Facts: The Defendant was observed driving the wrong direction on a one way road towards a police officer’s moving vehicle. After being stopped, the deputy observed the defendant’s eyes to be bloodshot and glassy. She smelled an odor of alcohol coming from the Defendant’s breath. A DUI officer responded on scene and conducted a DUI investigation. According to this officer, the Defendant’s movements were slow and he swayed while he stood. He stated he had 3 glasses of wine and then changed his story to 2 glasses of red wine about an hour or two before driving. He said he was coming from an unknown sports bar and could not advise why he was driving the wrong way on a one way street. He performed poorly on the roadside tasks and was arrested for DUI. When taken to the Breath Alcohol Testing Facility, he refused to give a sample of his breath. The firm took the depositions under oath of the stopping officer as well as the arresting officer. The Firm was able to gather evidence from the stopping officer that she was going to let the Defendant go. This was after she testified that she made over 10 DUI arrests in the past. The arresting officer testified that he had no knowledge of this fact. After bringing these points to the attention of the Assistant State Attorney, the charges for Driving Under the Influence were dropped by the State of Florida.
DUI & Criminal Division
