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Editor: Will Hanlon & Charlie Lambert
Profession: Tampa Defense Attorneys

State v. T; Judge Elizabeth Rice; Date: August 2007

FACTS: Our client was arrested and charged with DUI, after leaving a bar in South Tampa. Our client had been drinking earlier in the night, unfortunately however, her friends were far more intoxicated. Our client thought she was doing the right thing by volunteering to drive a friend home from the bar. Shortly after leaving the bar, the friend got sick in the car, and our client was forced to pull over in the middle of the road. A police officer happened to be driving by and pulled over to investigate the situation. Upon making contact with our client and her friend, the officer immediately became suspicious that our client may be driving under the influence. The officer requested that the client perform field sobriety exercises. Eventually he made the decision that he had probable cause to arrest out client for DUI. She was arrested and taken to jail where she submitted to the breathalyzer test, which estimated her blood alcohol to be approximately 0.12. The "legal limit" in Florida is 0.08.

In Hillsborough County, most DUI arrests are captured on video. Law enforcement uses these videos as evidence in DUI cases. This enables jurors to see the behavior and demeanor of a defendant during a DUI investigation and evaluate their performance on the field sobriety exercises. In many cases, this can be the most damaging evidence in a DUI case. However, in some circumstances the video can be extremely helpful to your defense. The video allows jurors to form their own opinions on the defendant's level of impairment, without having to rely solely on the officer's opinions or the breathalyzer results. Additionally, the video creates a record of the procedures that were followed during the arrest. Many times the officer's behavior on the video can serve as a basis to suppress some or all of the evidence, and sometimes even get the whole case dismissed.

In this case, the client performed relatively well on the field sobriety exercises. Additionally, the officer used questionable tactics in conducting his initial investigation. Despite, the high breathalyzer results, we were able exploit these issues to negotiate a favorable deal for our client.

RESULT: The clients charge was amended to Reckless Driving.