Superbowl weekend is notorious for having an increased number of DUI arrests and this weekend, Tampa, Florida will be no exception. The Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office aggressivley pursues drunken drivers, and Stephen Higgins, Esq. of Finebloom & Haenel, encourages drivers to take a cab or walk home if they have had too much to drink.
In fact, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is posting on its website that their will be “heightened patrol” on January 31 in Western Hillsborough and a complete “saturation” of officers on game day throughout Hillsborough County. The Tampa Tribune reported that last year, in Arizona, 544 individuals were stopped on suspicion of DUI.
“Fans who have flocked to the city and spent thousands of dollars to attend the game and have a good time could pay a higher price than expected if they got arrested for DUI,” Higgins stated. Once arrested, the legal ramifactions are an unplanned expense. “Aside from lawyer fees, individuals will incur expenses related to being placed in custody and potentially miss their flight home, spend several hundred dollars bonding out of jail and eventually have to pay court costs and probationary costs,” said Higgins. Law enforcement officers typically comment that “vacationers arrive on vacation and leave on probation.”
At the end of the night, a cab ride is much less expensive than the alternative and, perhaps more importantly, other drivers on the road are safer. If you have been arrested for DUI in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk, Pasco, Sarasota or Manatee counties, contact Finebloom & Haenel, representing DUI clients statewide.
Monthly Archives: January 2009
More Checkpoint Cases Thrown Out in Sarasota
Both Sarasota County criminal Judges have ruled that the Sarasota County Sheriffs Office’s operational checkpoint plan is defective because it gives the supervisor too much discretion. In Todd Ruger’s Sarasota Herald Tribune article, Evidence Tossed in More DUI Cases, the Judges ruled that thirteen checkpoint cases should be thrown out and prosecutors will not be allowed to use any field sobriety or breath tests. The Judges interpreted the checkpoint plan and in their signed order and determied the plan to be defective. According to attorney Darren Finebloom, the State is left with no case since they don’t have any evidence. Darren and his law partner David Haenel represent 7 of the 13 people whose cases are affected by the ruling.
Judges in Manatee County Throw out DUI Checkpoint Cases
In the second favorable ruling in a matter of weeks for Manatee County DUI defense lawyers, Judges in Bradenton have ruled that the Sheriffs Office did not follow their own operational plan during a checkpoint in early 2008. According to Todd Ruger’s article Judge Tosses Evidence in DUI Cases, Sgt. Paul Feiber exercised too much discretion during his supervision of the checkpoint because he changed the method for which cars would be stopped when entering the checkpoint. In this particular case, traffic began to back up as cars were approaching the checkpoint. The Sheriff’s Office admitted that there was a function going on in Palmetto that night so traffic was heavier than anticipated. The initial plan was to stop every vehicle, but in the event of a backup to stop every sixth car. When traffic backed up, the supervisor let 20 cars through and thereby eliminated the backup. The County Court Judges in Bradenton were bound to follow the recent court ruling in Guy v. State 2D07-410 which says that a supervisor must have limited discretion and must not deviate from the operational checkpoint plan. The State Attorney’s Office will decide whether to appeal the Judge’s decision. If they do not appeal, then the initial police contact with drivers would be deemed unlawful and all of the cases would be thrown out.
