Articles Posted in DUI – Driving Under the Influence in Jacksonville

A high-ranking official with the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue department has been reassigned following his arrest on a DUI charge. Police found the man behind the wheel of a car in a ditch in Clay County, according to a report from First Coast News. The crash came after reports of a man weaving in and out of traffic and, when police arrived, they found an open bottle of vodka on the seat, the television station reported. Police said the man’s eyes were “glassy and bloodshot” and that he struggled with field sobriety exercises. The man’s blood-alcohol levels from two separate tests were .313 and .339 – well above the legal limit of .08. As is the case with most public officials, he has been put on desk duty until the case resolves.

The man was charged with DUI, a misdemeanor typically punishable by up to six months in jail. However, there is a clause in state law for Clay County DUI Cases such as this where the blood-alcohol level is more than .15. In this case, the maximum penalty rises to nine months in jail and the fines jumps from between $500 and $1,000 to between $1,000 and $2,000. While every case is different, DUI cases can really be looked at it in two categories: DUIs that begin with a traffic stop and those that start with a traffic accident. In this Clay County DUI Case, police are already investigating the accident and come across a driver that appears to be intoxicated. There aren’t many choices or decisions to be made at that point from a drivers’ perspective. The driver did agree to perform field sobriety exercises, the television station reported, and the results at least partially led to his arrest.

In Clay County DUI Cases with a traffic stop, there are even more procedures that must be followed precisely for the arrest to be legal. First, an officer must have a reason to pull a driver over – typically it is for speeding, not staying in a lane, having a burned out taillight, etc. Once the stop is made, the officer must then have probable cause to believe the driver is impaired. The “glassy and bloodshot” eyes from this DUI case are common reason, as are the smell of alcohol and the driver slurring his or her words. From there, the driver will be asked to preform field sobriety exercises, a series of tests that measure balance, speech and the ability to comprehend and follow directions. If the driver does not pass, he or she is arrested and taken to jail for a breath test. Drivers can refuse the field sobriety exercises and the breath test, though they will almost certainly be jailed overnight. Not taking the tests can limit the evidence in a Clay County DUI Case, but there are short-term consequences. Our Clay County Criminal Defense Attorney knows each and every detail of the procedures that must be followed in Clay County DUI Cases and will thoroughly investigate your case to determine if all of them were followed correctly in the DUI case against you or your loved one.

A Jacksonville man was sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to driving drunk when he caused a crash that killed one person and seriously injured another. The driver’s blood-alcohol level was 2-1/2 times over the legal limit at the time of the 2013 crash, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. The driver was speeding and drove through a stop sign and into another car, the newspaper reported. A passenger in the other car was killed and the driver was seriously injured.

The driver pleaded guilty earlier this year to DUI manslaughter and DUI causing serious bodily injury. DUI manslaughter is a second-degree felony with a maximum penalty of 15 years in state prison. However, this is one type of crime that also carries a mandatory minimum sentence. If someone is convicted of or pleads guilty to DUI manslaughter, there is a mandatory sentence of four years in state prison. DUI causing serious bodily injury is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, but it does not have a minimum mandatory sentence attached. In this Jacksonville DUI Case, the driver was facing a maximum of 20 years in prison and ended up with a little more than half of that time.

While in some Jacksonville DUI Cases the blood-alcohol level is not made available, it is always part of a crash with serious injuries. If you are pulled over under suspicion of DUI — for weaving in and out of traffic, for example – you will be asked to take a breath test once you are arrested. But drivers can refuse to take that test. When there are injuries involved, however, police can take a blood sample to test for alcohol without the consent of the driver. There are certain things that drivers automatically agree to when they accept a driver’s license and that is among them. Another example is calling for help and stopping to render aid if a driver is in an accident and someone is hurt. So in serious Jacksonville DUI Cases, if the driver is not conscious or cannot otherwise make the decision to consent, it does not matter and blood can be taken anyway.

