The Defendant was passed out in his car at a light when an officer made contact with him. His foot was on the break and the car was on. His head was tilted down and would not respond initially to police contact. The officers had to rub his sternum to wake him up. The defendant said he just dropped his mom off and was on his way to a night club. However, he was actually traveling away from the night club he said he was going to. He had slow speech and was dazed and disoriented. His eyes were bloodshot and glassy and he smelled like alcohol. He was swaying back and forth out of the car and did not want to do the tasks initially. When asked how much he had to drink, he said “not much”. The officer who administered the HGN was a certified drug recognition expert and noticed numerous signs of impairment with the Defendant’s eyes. Additionally, he performed poorly on the remainder of the roadsides and could not finish the alphabet. When he was arrested and taken to jail, he refused to submit to a sample of his breath. The Firm filed supplemental discovery proving the Defendant had driven all around the State on during the day he was arrested for work. Additionally, the video evidence contradicted much of the police reports. After extensive negotiating over a 3 month period, the State of Florida finally agreed to dismiss the charges for Driving Under the Influence.
DUI & Criminal Division
