The Defendant was seen driving on a closed golf course late at night. His car could be seen jumping up and down over the hills on the course. As he pulled out, he was stopped by an officer where he told the officer “you caught me.” That officer noticed that the defendant’s eyes were bloodshot and glassy, his speech was slurred and he had an odor of alcohol coming from his breath. A DUI officer was ordered to respond. That officer noticed that the Defendant’s face was flushed, he was sweating and his mouth was dry with white residue on the corners of his mouth. He admitted that he had a whisky drink earlier. After asking him to step out of the car, roadside tasks were requested from the Defendant. The Defendant’s eyes were checked by the first officer before the start of the roadsides. During the roadsides, the Defendant asked “Am I going for DUI?” The Defendant was cooperative at first but then became angry and uncooperative with mood swings. According to the arresting officer, the Defendant performed poorly on the roadsides. These were all recorded and on video. After roadsides were completed, the arresting officer and 2 other officers conversed on the video. They could be seen talking but the audio was muted (which the arresting officer admitted to doing in a sworn deposition). Two separate officers then checked the Defendant’s eyes again. One of the officers on scene testified in a sworn deposition that he was ordered by his Sergeant to take notes and follow this arresting officer during his DUI investigations. He said he turned those notes over to the Seargant. After the Firm filed a motion to compel those notes, the State of Florida indicated that they did not exist. None of the officers would divulge what conversation took place during the muted portion of the video. The Defendant was then taken into custody and taken to the Breath Alcohol Testing Facility where he refused to give a sample of his breath. The Firm filed a Motion to Dismiss based upon Procedural Due Process Grounds arguing that the State of Florida purposely destroyed and concealed exculpatory evidence due to the Officer’s actions. After reviewing all of the depositions and the entire case, the State of Florida agreed and dismissed the charges for Driving Under the Influence.
DUI & Criminal Division
