Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney Blog

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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In the last handful of years, state lawmakers have handed down increasingly tougher laws pertaining to leaving the scene of a crash – particularly when it involves a fatal crash. Those efforts include a measure last year that increased the penalty for leaving the scene of a deadly crash to a minimum mandatory four years in prison, same as what a defendant would receive for DUI manslaughter.

However, a recent Florida Supreme Court decision slightly turns the tables back in favor of defendants. The case is Florida v. Dorsett, and what the court ruled is that prosecutors have to show defendant had “actual knowledge” of a crash in order to secure a conviction for hit-and-run.

This new hurdle to prosecution is based on the principle that a driver can’t intentionally leave the scene of a crash he doesn’t know has occurred.
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A defendant in a DUI manslaughter case was five months pregnant with her fourth child when she received a sentence of 15 years for killing a pregnant woman outside a hotel in Fort Lauderdale three years ago.

Family members of the decedent, who was seven months pregnant with a son at the time of her death, called defendant’s decision to get pregnant with the criminal trial pending an act of manipulation intended to curry favor with the judge.

If that was the intention, it doesn’t seem to have been effective. Prosecutors sought 20 years for the crash, in which both mother and unborn child were killed. The judge handed down a sentence of 15 years, followed by 15 years of probation plus a permanent loss of driver’s license.
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Police officers swear the eyes never lie, at least when it comes to the horizontal gaze nystagmus exam.

The test is routinely used by police officers who suspect a driver is drunk as part of the field sobriety exam. It involves having a suspect follow a small object, such as a pen, with their eyes as the officer slowly moves it horizontally in front of them. The suspect is asked to do so without moving his or her head.

What the officer watches for is an involuntary jerking of the eyes, which is referred to as a nystagmus.
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DUI checkpoints occur nearly every day across the country, and up to several times a week in Florida. While some states refuse to allow them, sobriety checkpoints have been deemed constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court. Still, they continue to raise the ire of some drivers who insist they are an infringement on their liberties.

It was in this vein that a series of complied videos shot in recent Florida checkpoints went viral.

The clips show drivers approaching a DUI checkpoint. Each have a document placed in a clear, sealed bag outside that hangs outside their driver’s side window.

The document has the following text: “I remain silent. No searches. I want my lawyer.” The sign further instructs officers to place any citation under the windshield wiper. As the driver is neither required to sign a ticket or physically hand the officer his or her license, the note instructs officers the driver will not roll down the window. However, the paper does indicate, “I will comply with clearly-stated lawful orders.”
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A teen driver who confessed to police he had consumed marijuana just prior to a fatal crash that claimed the life of a 65-year-old motorcyclist two years ago will not go to jail, according to a new report by the Sun Sentinel.

This is an interesting case because F.S. 316.193 holds that a person convicted of DUI manslaughter, the charge the teen was facing, will serve a minimum mandatory sentence of at least four years in prison. That’s the minimum. As a second-degree felony, the law allows for up to 15 years of prison time on each count.

The caveat here is the teen won’t be convicted of DUI manslaughter. Instead, a plea deal struck in negotiations between his legal defense team and prosecutors involves reducing charges to reckless driving causing serious injury and a minor marijuana possession charge.
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Prosecution in a number of DUI-related deaths in Fort Lauderdale has recently made headlines, with authorities seeking harsh penalties for convicted defendants.

Courts in Florida are given broad discretion in terms of sentencing in a DUI manslaughter case, thought there is a minimum mandatory sentence of four years in prison, per F.S. 316.193. Depending on the circumstances, one could serve a maximum of 15 to 30 years on a single charge (the latter reserved for first-degree felony cases in which defendant caused the crash while drunk and then also fled the scene without rendering aid as required by law).

Prior to last year, some defendants may have had incentive to flee, as penalties for a fatal hit-and-run were far less than those for DUI manslaughter. If the person could hide from authorities long enough for their blood-alcohol content to diminish, they had a good chance at a reduced penalty. That’s no longer true, following the passage of the Aaron Cohen Life Protection Act, which increased the minimum mandatory penalties for fatal hit-and-run to align with those for DUI manslaughter.
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