Six weeks after reports that a police detective crashed into another vehicle and kept going before flipping her unmarked police car, the detective was charged with DUI and three other charges. The detective turned herself in to St. Johns County police last week to face a DUI, along with two counts of DUI causing property damage and another count of leaving the scene of an accident, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. The detective is accused of bumping the back of another vehicle and continuing to drive, while people called 911 to report her swerving in and out of lanes, the newspaper reported. The detective eventually flipped the car and rescue crews were called to the scene.

The DUI and the leaving the scene of an accident are both misdemeanors. The DUI causing property damage charges are first-degree misdemeanors with a maximum penalty of one year in jail on each charge. When the crash was first reported, the Florida Highway Patrol said it did not suspect alcohol was a factor, but the detective did give a blood sample at the scene. The case is generating more than normal media attention for a couple of reasons. First, it’s a police officer and, like it or not, stories of officers getting arrested are always going to be of interest to the media. Secondly, the detective is accused of driving drunk in her department vehicle outside the Jacksonville police jurisdiction. Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office employees are allowed to drive their patrol or detective vehicles when off duty. But, when it is outside Duval County, it is supposed to be only to and from work. So there are clearly internal procedures to be looked at in this case, on top of any legal issues the detective is now facing, and the newspaper reported she has been assigned to desk duty for now.

On the St. Johns County DUI itself, the blood test appears to be plenty of evidence for the state. The detective apparently submitted to the test voluntarily, the newspaper reported. Had there been a serious injury in the case, the blood test is mandatory. The reason for the delay in charges in this St. Johns County DUI Case was the wait in the results of the test. Another media report from News4Jax reported it came back more than twice the legal limit of .08. Breath tests and the interpretation of field sobriety exercises are often challenged in court, but blood testing is generally deemed to be more accurate, so it will be interesting to see where the defense goes from here. Our St. Johns County DUI Attorney knows the specific process police must follow when making a DUI arrest and will investigate your case fully to determine if all of the laws were followed properly.

Police arrested a man on DUI charges, saying he ran a stop sign to trigger a series of events that left Jacksonville Beach streets flooded and several people and businesses without water service. A driver told police he was headed north on 1st Street when another car ran a stop sign and crashed into him, sending his car into a fire hydrant, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. The fire hydrant burst and the water that rushed out flooded many nearby roads, the newspaper reported. Meanwhile, the driver who ran the stop sign is accused of getting out of his car and running away, the newspaper reported. He eventually stopped on the beach when confronted by police. The driver was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and a DUI causing property damage. Both charges are misdemeanors – leaving the scene a second-degree with a maximum sentence of six months in jail, and this type of DUI charge a first-degree misdemeanor that carries up to one year in the county jail.

This Jacksonville DUI charge has a slightly increased penalty because there was property damage involved. Charges increase to felonies when people are seriously injured or even killed but, for the most part, Jacksonville DUI Cases are misdemeanors. Media reports on this Jacksonville DUI Case do not indicate how police came to the conclusion the driver was impaired. Most likely, police smelled an odor of alcoholic beverages on the man once he was caught by police. During the arrest, the man was likely asked to perform field sobriety exercises, which are tailored to determine whether or not the person is too impaired to be driving. Tests include walking in a straight line and turning around; stand on one leg and also with one’s legs together to test balance; touching one’s finger to his or her nose and reciting numbers or letters.

If the driver does not pass those tests, he or she is typically arrested on Jacksonville DUI Charges. From there, the driver is taken to jail and asked to take a breath test. In Florida, like most states, the legal limit is .08. Drivers can refuse to take the test – just like they can refuse field sobriety exercises – but there are immediate penalties that kick in. Those, however, can be worth taking because the field sobriety and blood alcohol results are often the best evidence the state would have in a Jacksonville DUI Case. This case may be a little different because of the crash and the fact the man ran away, but that does not prove that he was intoxicated at the time of the crash. There are many state rules and regulations governing how field sobriety and breath tests must be conducted. If they are not done properly, they cannot be used as evidence in a Jacksonville DUI Case. Our Jacksonville DUI Attorney knows the ins and outs of the laws governing traffic stops and testing in DUI cases and will review your case to provide you or your loved one with the best options going forward.

