Articles Posted in DUI

Florida’s 5th District Court of Appeals ruled recently the trial court in Florida v. Kleiber incorrectly applied the strict compliance standard in granting a DUI defendant’s motion to suppress blood test evidence.

DUI blood test evidence is critical in any case wherein a person is alleged to have driven drunk. Where the evidence itself cannot be challenged on its validity or merits, a DUI defense lawyer may seek to suppress the evidence from being considered by the court in the first place.

There are a number of ways to do that, and the strategy is going to be case-specific.

Here, defendant, a 25-year-old firefighter, was arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol in 2012 after a collision a year earlier on I-75 near Wildwood. Around 4:30 a.m., defendant allegedly rear-ended a vehicle in front of him on the highway. That other vehicle overturned multiple times and collided with a fence. The other driver, 29, and his 20-year-old passenger were rushed to a local hospital in critical condition. The 20-year-old woman later died.
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Back in 1996, a man in West Boca caused an auto accident that resulted in the deaths of five Boca Raton teenagers. The following year, he would receive a 15-year prison sentence.

Three years later, another man in West Boca killed six senior citizens in a crash. He too would later receive 15 years for his crime.

But now, in 2015, a 23-year-old in Riviera Beach has been sentenced to 30 years for the exact same crime: Vehicular homicide.
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Statements made to police detectives from a hospital bed will make it difficult for a man to build a solid defense following a fatal car accident in Pompano Beach in June.

The decedent in the case was working with one other as a driver/delivery person on a car hauler. The workers stopped on South Dixie Highway on June 23rd to drop off a vehicle to a business there. The workers parked the semi-truck on the far right lane of the roadway. The flashing hazard lights were turned on. They lowered the ramp in the rear and were working on unloading the vehicle from the lower ramp.

Decedent was standing inside near the back of the trailer trying to unchain another vehicle. Meanwhile, according to police, defendant driver was operating his vehicle in the right lane. He reportedly did not stop or swerved as he approached the stopped truck. Instead, he drove right up the ramp. He struck decedent with the front bumper of his vehicle, and decedent was launched through the front of defendant’s vehicle.
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This Independence Day, travel experts estimate some 35 million people are going to travel by car to BBQs, pools, beaches, parades and firework shows.

Many people celebrate these occasions with booze. In fact, authorities say in 2013, Americans cracked open some 68 million cases of beer over the July 4th holiday. That’s more than on any other holiday of the year, including New Year’s Eve and St. Patrick’s Day.

So long as those imbibing are adults and those driving are sober, there’s really no issue. But problems arise when people get behind the wheel after drinking. Every year, it’s estimated some 200 people in the U.S. are killed in drunk driving crashes every July 4th. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports 40 percent of all highway deaths over the course of the holiday weekend are attributed to impaired driving.
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One of the key pieces of evidence in many criminal Florida DUI cases is the breathalyzer test, typically conducted with a brand of machine known as the “Intoxilyzer.” It is designed to measure a person’s blood-alcohol content by analyzing particles released in one’s breath.

But the science behind the machines has been sketchy, and there have been more than a few successful challenges to admitting this evidence. This can have a profound impact on a case, as evidenced by the recent outcome in a South Florida DUI manslaughter case.

According to news reports, a fatal accident in Bonita Springs in 2011 set off an emotional, four-year legal battle. Much of it was centered on whether the court should allow the results of the driver’s breathalyzer test, which indicated she had a blood-alcohol level of between .138 and .146 – nearly twice the legal limit of .08.
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Although the constitutionality of sobriety checkpoints has been challenged repeatedly across the country, it has consistently been upheld.

That being said, police agencies are held to strict standards regarding how these operations must be carried out.

Those include officers having a valid reason for establishing the checkpoint (high number of DUI arrest or alcohol-related accidents in a certain area). There must also be a specific plan regarding which vehicles will be stopped (i.e., every third car, every other car). Any deviation from that plan must be explained and may be grounds to challenge a subsequent arrest.
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Florida law requires drivers arrested for a DUI to take a breath, urine or blood test if the arrest is lawful and the officer has probable cause to believe you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Defendants may be asked to take more than one test and in order to be in compliance with the law, have to agree to all of them.

Refusal to submit to these tests will result in a one-year license suspension for the first-time offense, and that refusal could be used against you in criminal court.

There is much debate about whether refusal to testing actually helps a case. First of all, the license suspension is mandatory, regardless of whether you are later convicted of a Florida DUI. Also, the state is not required to show your blood-alcohol level was 0.08 percent or higher, which the legal limit for 21-and-over drivers. The state can use other circumstantial evidence to secure a conviction, including the fact that you refused the drug or alcohol testing. They might also point to officer observations of glassy eyes, slurred speech, the smell of alcohol or behaviors behind the wheel that might indicate intoxication. It’s worth noting too that in the event of an accident, investigators can force you to undergo alcohol testing involuntarily, so long as they first obtain a warrant signed by a judge for it.
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The case of Coffey v. Shiomoto involved a woman who was arrested for DUI, pleaded guilty to “wet reckless” (a lesser charge available in California, where this case originated) and then fought to have her administrative license suspension vacated.

Similar to what happens in Florida, a person arrested in California for drunk driving will automatically have his or her license suspended. Challenging license suspension is done through the Department of Motor Vehicles.

In this case, what she argued was the theory of rising blood alcohol as a defense. It’s based on the knowledge that there is a time lapse between when someone consumes a drink and when the alcohol from that drink becomes fully absorbed into the body. What this means is that a person may consume alcohol, get in a motor vehicle and be under the legal limit to drive. However, as time wears on, and while they continue to drive, their blood-alcohol may exceed the legal limit.
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For the death of a 6-year-old boy and injuring three others, a 20-year-old Davie man is facing serious felony charges that could send him to the prison for the next 35 years or more.

According to news reports, the suspect, who was 19 at the time of the wreck, had a blood-alcohol level that was 0.21, which is nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent. He was also allegedly driving between 90 and 108 miles per hour on a road with a designated speed limit of 45 miles per hour.

He allegedly changed lanes several times in the moments before the crash. As he approached an intersection, he did not slow at all, and collided with another vehicle shortly before midnight. The 6-year-old was in that other vehicle, in the center of the rear seat.
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Following a Broward Circuit judge’s conviction for driving under the influence in Boca Raton, it was agreed she would suffer additional sanctions.

Those included a 20-day, unpaid suspension from the bench, a public reprimand and a $5,000 fine As well, she must undergo an evaluation for alcohol abuse and addiction and has to complete any recommended treatment, per the contract she holds with the Florida Lawyers Assistance Program. The Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission gave the judge 20 days to file a formal response to those recommendations, which are then forwarded to the Florida Supreme Court for final approval or rejection.

The decision stems from a conviction several months ago on two misdemeanor counts – driving under the influence of alcohol and reckless driving. Defendant judge was sentenced to house arrest for 20 days, and then one year of probation. Although this is the second DUI conviction the judge has received, the panel held the incidents were not reflective of her work, considering the first arrest occurred in 1988. Additionally, the panel found the most recent arrest did not affect her work on the bench, as her colleagues continue to hold her in high regard.
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