Tampa DUI Lawyer Blog

A 37-year-old man plead guilty to one count of DUI manslaughter Aug. 16, a week before he was set to go on trial to face eight criminal charges, including three counts of DUI manslaughter.

The man allegedly had drugs and alcohol in his system when he rear ended a Chevy SUV at 70 miles per hour on Christmas Day 2007, which took the lives of three people.

If convicted, the man could have faced life in prison. Instead, he decided to plead guilty to one count of DUI manslaughter in exchange for 12 years in prison.

Reports suggested he had a history of driving and drug offenses.

Unlike other crimes in Florida, DUI Manslaughter or even DUI with Serious Bodily Injury are immediately serious, no matter who the accused is. The dirty little secret about these charges is the injury points associated with these charges, when following the Florida Sentencing Score Sheet, will put a defendant (no matter how few priors) in a position to accept prison time or go to trial. It is this singular fact, above all others, that anyone charged with either DUI Manslaughter or DUI Serious Bodily Injury must hire an experienced DUI law firm IMMEDIATELY.

The Florida DUI Manslaughter Defense Lawyers at Whittel & Melton understand how upsetting it can be when you are involved in a fatal collision. Along with stress, you could be suffering from serious injuries of your own. We can guide you through the duration of your case to make sure that you are well-informed about what is happening during your proceedings and that you receive the greatest possible defense.

It is important to note that a DUI manslaughter charge is a very serious criminal charge that usually carries significant prison time upon conviction.

Continue reading "DUI Manslaughter Defense Lawyers Whittel & Melton Serving New Port Richey - Spring Hill :: Florida Man Sentenced to 12 Years for Triple DUI Manslaughter Charges" »

A 21-year-old Land O’Lakes man was charged with DUI and using a firearm under the influence of a controlled substance Sunday around 3 a.m. What made this arrest so newsworthy was it came just one month after the man was involved in a collision last month where a 19-year-old road crew worker was killed.

According to a Pasco County Sheriff’s Office report, the man was pulled over Sunday by authorities for allegedly driving about 20 mph over the speed limit. The arresting officer supposedly noted the man was slurring his words and had bloodshot, dilated eyes.

The man allegedly had a loaded rifle sitting between the driver’s seat and the center console. It was unclear from reports whether or not the driver’s alleged actions that night had a relationship to any emotional consequences from the fatal accident which occurred just one month prior.

The man supposedly did not perform up to standards during a field sobriety test and was transported to Land O’Lakes jail where he was later released on his own recognizance.

The fatal crash involving the man that occurred on June 14 is still under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. The man’s truck allegedly crushed a warning sign, smashed into another truck and killed a road crew worker.

Law enforcement officials are awaiting toxicology reports that should confirm whether or not alcohol contributed to the wreck.

If you have been arrested for a DUI you could face a number of consequences that require a solid defense, even if it is your first offense. Your license could be suspended for a lengthy period of time as well as possible fines, jail time and a highly probable rise in your auto insurance rates. A basic DUI is considered a misdemeanor, but can easily jump up to felony status when a DUI-related accident causes serious bodily harm or death or if you have multiple DUI convictions.

While a DUI conviction can carry serious ramifications, it is important to note that a skilled Florida DUI Defense Attorney can aggressively fight the charges brought against you and work towards a positive outcome for your case. At Whittel & Melton, our attorneys can ask the initial hard-hitting questions that can shape a strong DUI defense strategy. Did the arresting officer follow proper procedure during the arrest and booking? Did the arresting officer exercise probable cause to pull you over? If a breath test was performed, was the officer trained properly on how to use the device? Was the Breathalyzer operating precisely when used?

It is very important to act fast following your arrest for DUI. Generally, within 10 days of arrest, your driver’s license will automatically be suspended for at least six months or seized by police. Moreover, you are only allotted 10 days from the date of your arrest to contest the suspension and file an application to lift the suspension of your Florida driver’s license.

Continue reading "Land O’Lakes, FL Criminal-DUI Defense Attorneys Whittel & Melton :: Pasco County Man Arrested for DUI One Month after Fatal Wreck" »

A 38-year-old Land O’Lakes woman and England native was charged with three counts of DUI with property damage Monday after her Dodge Durango allegedly struck a mailbox and a traffic warning sign. Florida Highway Patrol said the vehicle came to a stop amidst trees and shrubbery where it caught on fire.

