Charges: DUI
A Gainesville Police Department officer observed a vehicle traveling with no headlights on at night. The vehicle attempted to turn into an apartment complex when the officer conducted the traffic stop. Upon making contact with the driver, the officer immediately noticed an odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle. The driver had glassy, watery eyes and spoke with slow and sluggish speech. She stated she had not had anything to drink, but later admitted to two drinks. The officer requested that the driver perform field sobriety exercises and the driver performed poorly. The driver was arrested for DUI and following implied consent, provided breath samples. The driver blew 0.132g/210L and 0.124g/210L and was charged with DUI.
The driver retained Meldon Law and we were able to enroll the driver in a deferred prosecution program. The driver would have been able to plea to reduced charges if she completed the deferred prosecution program, but she was unable to do so. One requirement of the program is that there can be no violations of the law for a period of 18 months. On May 25, 2012, the driver was arrested in another city for DUI, leaving the scene of an accident without leaving information, and violating the restrictions placed on her driver’s license.
The state revoked the deferred prosecution agreement and pursued the case. We filed a Motion to Suppress evidence. Before a hearing was conducted on the motion, we were able to negotiate with the State Attorney’s office to a plea arrangement for a withholding of adjudication for reckless driving with alcohol. For this charge, the driver received minimal penalties. Our firm did not handle the subsequent DUI case for this driver.
