The Defendant was driving at 1:30 a.m. on A1A when an officer observed his brake light out and his tag expired. After stopping the vehicle, the officer approached the defendant\’s car. The Defendant had a cooler of beers in the bed of his truck with several empty beer cans spread around. After speaking with the defendant, the officer noticed that his knuckles were red and scratched. The Defendant stated he was mad at his mother. The Defendant was asked to step out of the car where he was unsteady on his feet and needed to use his car to support himself. The officer then noticed that the Defendant had an odor of alcohol coming from his breath. He admitted that he had been drinking earlier that day. The officer then asked him to perform roadside exercises. On the Walk and Turn exercise, the Defendant stumbled on the first step, raised his arms to balance himself on the 6th step, spun around improperly, asked how he was supposed to return after the first 9 steps up and swayed throughout the exercise. During the One Leg Stand, the Defendant put his foot down on the 9th count and started over instead of counting where he left off. He also raised his arms to balance himself and swayed throughout the exercise. During the Finger to Nose, the Defendant touched his lip on several attempsts instead of his nose and used the wrong hand on one occasion. He also swayed throughout this exercise. After being arrested, the Defendant was taken to the Breath Alcohol Facility. The video of the Defendant was introduced and shown to the Jury. The Defendant was wearing a white T-Shirt with BIG BLOCK BOLD LETTERS that stated: \”I AM NOT DRUNK! I AM JUST NORMALLY A LOUD, FUNNY AND CLUMSY PERSON\” The Defendant separated his legs on the video as if to steady himself while standing. He was asked to give a breath test and refused. After a two day jury trial, the jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty.
DUI & Criminal Division