State legislators are considering a new program that could require people with multiple DUI convictions to take two breath tests a day to ensure they are not drinking. Right now, the state requires drivers convicted of their second DUI have a machine installed in their car that requires them to blow into it and register as alcohol-free before their vehicle with start, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. The new proposal, called “24/7 Sobriety” in other states that use it, could be used as a replacement to the interlock devices in Florida, the newspaper reported.

The program will be tested in Jacksonville DUI Cases before it is rolled out to the rest of the state, the newspaper reported. The first time a person fails a breath test, he or she would go to jail for 12 hours. The second time would trigger 24 hours in jail and the third would require and appearance before a judge and further jail time, the newspaper reported. Judges could order this program as a condition of a bond or probation, the newspaper reported.

While cutting down on drinking will obviously limit people drinking and driving, it is important that people be punished for the crime they committed and that the state not get into something that is too broad. Now, in many cases if a person has been arrested for or convicted of a DUI, a judge can include conditions that prohibit the defendant from drinking, but that’s certainly not in all cases. The person was arrested for DUI, meaning they were driving under the influence of alcohol. Jacksonville DUI Cases are often instances where someone made a poor decision and got behind the wheel. The “24/7 Sobriety” proposal came as there was a push to extend the interlock devices to first-time DUI offenders. That seems like a stretch and an unnecessary punishment in Jacksonville DUI Cases. In most instances, a Jacksonville DUI Arrest comes when a person simply makes a bad decision to get behind the wheel. In the majority of cases, the experience of being in jail, appearing before a judge and at least temporarily losing the privilege of driving is enough to stop the person from drinking and driving again.

A Clay County mother was arrested this month on two felony charges for the December crash that killed her 5-year-old daughter. The woman was charged with DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Police said the woman was driving in the emergency lane on Interstate 295 in Jacksonville about 12:45 a.m. and swerved when the lane ended, going off the road and into the trees lining the highway, the newspaper reported. Both DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide are second-degree felonies, with maximum penalties of 15 years in prison on each charge. The DUI manslaughter, however, has a minimum mandatory sentence of four years in prison, while vehicular homicide has no such mandatory sentence.

While it may seem that DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide are basically the same charge, there are distinct elements of each crime. For a DUI manslaughter conviction in this Jacksonville DUI Case, the state must prove A) the driver was legally intoxicated and B) a person died as a result of a crash. The key to this case is the first element – proving whether the driver was drunk. The driver was hospitalized also, the newspaper reported, so it is very likely the state took blood samples to determine the level of alcohol in her system. That is likely the delay in the charges from the December crash – waiting on the toxicology results from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It is not uncommon for a delay of three to six months in Jacksonville DUI Cases like this.

Vehicular homicide is the killing of a person “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,” according to Florida law. In this Jacksonville DUI Case, it would appear that this charge is there if the state feels there would be an issue proving that the driver was legally intoxicated. If the driver was driving dangerously, in this case driving in the emergency lane, a vehicular homicide charge could apply, but the state would have to prove the driver was driving recklessly.

A Nassau County man was arrested and charged with DUI this month after he drove into the back of a police car. The driver hit the patrol car driving on Florida 200 about 7:35 p.m. one April evening, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. The police officer and his passenger were both taken to the hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening, the newspaper reported. The driver in this Nassau County DUI Case is now facing a first-degree misdemeanor, with a maximum penalty of six months in the county jail.

