Client was charged with violating probation for not appearing for probation appointments. Client lives several hours away and an arrest capias was in the system. She would be arrested and transported to the county where the capias was issued costing her several days in jail. We showed the State she was hospitalized or in rehab from an accident at the time of the missed appointments. The court withdrew the arrest capias, dismissed the violation charge and extended probation to give the client time to complete all other conditions.

Our client was pulled over as a result of his girlfriend honking the horn at an off-duty JSO officer jogging along the side of the road because she thought she knew him. After the officer ran home, armed himself, got into is patrol car and returned to the intersection where our client was last seen, the off-duty officer conducted a traffic stop. The Deputy interrogated our client about his reasons for being in the neighborhood so late at night, and our client gave evasive answers. It turns out that our client just wanted to prolong the evening with his girlfriend so that he could kiss her.

The officer radioed for a DUI unit, and after submitting to field sobriety tests, our client was arrested for a DUI. We filed a motion to suppress based on the fact that the off-duty officer did not have sufficient cause to initiate the traffic stop and the DUI officer did not have sufficient cause to order our client out of his car. Based on the strength of the motion, we were able to negotiate a withholding of adjudication (no conviction) on a reckless driving charge for our client instead of a DUI.

Client went to his car to get his medications and fell asleep in his driveway. Officers arrived and found him under the influence of his medications and arrested him for DUI. During the hearing to prevent his license suspension the client confided that the key he used to enter his vehicle is only to lock and unlock the car; it is not an ignition key. After locking the arresting officer into a set of facts, i.e., he did not try the key in the ignition, client testified. The hearing officer accompanied us to the parking lot and tested the key herself. Driver’s license returned. I sent a copy of the audio from the DMV hearing to the prosecutor in the case and charges were dropped.

Client was involved in a traffic crash in June, 2011 and was taken to a hospital. A law enforcement officer requested he provide a blood draw to which he kindly refused. An arrest warrant was issued and client was arrested on September 12, 2011 in St. Johns County for DUI, DUI with Damage and Criminal Refusal of a Blood Test. He retained me and we set a court date for his appurtenant civil Careless Driving citation, but could not find the criminal charges in the clerk’s records. When the clerk found out the Careless Driving charge was with criminal charges we got another court date then shrewdly paid the citation so the criminal cases would not be acted upon by the clerk. The State Attorney’s Office failed to file the criminal charges with the clerk until December 15, 2011. The client was entitled to a speedy trial within 90 days of his arrest. Since the State failed to even charge him, much less try him until after 96 days had passed since his arrest, the court forever discharged him from the crimes.

Client was stopped for going over 100 mph on Atlantic Blvd. over the Intracoastal bridge from Jacksonville to Atlantic Beach. He admitted to several alcohol drinks and was arrested for DUI. After months of litigation, although the State’s case was solid, we showed that our client hadn’t been in trouble before, he was active within his community and at the time of driving, he was distraught because it was the first anniversary of the death of his son. He had been despondent and depressed. He was honest with the officers and sincerely remorseful for his actions. The State reduced the charges.

Client was pulled over in Jacksonville Beach in 2003 and was arrested for DUI. The stop and DUI investigation were on video. The State qualified their arresting officer as an expert in Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus and the case was set for trial several times during its eight year life. This client paid a flat pretrial fee in 2003 and was never billed for more. Just before trial in 2012, the State finally reduced to reckless driving.

Client was visited by detectives because a young female claimed he had had sexual relations with her. She alleged he set up the rendezvous via texting her and e-messaging her. We refused an interview with the detectives. We refused to turn over his phone without a warrant. The detectives could not verify her allegations with her phone. They obtained a subpoena and obtained his phone information from the provider. We continually pressed the detectives that our client never had any relations with her and any texting was innocuous as she was a distant niece. DCF interviewed the victim and determined the assault occurred. The detectives approached the State for a warrant. We contacted the State and presented our facts. The State refused to issue the warrant. Case was closed.