According to Tampa Bay Online, the accident occurred around 3:35 p.m. The woman was supposedly drifting in and out of sleep when speaking to a trooper at the scene. She eventually was able to tell police she was traveling to pick up her 2- and 4-year-old children from day care.

She was released from the Land O’ Lakes Jail Tuesday morning after posting a $1,500 bond.

Under current Florida law, law enforcement is permitted to forcibly draw blood from a driver if the officer thinks that someone has endured serious bodily injury or when there is a fatality. It is not out of the ordinary to see a case where a DUI suspect declined a blood alcohol test and blood was drawn anyway. In cases like these, protests can be made to keep the results from being entered as evidence at trial on fourth Amendment search and seizure grounds and Fifth Amendment due process and rights against self-incrimination.

The drawing of blood is objectionable when the gap of time between the DUI arrest and the drawing of blood is far apart. Many courts hold police responsible for obtaining a search warrant before compulsive blood draw. The government has successfully argued in certain instances that the fleeting nature of blood alcohol evidence makes dire circumstances that can rationalize the confiscation of blood without a search warrant. The forcible blood draw is usually rendered invalid if other tests such as a breathalyzer test are available and have been or could have been carried out.

Continue reading "Land O’Lakes, Florida DUI Attorney :: Pasco County Woman Charged with DUI after Colliding Into Mailbox" »

A 35-year-old New Port Richey, Florida woman was charged with DUI, driving with a suspended license and two counts of DUI property damage after rear-ending a school bus Thursday morning. Florida Highway Patrol reported she was also wanted for failure to appear in a theft case.

According to Tampa Bay Online, the accident happened at 9:22 a.m. when the bus was stopped at an intersection. The woman allegedly failed to stop and hit the rear of the bus.

The bus was carrying 25 students ages 9 to 12 and a 48-year-old bus driver. No one was injured.

The woman was being held at the Land O’Lakes jail with bail set at $1,513.

All DUI cases in Florida are considered criminal. Driving while your license is suspended for a Florida DUI is an additional criminal offense. Being convicted of this charge carries penalties of jail time and fines. Prior DWLS convictions can be a cause for enhanced consequences. A third conviction can become a felony under Florida law.

Most Florida DUI offenses are misdemeanors; however a DUI can become a felony if the DUI conviction is the third within the past 10 years, is the fourth or greater DUI conviction despite time frames or if the person charged with DUI causes serious bodily injury to another person.

Continue reading "New Port Richey, Florida DUI Attorney :: Pasco County Woman Charged with DUI after Crashing Into School Bus" »

Two Pasco County, Florida men, one from Port Richey and the other from Wesley Chapel, were accused of DUI and child neglect in two separate incidents that occurred Saturday evening where there were young children in their vehicles.

The Pasco County Sherriff’s Office pulled over the 39-year-old Port Richey man after they witnessed his car weaving around 10:20 p.m. He had a 5-year-old girl in his car and a breathalyzer test read a result of 0.19, a number Florida law presumes impaired.

The girl was picked up by her mother and the man was arrested on charges of DUI and child neglect. He was released from the Land O’ Lakes jail after posting $255 bond.

In another area of Pasco County, several witnesses reported a red Jeep allegedly swerving, running a red light and driving into a ditch around 11 p.m. on Saturday night.

The driver of the Jeep, a 44-year-old Wesley Chapel man, found deputies waiting for him when he pulled into a local BP gas station.

According to the arrest report the man had a 6-year-old girl in the Jeep with him, slurred speech, smelled of alcohol and could not recite the alphabet. He told officers he had consumed three beers.

Geoff Fox from the Tampa Tribune reports that the man failed field sobriety tests and a Breathalyzer test done at the jail showed he had not been drinking. The man would not provide a blood or urine test, but did admit to taking oxycodone and soma, a medication containing codeine, earlier in the evening.

The Wesley Chapel man was charged with DUI and child neglect. He was released Sunday morning from jail after posting $5,155 bond. It is not mentioned who took the girl home.

If these men are convicted of driving drunk with children in the car they could be exposed to increased penalties imposed by the court. The Pasco County State Attorney’s Office may seek sanctions such as incarceration, hefty fines and a license revocation for longer than the automatic six month administrative suspension from the DHSMV. Florida courts take DUI very seriously, and harsher sanctions are often administered to those that risk the lives of children in their vehicle when they get behind the wheel of a car intoxicated.

Continue reading "Pasco County, Florida DUI Attorney :: Two Men Arrested for DUI with Children Inside Vehicles" »

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" »