An officer witnessed a vehicle with significant impact damage to the front of the vehicle and heard a grinding noise as the vehicle drove by. The vehicle kept crossing and riding the solid white fog line and after activating her turn signal, continued traveling straight. The vehicle finally pulled into a marked parking space and the officer made contact with the driver. The officer noticed that there was a strong odor of alcohol coming from her breath, her eyes were bloodshot, watery and glassy and her speech was slow and slurred. She said she was in a crash about 30 minutes ago at an off ramp. She stated the vehicle she hit left the scene and she was going to report it when she got home. She also stated that she was not able to drive and was going to leave it there because the noise was too loud for her to drive. It was later discovered that she had crashed into an FPL power box behind a business complex and left the scene with over $7,000.00 damage to the box She was unable to produce her license when asked. She admitted she knew it was suspended. She performed poorly on roadsides and was arrested. At the jail she refused to submit to a breath test and then told the officer that she had been drinking sex on the beach (about 3 of them) and had been drinking at work as well. The firm pointed out numerous problems with the case involving the roadside exercises as well as the BAT video depicting the Defendant. Additionally, the Firm pointed out that the FPL box had been camouflaged by a green tree that the city realized and moved after the accident. Those pictures were supplemented to the State Attorney’s Office prior to trial. After reviewing the case, the State dismissed the charges for DUI and Leaving the Scene of a Crash as well as the charges for Driving Under Suspension.
DUI & Criminal Division
