multiple signs of impairment and was subsequently arrested for DUI. The Defendant provided a breath sample of .157 and /.169.
Results: The firm presented evidence to the prosecutors and the State dropped the DUI charge.
Our client was arrested for allegations of driving a motorcycle at a high rate of speed and cutting in and out of traffic with a second motorcycle. According to law enforcement our client was running stop signs, splitting lanes in between vehicles, and was observed by a law enforcement helicopter. Law enforcement made contact with our client just as he was driving off from his driveway. After bonding out of jail our client contacted our office to begin working on his case. We thoroughly reviewed all of the State's evidence and Law Enforcement's reports. Our office then prepared a defense strategy. Finally, we reviewed each detail of the case with the State pointing out the several flaws in the reports. Soon after the State dropped all charges.
