2022CT2XXX

Our client was pulled over late in the for speeding. Port St. Lucie Police Department called a Drug Recognition Expert Officer to the scene to conduct a DUI investigation. The client was cooperative with all questions and the field sobriety exercises. However, the Drug Recognition Expert Officer thought otherwise and arrested for a DUI. He demanded a breath test which resulted in a breath sample of .050 and .051. The Drug Recognition Expert Officer requested a urine sample under the guise of Implied Consent. His urine sample came back positive for cocaine, cocaine metabolites, and cannabis metabolites. The client rejected all plea offers. We challenged the arrest with a motion to suppress the urine results but lost. The client then elected a trial. At trial, Attorney Jonathon Alford and Attorney Alyssa Grant successfully excluded the Expert Testimony Portion of the Officer in a motion in limine. The State also put on an FDLE Expert Toxicologist to show the effects of cocaine on the human body and mind.  At trial, though effective cross examination, Attorney Jonathon Alford was able to argue in closing that the client was following the law, and nothing in the initial DUI investigation lead the Expert Drug Recognition Officer to believe he was under the effects of cocaine and alcohol like the FDLE Expert Toxicologist explained. The jury came back in 35 minutes with a verdict of Not Guilty.