Client, a recent college graduate eager to start his new career, was pulled over for speeding. The Deputy claimed to smell the odor of alcohol on our client’s breath, that our client had bloodshot and watery eyes and that his speech was slurred. He was asked to step out of the vehicle so that the Deputy could conduct a DUI investigation. Per protocol, the Deputy read our client his Miranda warnings and asked if he had any questions. Our client responded by asking “yeah, can I call a lawyer?” to which the Deputy stated “well, one’s not really available right now.” The Deputy then proceeded to question our client and conduct field sobriety exercises. Halfway through the field sobriety exercises, our client again asked if he could call his father to call a lawyer for him, moved toward his car, and was arrested.

Several attempts were made to negotiate a disposition in this case before the State Attorney filed formal charges. They were not receptive to the idea. As a result of filing charges, we filed a Motion to Suppress Evidence based on a violation of our client’s Miranda warnings, and a lack of probable cause to arrest our client. After a hearing on the motion, the Judge ruled in our favor based on a lack of probable cause to arrest and a violation of his right to counsel. “If the suspect invokes [the right to counsel] at any time, the police must immediately cease questioning him until an attorney is present.” Davis v. United States, 512 U.S. 452, 453 (1994). The police video of the Deputy’s field investigation for DUI shows that our client made an unequivocal request for an attorney, and the Deputy simply ignored that request.

After the Judge issued her ruling, the State Attorney dropped the charges against our client. Throughout the process he lost out on 5 potential job offers because of the pending case. Now that the charges have been dropped, he should not have a problem starting his career.

Client was arrested in Nevada and extradited to Florida for home burglary charges based on DNA evidence found at the scene. The home had been entered via a back door during last year’s hurricane Irma. Nothing was taken except the TVs appeared as if the burglar tried to remove them from the wall. The State based the burglary charge on the attempted theft of the televisions. Our client’s medical records showed he had reported over the years hearing voices from the TV and we offered the medical records to show there was no intent to commit the crime of theft so the case was a simple trespass. The State reluctantly agreed and the charge was reduced.

This client came to us less than a week before his scheduled honeymoon cruise. He had received a letter that a warrant had been issued to arrest him because he failed to appear on a Driving While License Suspended (Knowingly) charge. I informed him that the authorities would arrest him as he embarked or debarked on the outstanding warrant. He needed urgent action. I filed a motion to withdraw the capias (warrant) and fortunately got the judge to set it 3 days before his cruise, and the judge withdrew the warrant and provided him a copy so he could show it to the cruise authorities if he got detained. While he was cruising, I showed the State they had no evidence his case was criminal “knowingly” but was really a civil “unknowingly” driving with a suspended license because his suspension was for financial responsibility which is exempted from the legal “knowingly” presumption. Two weeks later, before the hearing on my motion to dismiss, the State dropped the case. I informed the client of the total success on the day he was driving home from his cruise.

Client was sleeping in his car at the Castillo De San Marcos fort parking lot in St. Augustine. His engine was revving. Police knocked on his window and got him out of the vehicle. He was highly intoxicated. He was a foreign student in college locally on a sports scholarship. We showed the police had no reasonable suspicion to request he exit his vehicle. Before the hearing, the State agreed to defer prosecution. Upon completing community service hours, the State dropped the case. The client was able to keep his student visa and graduated from college.

Client allegedly ran car through a lowered cross bar and slammed into the last car of a moving train late at night in San Marco. The car was essentially demolished. The deputy that arrived spoke with client after paramedics were finished with him. He smelled alcohol on the driver’s breath who was unable to do well on the filed sobriety exercises and was arrested for DUI and take to jail. At the jail he was not offered a breath test because he was not allowed admittance by the nurse. The officer transported him to the hospital where the officer alleged he refused a blood draw request. We filed a motion to suppress the refusal of a blood draw as unauthorized because the breath test was not impractical or impossible. We showed the State that even if we were to lose the motion, the client claimed no blood was ever requested and at trial would show the deputy could not remember details about his request for a blood draw and that he left the client with hospital security and went home just moments after arriving at the hospital because he was already way over his shift departure time. The State reduced the charge to Reckless Driving with no conviction.

