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.