The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint about a domestic disturbance. Upon arrival, deputies met with the Defendant and his wife and began an investigation. The deputies determined the couple was arguing about changing their baby’s diaper. According to the deputies, the Defendant grabbed his wife by the throat and squeezed until she could not breathe. Additionally, the deputies believed the Defendant would not allow his wife to leave their apartment. The Defendant was arrested and charged with a felony. After meeting with the Defendant, Defense Counsel recognized the evidence was weak and seemed to suggest the wife may have been the primary aggressor as she grabbed a knife at one point. Additionally, it appeared the wife did not support the deputies’ charges. Defense Counsel immediately filed legal documents attempting to persuade the State Attorney’s Office not to file formal charges. The State Attorney Office agreed with Defense Counsel and dismissed all charges against the Defendant.
A Sergeant with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office observed the Defendant while driving a vehicle make a wide right turn and travel on the wrong side of the road for approximately 50 ft. The Sergeant then noticed the Defendant stop for a red light 20 ft. prior to the intersection. After making a traffic stop, the Sergeant smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the Defendant. An officer specializing in DUI was called to the scene. In addition to smelling an odor of alcohol, the DUI officer also noticed the Defendant had bloodshot, watery eyes and slurred speech. Additionally, the Defendant continued searching for his registration after he had already given provided it. The Defendant performed the field sobriety tasks poorly to where the officer indicated in his report that it was “obvious” the Defendant was impaired. After being arrested, the Defendant refused to provide a breath sample. Defense counsel reviewed the evidence and advised the Defendant to fight the DUI charge by taking it to trial. On the day of trial, moments before the jury was to be selected, the Assistant State Attorney dropped the DUI charge.
Three Officers from the Plantation Police Department responded to a rear end collision in which the Defendant was involved. Upon the arrival of the officers, the Defendant was found asleep at the wheel of his vehicle with the motor running and he was unresponsive to the officers’ attempts to wake him. The Defendant was dazed, confused and disoriented upon waking up. The Defendant was asked to exit his vehicle and was extremely unsteady on his feet and “appeared to be intoxicated” according to the arresting officer. The defendant had a heavy odor of an alcoholic beverage and stated he “drank just a little”. The Defendant refused to submit to roadside sobriety exercises and refused to submit to a breath test. All DUI charges were dropped on 6/9/08.
The Defendant is a 46 year old male who suffers from Parkinson’s Disease. The Defendant’s symptoms in the form of shaking, stammering of his speech and a head tilt that are readily visible. The Defendant was traveling on Southeast 12th Avenue in Deerfield Beach. An accident unrelated to the Defendant was down the road and was being investigated by BSO and was being filmed for a television show “Police Women of Broward County”. As the Defendant was slowly driving due to traffic from the accident up ahead, a female officer being filmed for the television show came from nowhere, pounded on the Defendant’s window and ordered him to pull over immediately. The Defendant drove 20-30 feet and pulled over on his own. The female officer made contact with the Defendant and noticed the odor of an alcoholic beverage from a beer he had just opened by the Defendant before being stopped; bloodshot eyes, “slurred speech”, among other indicators of impairment. A DUI investigator was called to the scene and asked the Defendant to perform roadside exercises and he did so poorly> The defendant was then arrested for DUI and for Felony Fleeing and Eluding for failing to Stop immediately at the request of the female officer. After an investigation by the firm, it was established that the female officer exaggerated her behavior for purposes of her appearance on television and that the defendant’s performance during roadside exercises was caused by his Parkinson’s Disease. We were also able to prove that the only alcohol consumed was one sip of the beer he had just opened. All Criminal charges were dropped by the State.
Defendant was stopped for speeding. Defendant performed exercises on video and admitted to drinking one beer. Defendant refused breath test. Defendant aquitted of DUI by a jury.
The defendant was involved in a 3 car accident. The Officer arrived and stated he witnessed client exiting vehicle. He smelled the odor of alcohol when speaking with the defendant and noticed he was swaying as well. He proceeded with a DUI investigation in which the defendant failed the field sobriety exercises and blew a .142. We filed a motion to suppress because the officer could not testify that the defendant was driving at the time of the accident. The State dismissed the case.
The defendant was parked at the airport. After being arrested for DUI, the defendant began fighting with the police. He was injured and taken to the hospital. DUI charge dropped.
Officers from the Coconut Creek Police Department observed the Defendant’s vehicle “suspiciously parked” at a Nature Center. The Officers then saw the Defendant run to his vehicle and start it. The Officer drove up to the vehicle and ordered the Defendant to shut the vehicle off, despite not having seen the Defendant do anything. The Defendant admitted to smoking marijuana and the officer found the substance on the back seat of the car. The firm filed a Motion to Suppress the Unlawful Seizure based on the officer ordering the Defendant to shut off the vehicle without suspicion that the defendant was involved in criminal activity. The State conceded the Motion and all charges were dropped by the State.