Judge in Manatee County Throws Out Breath Tests Affecting DUI Cases
After waiting years for a final ruling, it appears that over 100 people in Manatee County may have finally received the court order that they were waiting for. According to a recent article in the Sarasota Herald Tribune by Reporter Todd Ruger DUI Cases Imperiled by Battle Over Test, Manatee County Judge Doug Henderson has ruled that the results of breath tests performed on the intoxilyzer 5000 are inadmissible. The 5000 is no longer used in Florida but instead was replaced by the intoxilyzer 8000, which has had its share fair of problems. The manufacturer of both intoxilyzers, CMI of Kentucky, has refused to provide the source code for the machine despite being ordered to do so. Judges in Sarasota and Manatee Counties have sanctioned CMI for not complying with the previous court order. To date, the company is over 2 million dollars in default and that amount is growing daily. The mysterious mythical machine apparently determines the breath alcohol level of an arrested subject, but the source code would reveal if the machine is truly accurate. Manatee County DUI supervising state attorney Erica Arend acknolwedges in the article that the state would be very prejudiced if it could not admit the breath test results. Under Florida law, the State must prove that the person was driving without a breath test above a .08 or while their normal faculties were impaired. In many instances the driver may perform well on field sobriety tests but have a high breath test result. As a result of Judge Henderson’s ruling, the State will be forced to review over 100 cases to determine if they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person is impaired. Typically, if the State can’t prove those necessary elements, then they will be forced to reduce the charges to reckless driving or drop the case entirely. Some law firms that have represented hundreds of DUI clients, like Finebloom and Haenel in Sarasota, have already had cases reduced because the State didn’t feel they would succeed after a jury trial.
Driver Sentenced to 12 years in Crash that Killed His Wife
A Pinellas county Florida man was sentenced to 12 years in Florida State Prison for running a red light causing an accident that killed his wife. The sentence imposed by Judge Cynthia J. Newton on Joseph Schofield was more than the statutory requirements, most likely because of his lengthy driving record and prior criminal history including an arrest the night before the accident for possession of cocaine.
The sentence came as a result of Schofield’s plea of guilty last year to vehicular homicide. The facts of the case as well as an accident reconstruction of the accident showed that Schofield was driving his Honda Prelude up to 93 mph when he collided with a truck. Although the defendant took the stand to take responsiblity for the accident in the hopes of receiving a lighter sentence, the fact that he had 8 previous speeding tickets did not help his case. Vehicular homicide, defined in Florida Statute 782.071 “is the killing of a human being caused by the operation of a motor vehicle by another in a reckless manner likely to cause the death of, or great bodily harm to another.” At the time of sentencing, the Judge may consider the defendant’s prior criminal history and, in the case of a driving related offense, the defendant’s prior driving record.
If you have a comment about this article or would like to discuss your driving record, please contact Stephen Higgins.
Increasing Ticket Fines to Fund Florida Courts
Florida lawmakers are trying to find a way to deal with increased budget cuts, and once again it may occur on the backs of motorists. According to a recent article Speeding Tickets to Get Pricier in Florida, the Fort Myers News Press is reporting that all ticket prices will increase $10.00 and speeding tickets will increase by $25.00 if the new law is passed. Aside from rising ticket prices, the legislature is contemplating the elimination of the eighteen percent reduction for traffic school. The current law under Florida Statute 318.14 allows for a motorist to elect traffic school through the clerk of court to receive an eighteen percent reduction on the cost of the citation. If the law passes the legislature will still allow drivers to receive no points on their driving record, but without an eighteen percent reduction. Commercial drivers are not entitled to elect traffic school because of a law change several years ago, so this proposed law change will not effect drivers with an A, B, or C license, except for the increased fines. In the State of Florida most moving violation are three or four points, depending on the situation. Points remain on your driving abstract for three years, and can cause a suspended license and/or increased insurance rates. For additional information on your Florida ticket check out the information on the website of Finebloom and Haenel.
Traffic Shoes Litter a Miami Freeway
The Florida Highway Patrol is looking for the person responsible for dumping thousands of shoes on the Miami-Dade expressway during Friday’s morning commute. According to the Miami Herald, police had to close the southbound lanes of the Palmetto Expressway while a private contractor cleaned up the shoes with a front end loader. The shoes varied from beach sandals, tennis shoes, slippers, and even work boots. If troopers discover who dumped the shoes on the roadway, the dumper will be responsible for paying the clean up costs associated with the messy salvage operation. Florida has a statute which prohibits the dropping of a load on a roadway. Although not a moving violation, the statute requires a mandatory court appearance for the driver. Florida statute 316.520 (2) states that it is the duty of every driver to ensure that his load does not fall from the vehicle. A violation of this statute will result in fines and the Judge has the discretion to suspend your driver’s license.