DWI Defense Team
A Gainesville Police Department officer stopped a driver when the officer could not clearly see a tag on the vehicle. The officer had also observed the driver crossing the center dividing line. Upon exiting his vehicle, the driver had difficulty maintaining his balance and staggered while walking. The driver admitted, “I’m a little drunk,” and claimed to have consumed three drinks within the past two hours. He smelled of alcohol and spoke with slurred speech.
He did not consent to field sobriety exercises and was placed under arrest for DUI. Thereafter, he was unable to maintain consciousness and was transported to the hospital. A blood sample was taken pursuant to the driver‘s consent. The results were .233 g/100mL and .236 g/100mL.
Attorneys at Meldon Law filed a Motion in Limine to exclude the blood results, as they were not delivered for analysis within thirty days of collection. Further, a Motion to Suppress was filed, arguing that the initial stop was unlawful because the driver’s failure to maintain a single lane did not affect other traffic. Ultimately, despite the high levels of alcohol in his blood, the driver received the lesser charge of DUI above .08g/210L but below .15g/210L. The judge also granted a motion to allow the driver to pay off a portion of his community service hours as part of his sentence.