Two different clients pled guilty to DUI charges at their first appearance hearings in jail, were sentenced and placed on probation. During probation, they each contacted us. We filed motions to overturn their pleas. We were successful in getting their guilty pleas overturned after investigating the circumstances of each of the DUI cases and their strengths and weaknesses, we were able to negotiate both of the DUI charges to be reduced to charges of reckless driving for both clients. They both avoided convictions and no longer have a DUI on their record.

Client retained our services to help remove a Habitual Traffic Offender (HTO) status and assist him in obtaining a new driver license. We broke the process down into three (3) easy steps for the client. First, we reviewed his driving record. Upon review, we realized that he had several “failure to pay” issues. He paid these to minimize the effect of the outstanding debts. Second, we filed a motion on several tickets that had not yet been paid, and requested the judge withhold adjudication of guilt on the various charges so that he would not receive points added to his license. Finally, with all other driving record issues cleared, we filed a motion in the above numbered case to temporarily set aside a plea of not guilty to the charge of driving on a suspended license that our client had entered in 2011. These driving on suspended license convictions act as a “strike” that can lead to a HTO status. The State agreed to not object to the temporary withdrawal of his plea, on the condition that he obtain a new license and not pick up any new charges while this case was being resolved. Once the plea was withdrawn, we contacted the DMV in Tallahassee to remove his HTO status. Client has successfully obtained a new license and restored his ability to drive.

Client contacted us because his drivers license was suspended from several tickets in Jacksonville, Miami-Dade County, and in Illinois. We reviewed his driving record and were able to clear up the issues in Illinois and Miami-Dade. We filed motions in the Jacksonville civil ticket cases as well as the pending criminal case. We re-opened ticket cases to reverse convictions and eliminate his points suspension. Our client got a drivers license for the first time and years and we were able to avoid a conviction in the criminal charge.

Our client, an employee at the Kangaroo Store on Racetrack Rd., was arrested by agents of the Florida Div. of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco for selling beer to a minor. She was prosecuted in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida because the agents believed their jurisdiction is statewide. It is, but the crime must be prosecuted in the county in which it was committed. We showed the court via Google Maps that the Kangaroo Store was in St. Johns County. Case dismissed.

Our client had an argument with his wife and knocked a phone away from her; it struck their child. Unwisely the State charged our client with Battery and Aggravated Child Abuse. The State offered probation for a guilty plea. We refused. After months of showing the State the charge required “an intentional act’ and that the facts supported only an accidental act, the State diverted the case to a pretrial diversion program. Our client completed the requirements and charges were dismissed.

Client alleged to crash her car into a tree. When paramedics arrived they took a blood sample. The police obtained an arrest warrant for DUI with enhanced blood alcohol level when the blood returned from the lab .236, almost three times the legal limit. Although the affidavit to obtain the warrant asserted client was seen in the vehicle, the first officer on the scene could not remember where the client was when he arrived. Without proof of the client as driver and a potentially false warrant affidavit, the State reduced the charge to Reckless Driving with no conviction.

Female schoolteacher client was accused of trying to lure a male student via computer instant messaging. Although inappropriate sexual banter, the messages were not explicit and did not “lure” the student. My client was an upstanding woman in her community going through a difficult time in her marriage. After lengthy negotiations, the charge was reduced to Unlawful Use of a Communication Device. This prevented my client from being designated a “sexual offender” and saved her from a lifetime of rules, regulations, and harassment by neighbors. She was not convicted and was placed on probation.

Client was arrested for her third DUI in less than two years. She was on probation for her second DUI. She was facing significant jail time. Client was standing at her car inside the open driver’s door when police arrived because she had been fighting in the street with the girl who had been her passenger. The police asked about the fight and let the passenger go. Client was given field sobriety tests and arrested for DUI. We filed a motion to suppress evidence from an unlawful arrest. No crime occurred in the officer’s presence because client was not “in or on” the car for purposes of being in “actual physical control.” We also averred that all her statements were inadmissible because she was never read her rights and this was not a traffic stop. She was in custody for purposes of the Fifth Amendment when the officer let the passenger go but would not let the client call her friend to pick her up and said “No friend is going to come get you. You are not going anywhere.” The motion was granted. The State dropped the case.