Facts: The defendant was pulled over at a roadside sobriety checkpoint for having an expired tag. Stopping officer noticed that the driver had an odor of alcohol coming from him, glassy eyes, slow lethargic movements and was slurring his speech. The DUI officer responded and noted that the driver was fumbling through the same documents for 10 minutes and could not find his registration. The defendant exited his car and shuffled his feet losing his balance. He consented to roadside tasks and during the walk and turn stopped after the first 9 steps and had to ask what else to do. On the way back after the first 9 steps, the defendant lost his balance where the officer had to actually walk behind him to make sure he didn’t fall. During the finger to nose task, the officer testified the defendant did not keep his head back and NEVER touched his nose at all. During the alphabet task, the defendant swayed noticeably and paused for about 3 to 5 seconds on the video after he got to the letter D as well as the letter X. The defendant was arrested for driving under the influence and taken back to the Breath Alcohol Testing Facility. He was asked how old he was on video and he said, 35 or 36? He then refused to give a breath sample. The firm went to trial and after closing arguments: VERDICT: Not Guilty.
The Defendant was driving and weaving all over the road without it’s activated headlights at approximately 4:00 a.m. Additionally, she almost collided with a curb and would not stop immediately when the officer had the overhead lights illuminated. An officer who witnessed the driving pattern stopped the defendant’s vehicle. The defendant stopped in the middle of the road. The officer who stopped the defendant noticed that she had an odor of alcohol coming from her breath and glassy eyes. The DUI officer then noticed that she had bloodshot, watery eyes. She admitted to having a couple of small drinks. She admitted that they were “Sex on the Beach” and then changed her story to only having one that was approximately 4 inches big. The Defendant refused to perform roadside exercises when requested and when she was asked she said “I am a good person.” The Defendant was arrested and transported to the Breath Alcohol Testing Facility where she refused a requested Breath Test. On the day before trial, the State of Florida dropped the DUI.
The Defendant was seen traveling at a high rate of speed. The Deputy activated his radar and locked in a speed of 63 in a 45 mph zone. The Defendant was also seen drifting across traffic lane lines. As the Defendant came to the intersection of Providence Rd and Providence Lake Blvd, his vehicle ran the red light. At this point, the Deputy activated his emergency equipment and initiated a stop of the Defendant. The vehicle was slow to respond to the activated lights on the deputy’s car, but after pulling over, the Deputy made contact with the Defendant. The Defendant was slow and fumbled with is paperwork, at one point, dropping his license out the driver’s door window. The Defendant had slurred speech, the odor of alcohol on his breath and bloodshot eyes. The Defendant was read his Miranda rights and then interviewed. The Defendant admitted to being out with friends at a couple of bars. The Defendant then told the Deputy that he would not have driven if not for his friends needing a ride. When asked how impaired he felt on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most impaired he has ever been, the Defendant answered between 4-5. The Defendant then stated he knew he should not be driving because of the effects of alcohol he felt. The Deputy then asked the Defendant to perform field sobriety exercises, which he agreed. The exercises showed multiple clues of impairment and the Defendant was placed under arrest for DUI. The Defendant submitted to a breath test after being read the Implied Consent law and the results were .174 and .175. The Defendant was also given tickets for speeding, failing to maintain a single lane and running a red light. Result: State dropped the DUI, failure to maintain a single lane and red light charges.
The defendant was charged with his third offense of driving under the influence. The Defendant was driving on State Road 804 when he crashed into the back of a stationary vehicle at a red light. The impact of the crash totaled the defendant’s vehicle. The defendant was asleep at the wheel when medics arrived. He was tended to and then again fell asleep when the officers had arrived. The arresting officer spent over a minute trying to wake him up. An independent witness saw the defendant’s vehicle recklessly driving down the road and smashing into the other vehicle. The defendant’s speech was slurred and thick and his pupils were pin-point. After waking him up, the defendant stated that he was under the care of a pain management doctor and takes prescription medication. Additionally, prior to conducting roadside exercises, he stated (on video) that he had taken roxycodone and oxycodone that day. He performed poorly on the roadside exercises and was arrested for Driving Under the Influence. At the Breath Alcohol Testing Facility, he gave a breath sample of .000 two times. He then was asked to submit a urine sample. After 45 minutes, he could not give a sample of his urine and the officer took the inability to provide the sample as a refusal. The Firm filed numerous motions including a motion to exclude all of the defendant’s statements based upon the accident report privilege along with motions to suppress based on a lack of probable cause. After the orders were signed by the judge, the State decided to drop the DUI.