The level of injury to the officer and his passenger are very important in this Nassau County DUI Case. Had either suffered serious injuries, the suspect would be facing a felony charge instead of just a misdemeanor. DUI Causing Serious Bodily Injury in Florida is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in state prison. In this Nassau County DUI Case, the two victims were taken to the hospital, but primarily as a precaution, the newspaper reported. According to Florida law, serious bodily injury is defined as “an injury to any person, including the driver, which consists of a physical condition that creates a substantial risk of death, serious personal disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.” If there is a crash with serious bodily injury, police can then test the blood of the driver to determine if the driver has alcohol in his or her system. That is not legal in an ordinary Nassau County DUI Case. In fact, if a person is stopped for suspicion of DUI, the driver does not have to submit to field sobriety exercises or to a breath test. Now, refusing the exercises will likely lead to the driver’s arrest and there are other specific penalties for refusing to take a breath test – which is typically done at the jail when a person is being booked. The other side of that coin is a breath test is often one of the biggest pieces of evidence in Nassau County DUI Cases, so that would be one less piece of evidence the state has in the case. The problem is that many jurors sometimes think that a refusal is done for a reason and could be taken as a sign of guilt.

Just as Nassau County DUI penalties escalate when a person is seriously injured, they also go up when a person has multiple DUI convictions on his or her criminal record. That can make it imperative to have a Nassau County DUI Attorney representing you. Many people choose to plead guilty at first appearance court to get out of jail and move on, but that is generally not in their long-term best interest. Our Nassau County DUI Attorneys can discuss the consequences of a plea versus fighting the charge, and will make sure you have all of the information you need at your disposal.

A Jacksonville corrections officer was arrested last week, accused of driving under the influence. Police say the man was pulled over about 2:45 a.m. because he was driving with one of his headlights out, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Once the officer approached the vehicle, police said he seemed intoxicated and was subsequently arrested on a DUI charge, the newspaper reported. The officer, who works at the jail, was placed on limited duty until his Jacksonville DUI Case is resolved, the newspaper reported.

In Jacksonville DUI Cases, there are specific procedures and protocols officers must follow in making arrests, which can make DUIs highly technical cases. As is common in most Jacksonville DUI Cases, this investigation centers on a traffic stop. In many Jacksonville DUI Cases, the officer will have a driving pattern he or she has observed – the person is speeding, swerving, or otherwise driving recklessly. In this Jacksonville DUI Case, there is not one. The headlight was the cause of the traffic stop. Officers must have a valid reason for pulling someone over in the first place and a headlight is an allowable reason, as officers can say it is a safety issue. Once the person is pulled over, police must then have a reason to begin a Jacksonville DUI investigation. Some of the typical language in police reports includes a driver having the odor of alcoholic beverages, slurred speech or watery eyes.

No specifics were given in the Jacksonville DUI Case involving this corrections officer, but the point is the officer must have a reasonable belief that the driver is intoxicated. If that is met, the officer will typically ask the driver to perform field sobriety exercises. The exercises are designed to determine if a driver is too impaired to be behind the wheel. A Jacksonville DUI Officer will likely ask the driver to walk in a straight line and turn around; stand on one leg; stand with his or her legs together to test balance; and recite the alphabet or a series of numbers in order (Rhomberg Alphabet). Each individual test has various indicators of impairment and, if a driver scores poorly, he or she will be arrested for DUI. Once the arrest is made, the driver will be booked into the jail and asked to take a breath test. Now, both the field sobriety exercises and the breath test are technically voluntary – though refusal to do either will buy the driver a night in jail. But, refusing to take them also limits the evidence against a driver in a Jacksonville DUI Case. Our Jacksonville DUI Attorney knows the ins and outs of the detailed rules governing DUI arrests and can thoroughly examine your case to determine if the arrest was legal, and what the best options are for you or your loved one.

A woman on a suspended prison sentence for DUI causing a death is now back in prison after she allegedly left a trail of her partying on Facebook and the victim’s son called the cops. Alicia Marie Carmack was initially sentenced to 25 years in a Mississippi state prison in 2009, though the judge suspended 15 years of it and she was eventually released after just four years because of good behavior, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. As part of the condition of her release, Carmack was forbidden from leaving Gulfport, Miss., without permission, and was also barred from drinking alcohol or even being in bars, the newspaper reported.