Our client was accused of pointing a gun at the victim stating “i’m gonna blow your brains out.” We discovered the victim had identified the gun and the State was about to file charges. We intervened and showed the State that the victim had been making unwanted sexual advances toward our client’s girlfriend. We admitted our client owned the gun but had never pointed it or used it against the victim. We also proved the victim was making arrangements to leave the State. We had the girlfriend confirm our version of events in writing. We convinced the State not to file formal charges by getting involved early on and doing the work up front. The State dropped all charges.

Client came to us with an HTO (Habitual Traffic Offender) 5-year suspension and was charged with a new Felony Driving on a Suspended License charge. He was facing significant jail time in one county. First, we moved to Vacate and Set Aside the his previous conviction in another county which gave him the HTO. It was initially denied but we moved to reconsider and appeared before the court and were successful. This removed the HTO from his license. He obtained a new license and we appeared for the felony. The State reduced the charge to a misdemeanor charge of No Valid Driver’s License which does not result in a new HTO designation. He paid fines.

Our client owned a window blind company. He contracted for a job and was paid half the contract fee in advance. The “victim” called the police when the work was not performed timely. The detective obtained a warrant and arrested the client and the State Attorney’s Office prosecuted him. He didn’t commit the crime. Although it may be a breach of contract not to perform the work, it is only a crime if the person intended not to perform the work at the time the money was received. We showed our client fully intended to perform but the manufacturer couldn’t perform because of the odd shape of the windows. Our client contacted a lawyer in St. Augustine who was supposed to communicate to the victim a settlement offer. He never did. When the detectives contacted the lawyer he said he didn’t remember the client, so they issued the warrant. We showed email communication to and from the lawyer and the manufacturer showing our client’s efforts to perform or pay restitution to the victim. the charges were dropped.

Our client was operating a vessel with several people on board near the Sisters Creek Marina and was stopped for violating a Manatee Wake Zone. He complied with the officer’s request to display each required piece of safety equipment and was then taken ashore to do field sobriety exercises which he failed. He was arrested and charged with BUI. We filed a motion to suppress all evidence because there was insufficient reasonable suspicion to detain our client to go ashore and take the field sobriety exercises. His bloodshot, watery eyes were from a day on the water. The smell of alcohol on his breath was merely a sign of consumption, not impairment. The open containers were not a sign of impairment. His use of the gunwale for balance while retrieving each safety item for the officer was not a sign of impairment but of good, smart boating. The court agreed at the hearing but only suppressed (kept out of evidence) the field sobriety exercises, letting the State still introduce his refusal of a breath test and all other evidence gathered after the detention. The State appealed the court’s ruling. We cross-appealed arguing the court’s ruling of suppression was correct but the order should suppress all evidence after the detention, not just the field sobriety exercises. We won on both issues on appeal. The charge was dropped.

Client and his partner brokered a sale of a chain of 21 Papa John restaurants in Jacksonville through their Georgia restaurant sale/brokerage firm. Since the transaction included real estate in Florida and neither held a Florida real estate license, they were charged with unlicensed real estate broker activity. One partner was arrested without warning and they called me for help. I was able to get the other partner’s arrest warrant withdrawn and eventually get both cases dropped.

Client was leaving a Jaguars game and was involved in a traffic crash in which he allegedly hit a parked trailer. He stopped to check the damage. Police arrived as he and his passenger were outside the car looking at the damage. The police arrested him for DUI and he blew three times the limit. But the police could not find where the accident happened. We prepared a motion to suppress statements prior to proof of corpus delicti (proving a crime even happened) and any statements protected by the Accident Report Privilege which protects statements made at a crash investigation as compelled because the law requires one involved in an accident to tell the investigating officer what happened. Without his statements, the State had no proof he was the driver of the vehicle. We also prepared a Motion to Suppress the breath test for an Unlawful Arrest. The State could not arrest for a DUI unless it occurred in their presence except in an accident case. The State had no crash scene so had no crash investigation to support the arrest. The State reviewed our motions (we never even had to file them) and reduced the charge. Client pled No Contest to Reckless Driving and the Court Withheld Adjudication of Guilt.

