DUI 2nd Within 5 Years (St. Lucie County) 2022

Facts: Our client was travelling on the Turnpike on her way from Ft. Lauderdale to Gainesville to visit her family for the Easter holiday. An off duty Trooper saw her vehicle swerving on the road and called it in to 911. A BOLO was issued for our client’s vehicle and she was stopped by FHP for failing to maintain a lane. Officers decided to conduct a DUI investigation and had our client perform Standard Field Sobriety Exercises on the roadside. She advised officers on scene that she had undergone numerous back surgeries, but she was willing to attempt the exercises. After she was unable to perform the walk and turn or the one leg stand she was placed under arrest for DUI. She provided a urine sample which tested positive for the medication she takes daily – Valium, Carisoprodol, and Percocet.

Results: We immediately knew that the results of the urine test would not reveal anything regarding whether our client was impaired. All that test tells us is that she had taken her prescribed medication at some point in the last 2 days. We confirmed this by deposing the toxicologist who performed the test. We set the case for trial and filed a demand for a speedy trial once we had everything we needed. At trial the state argued that it was not a defense to DUI that our client was prescribed the medication she had in her system. While this is true, the state failed to prove that she was impaired by the medications or that she would be unable to drive if taken as directed. We were able to show that no one on scene observed any indicators of impaired one would expect to see except those associated with the client’s mobility issues due to her back. Swerving alone is not enough to indicate that someone is under the influence and officers failed to administer an exercise that our client was physically able to perform. The jury agreed with us and returned a not guilty verdict in less than 30 minutes.