Tampa DUI Lawyer Blog

According to reports, Karlee Leliani Perez, aka as "Liviana" and “Candy Girl” in World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) developmental promotion Florida Championship Wrestling, got the so-called smack down from law enforcement when she was arrested this summer for driving under the influence. Perez was stopped at Kennedy Boulevard and Moody Avenue in South Tampa.

The number of DUI convictions a person has in their past as well as whether there was an accident involving serious injuries relating to the DUI are factors that can impact the mandatory sentence in a drunk driving case. Generally, under Florida Statutes, courts are required to impose a driver’s license suspension, a hefty fine, at least six months of probation as well as DUI school as part of the sentence for a first DUI. It is for this reason that a DUI arrest should be taken seriously and why it is so important to hire an experienced DUI attorney to protect you.

Continue reading " WWE Female Wrestler Arrested For Tampa DUI " »

Tampa DUI Attorney Jason Melton has represented many defendants whose arrests wind up in the newspaper and suffer through the gossip that follows. But this past week, the Tampa, Florida publisher of the St. Petersburg Times and a sports editor were both arrested for DUI in Hillsborough County, FL. The Times was honorable enough to write about the arrest of their own employees.

According to the reports, the sports editor arrested for DUI was stopped on Bruce B. Downs and allegedly consented to providing a breath sample. The editor allegedly provided a sample of 0.19. The law presumes a driver is impaired at or above 0.08. The Florida Legislature recently amended Florida Statute 316.193, this is the Criminal Statute number for DUI in Florida, to include an enhancement of all DUI mandatory sanctions in convictions which result from arrests where the breath sample is in excess of 0.15. The law in Florida for years provided an enhancement where the breath sample was in excess of 0.20.

The Tampa, Florida publisher arrested for DUI was stopped allegedly for traveling 20 miles per hour over the speed limit. The arrest was concluded with a refusal of the breath test. In refusal cases, the State is obligated to present an argument to the jury that the defendant was impaired due to alcohol, drugs or the combination of the two. Commonly, the State will use its Field Sobriety Exercises as its most important piece of evidence in an impairment case. Because the results of these tests are so important, the method in which an officer conducts these tests or exercises is also important. The different parts of the normal FSE routine are taught in Police Academies throughout the country based on standards created by NHTSA. These exams are very much a central part of most defense cases when facing an impairment theory as opposed to a case based on a breath test, blood or urine results.

Continue reading " Slow News Day - Tampa Newspaper Reports on DUI Arrests of own Publisher and Sports Editor " »

According to Florida news reports, a 21-year-old Land O’ Lakes man was struck by a Port Richey man’s truck in the early morning hours.

Florida Highway Patrol has charged the 73-year-old driver with Felony DUI with Serious Bodily Injury, Misdemeanor DUI, DUI with property damage and Refusal to submit to a breath test. The defendant was being held in the Pasco County, FL Jail.

The victim was allegedly crossing the road without the benefit of a crosswalk. This fact did not escape the Florida Troopers as they have been quoted that the victim “failed to use a crosswalk while crossing the road and improperly crossed State Road 54.”

How this accident happened will play a vital role in the defendant’s case as although the cause of the accident is in no way a defense to misdemeanor DUI or DUI with property damage. Causation, is in many ways, a defense to DUI with Serious Bodily Injury or DUI Manslaughter, as Florida law requires a nexus between the alleged criminal conduct (here DUI) and the victim’s injury or death.

As an example, most recently, NFL fans watched Cleveland Browns’ receiver Donte Stallworth negotiate a plea prior to being tried for DUI Manslaughter in Miami Beach, Florida. Both law enforcement and the defense attorneys involved knew that despite Mr. Stallworth’s alleged impairment, the accident that took the life of a man on his way home from work, was arguably unavoidable due to the path taken by the victim.

Better stated, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in 1999 in State v. Hubbard, that prosecutors will fail to meet its burden of proof to demonstrate causation where the accident producing the death or serious bodily injury was completely unavoidable.

Continue reading " PASCO COUNTY DUI SUSPECT ACCUSED OF CAUSING SERIOUS INJURY TO A MAN IN ACCIDENT WITH HIS PICKUP TRUCK " »