Our client was arrested for DUI after committing several traffic infractions at a high rate of speed. His breath alcohol level was well above the .08 limit at .25. A conviction would result in a 10 year driver’s license suspension and a minimum of 30 days in jail. During our interview with him we discovered he was a USAF veteran whose alcoholism was service related. We filed a motion to refer him to Veteran’s Court. After a hearing, the court approved him for Veteran’s Court. After 12 months of successful Veteran’s Court treatment, the case was dismissed.

Client drove away from the scene of the stop of her vehicle when her boyfriend driver ran off after being stopped. Though she had had too much to drink and drive – the reason her boyfriend was driving – she moved to the driver’s seat and drove two blocks to her house. While walking into her apartment, the officer who had been searching for the driver stopped her and arrested her for DUI and Resisting an Officer for trying to run into her apartment ahead of him. Through aggressive defense work including setting the case for trial, the State eventually agreed to reduce the DUI to Reckless Driving for no conviction and dropped the Resisting charge.

Our client, a college bound high school student, was a lone driver who hit a tree on the way into his gated community. The car was disabled. The client walked to the security gate and got a ride home from him. The security guard called police. When they arrived, they cited my client with the crime of Leaving the Scene of an Accident with Property Damage. We demanded the details of any damage. The tree had gash marks but the State could not prove when they were made. We also argued that the purpose of the law is to stop and render aid and to notify the owner of any damage and that was done when the client told the security guard (the owner’s agent on scene) what happened and gave him his name and contact information. Case dismissed.

Our client was driving home and was stopped by Jacksonville Beach Police Dept. officer for allegedly “failing to use a turn signal.” As a result of her poor performance on field sobriety exercises, she was arrested and charged with a DUI. Her breath test results showed her breath alcohol level above the limit of .080. She was at .128/.122. Her encounter with the police was captured on the dashboard camera. After reviewing the video of her encounter, we filed a Motion to Suppress Evidence based on the fact that she did not commit a traffic offense. After discussing the motion with the Office of the State Attorney, the charges were reduced to reckless driving. Adjudication of guilt was withheld (no conviction)

I appeared in court recently on a DUI case. I had filed a motion to suppress all the evidence because I averred the stop was not constitutional. A Neptune Beach police officer stopped my client westbound on Atlantic Blvd., the dividing border between Neptune Beach and Atlantic Beach. Westbound is Atlantic Beach. The State attempted to uphold the stop as valid by introducing a Mutual Aid Agreement between the beach municipalities and the city of Jacksonville. I attacked the agreement as overbroad and possibly tampered with. When I showed the State the 2015 agreement with the 2015 signatures and their 2018 agreement which had the same 2015 signatures with three 2015 signatures removed and three new 2018 signatures added, they agreed to reduce the charge to Reckless Driving. My client pled to Reckless Driving and the court withheld adjudication of guilt, meaning she was not convicted.

Our wedding planner client was leaving one of her events when she was became aware she was beginning to feel impaired. She pulled over and stopped in the parking lot of an apartment complex. The Jacksonville Beach Police Dept. received a call from another driver giving them her car description as a drunk driver. The arresting officer located her in her car in the parking lot, had her exit the car and perform field sobriety exercises. She failed and was arrested for DUI. She blew over double the limit on her breath test. We filed a motion to suppress the evidence because the tip about the drunk driver was anonymous (they had a name but it was not correct; they located the informant but never got his full account of events). Although it took us six years to convince the State to do so, they reduced the charge to Reckless Driving. She pled No Contest for No Conviction and court costs.