But the victim’s son spent a little time on Carmack’s Facebook page and found photos of her drinking in bars and on a trip out of state, the newspaper reported. Once authorities were alerted, Carmack was sent back to prison and will be there at least another six months, the newspaper reported. Carmack hit a stopped car from behind, triggering a four-car crash that killed James Harris, a Jacksonville retiree driving to Louisiana to visit his daughter, the newspaper reported. Laws vary from state to state, and may be different from Mississippi to Florida, but one thing holds true across state lines: Judges do not take kindly to people who violate their probation, especially if they feel they gave the defendant a break and the benefit of the doubt in the first place. Carmack has yet to be resentenced in the case, but will be in coming months – and could be in prison another five years.

It is not uncommon to have a long list of conditions when a defendant is put on probation, especially in a Jacksonville DUI Case where the defendant may not have a criminal record, but the judge may feel the person has a drinking problem. In this case, Carmack was not allowed to drink. Could she have been busted without the use of Facebook? Perhaps. But she made it much easier to be caught by posting photos for anyone to see on the popular social networking site. Probation is serious business and it takes a significant amount of discipline and staying out of trouble to avoid a violation. It’s a prime reason why some defendants even choose a longer time in prison that doesn’t come with probation afterward, because they feel they’ll end up back in prison on a violation. Our Jacksonville DUI Attorney can thoroughly investigate your case and, should you choose not to go to trial, help negotiate a sentence that you or your loved one can adhere to and more often than not avoid returning to jail or prison.

Popular television meteorologist Tim Deegan resolved his Jacksonville DUI case this month, pleading no contest to the charge and agreeing to a year of probation and a six-month driver’s license suspension. Deegan was arrested in November after police pulled him over for running a four-way stop in Jacksonville Beach and found empty beer cans and a half-full beer in his car, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Deegan’s blood-alcohol level in this Jacksonville DUI Case was more than double the legal limit of .08, which allowed the state to charge him with an enhanced charge of DUI with a blood alcohol level of more than .15. As part of the plea agreement, the charge was reduced to a standard DUI.

The penalties in this Jacksonville DUI Case are fairly routine. Probation includes a course where defendants learn from a panel of people whose lives have been impacted by people driving under the influence and community service. Most Jacksonville DUI Cases either resolve very quickly, as was the case here, or drag on for months and even years. When cases resolve quickly, there is often a reason that is tied to the person’s employment – perhaps they are suspended from work until the case resolves. Deegan had not been on the air since his arrest and First Coast News declined comment to the newspaper about his job status, according to the newspaper report. Timeline aside, some employers may set a guilty plea as a condition of return, especially to a job where the person is a public figure, to show an example that he or she owned up to the mistake and took responsibility.

Most defendants want to just admit to the crime and move on, which is understandable. But that should never be done in first-appearance court without at least having a Jacksonville DUI Attorney review the case. There are very specific rules and procedures an officer must follow in a Jacksonville DUI Case, and not every arrest is done properly. Everything from the reason for the stop to the probable cause to ask for a driver to do field sobriety exercises to the way a breath test is administered is critical in a Jacksonville DUI Arrest. While there are penalties for refusing field sobriety exercises and a breath test, the absence of either of those pieces of evidence can significantly reduce the amount of evidence the state has in trying to prove its Jacksonville DUI Case. In a case like Deegan’s Jacksonville DUI Case, it’s a little more difficult to argue when there’s a blood-alcohol level of .18, though it’s certainly not insurmountable. Our Jacksonville DUI Attorney has represented hundreds of people charged with DUI – many who took a breath test and many others who refused. Our Jacksonville DUI Attorney is well-versed in all of the procedures that apply in DUI arrests and will fully examine the case for you or your loved one. If a quick resolution is important for your or your employer, we will work to handle it expeditiously so you or your loved one can get back to work and life as soon as possible.