An officer was approached by a passerby at approximately 6:55 a.m. that a vehicle was partially in a canal on Military Trail. The officer arrived on scene and saw the truck had driven over a guardrail and smashed through it. The vehicle was resting on a fence that divides the roadway from the Canal. The Defendant stated that his power steering went out and that he drove off the road. The other person on scene said that the Defendant abruptly swerved to the left and went through the guardrail. There were no brake marks on the roadway. The Defendant’s eyes were red and bloodshot and his face was flush. He was pacing around in the area and continuously smoking or chewing gum. He produced incorrect documents and had a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath. He stated he was coming from the Blue Boar Local Bar and that he had 4 to 5 beers. He was requested to perform roadside tasks and refused to perform them. After being arrested for Driving Under the Influence, he was taken to the Breath Center where he was asked to submit to a sample of his breath to determine the alcohol content. The Defendant refused to give a breath sample. The Firm filed a motion to suppress any and all statements made to the officers on scene as a violation of the accident report privilege due to the Defendant not being Mirandized. The State agreed to exclude all of those statements. Additionally, the Firm took the depositions of the arresting officer and the crash scene investigator. Both transcripts indicated that the facts were not sufficient for the State to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The crash officer admitted in deposition that the Defendant was “not exhibiting the normal signs of someone who was impaired.” Result: The State read both the transcripts and dropped the DUI charge.
DUI & Criminal Division