Client was prosecuted for DUI after being stopped for horrible driving and failing field sobriety tests. She refused a breath test. At trial, we called her friend and a T-Mobile records custodian as witnesses. Our trial theme was the client’s “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.” She had learned earlier in the day that her mother’s cancer was inoperable and she had only 3-6 months to live (she passed about six months after the arrest). Then that night while commiserating with her girl friends, her boyfriend broke up with her via text message. She was emotionally distraught and drove home. On video, her driving was horrible; she went outside the line a few times and almost hit a wall barrier exiting JTB onto I-295. The officer followed her with video all the way to Beach Blvd. where she straddled two lanes and almost turned right from the left turn lane. She did fairly well on the field sobriety tests, but took 15 steps instead of nine on the Walk and Turn test and put her foot down several times on the One Leg Stand test. She was arrested and refused a breath test when offered one at the jail. The arresting officer was a DUI enforcement officer. The breath test operator only noted a smell of alcohol and bloodshot/watery eyes. At trial, we entered her cell phone records showing she was texting during the time the officer followed her and recorded the horrible driving. We had prepared the jury in jury selection to know the difference between saturated weaving indicating a condition (intoxication) and momentary lapses in driving and corrections indicating inattentiveness (texting). The records also showed her last text occurred four minutes before the arrest was made, proving the DUI investigation took less than four minutes. We put on our client’s friend who was with her the entire evening and got into evidence her terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. We had prepared the jury in jury selection to understand that emotional stress and trauma can effect one’s motor skills and attentiveness. We stressed the DUI enforcement officer was in the business of looking for a crime even if one didn’t exist. We showed the breath test operator was trained to observe signs of alcohol impairment and got him to admit that an odor of alcohol on one’s breath and bloodshot/watery eyes may be signs of ingestion but not impairment, so he had to admit he observed no signs of impairment by alcohol on our client. In the end we argued all the jury had was an opinion. We had prepared them in jury selection by getting them to confess they could never convict anyone if the only evidence a crime even happened was an opinion. The jury took 44 minutes in deliberations and returned a verdict of NOT GUILTY.

Our client was pulled over because the registration on his vehicle had expired 4 days earlier. The police claimed to smell alcohol on his breath and required him to complete field sobriety tests. Review of the dashboard camera video showed that our client performed exceptionally well on the tests. At the DHSMV Administrative Review hearing, the arresting officer made several comments, on the record, that brought significant questions regarding probable cause to arrest our client to light. Based on the DHSMV transcript and the video evidence, we filed a Motion to Suppress the evidence against our client. After the State reviewed our motion, they reduced the charges to reckless driving. Adjudication was withheld – no conviction – and our client was able to avoid further suspension of his license.

Our client was driving in Jax Beach and ran a stop sign. He was stopped and performed field sobriety exercises for the officer and was arrested and refused a breath test. A jury was selected. At trial, we focused on the officer’s lack of memory of details of our client’s field sobriety exercises. The breath test operator did not remember him but took detailed notes of his contact with our client. He walked our client from the intake area to the breath test room. He observed bloodshot, watery eyes and an odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath. On cross-examination we brought out he observed no signs of impairment, merely signs of ingestion. The jury returned a NOT GUILTY verdict in 67 minutes.

Our client’s driving was horrible. She almost struck a wall on JTB. The officer following her stopped her. She was crying. She performed field sobriety exercises. Her performance was neither good nor bad. She was arrested. All was captured on video. She refused a breath test. At trial she testified she was texting her boyfriend who had just broken up with her. The jury was hung.

At the second trial, we kept the video out of evidence. The arresting officer’s description of things was not detailed because he and the prosecutor expected to testify from the video so were not prepared for detailed testimony. Our client used her cell phone provider’s bill to testify she was receiving texts from her boyfriend during her obviously poor driving.

We argued it was her “very bad day” because her boyfriend just broke up with her, her mother was in the hospital, and she was arrested for DUI and asked the jury to make today her “very good day.” They did. NOT GUILTY in 44 minutes.