DUI (St. Lucie County)

Facts: Law enforcement was dispatched to a single vehicle crash. When the officer arrived on scene our client was outside the vehicle. He informed the officer that he had been at the boat show and had too much to drink so he had his friend drive him home in his vehicle. But, at the time of the accident his friend jumped out of the car and took off. The officer did not believe that he was not driving because of where the seat belts in the vehicle were locked and the deployment of the air bags. Our client refused to submit to standard field sobriety exercises and refused to provide a breath test. He was ultimately arrested for DUI.

Result: We immediately saw issues in this case and set the case for trial right away. The state however required a continuance to prepare so we filed a motion to suppress the arrest. When that failed we were ready for trial again. At trial we argued that the state could not meet their burden and put our client behind the wheel of the car beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury agreed and our client was found not guilty of DUI.