Miami DUI Attorney Blog

Actress Tawny Kitaen has been arrested over the weekend on charges of driving under the influence in California. Newport Beach Police Department pulled over the actress driving her Range Rover. She was stopped at approximately 3 p.m. on Saturday, close to the John Wayne Airport. Officers determined that the 48-year old Kitaen to be under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs and then subsequently arrested on suspicions of DUI. She has posted the $2500 bond and is currently awaiting trial outside of jail.

Kitaen is no stranger to the law or to substance abuse. In November of 2006, law enforcement officers arrested the actress on felony possession of 15 grams of cocaine inside her home. She arranged a plea bargain and entered into rehab in exchange for the State dropping all charges against her.

Kitaen is famous for her role in the 1984 movie Bachelor Party costarring Tom Hanks. She also appeared in 80's rock hair band music videos and married Whitesnake's musician, David Coverdale. Most recently, Kitaen's substance abuse has been displayed to the public on the VH1 hit show Celebrity Rehab hosted by the infamous Dr. Drew.

A Miami man suspected of DUI manslaughter is also wanted in the State of Maryland. This week officers arrested the defendant, 31-year old Robert Jones, for allegedly driving drunk and killing a motorcyclist. Jones took his step daughter to school when hit the motorcyclist victim, 43-year old Eric Maron. He dragged Maron for 180 feet before stopping.

Jones attempted to flee the scene of the crash, but deputies caught up to him. He submitted a breath sample to deputies and blew .236. This amount is almost three times the Florida legal limit for alcohol consumption of .08. Officers charged Jones with two counts of DUI manslaughter and nine traffic violations.

In addition to the most recent Miami DUI case, Jones is wanted in Maryland in connection with another crime of driving under the influence. He violated probation by failing to appear at a hearing in connection to leaving the scene of an accident with injuries. The State of Maryland suspended Jones' license. However, Jones successfully applied for and received a Florida only driver's license. This type of Florida driver's license is normally reserved for snowbirds who wish to keep their primary residence up north due to insurance reasons.

A suspect from North Miami Beach has been arrested on suspicions of drunk driving with her nine year old son inside the car. At 1 a.m. a St. Lucie County patrol officer clocked the defendant, 43-year old Margie Sanoni, traveling 35 mph on the 70 mph Florida Turnpike. The officer reported that the defendant also had difficulty maintaining a single lane of traffic. Sanoni's 9-year old son sat without his seatbelt in the front seat of the vehicle and "crying hysterically".

The boy explained to authorities that he was frightened because his mother had lost her way and acted confused as to their whereabouts. He also admitted to the officer that Sanoni spent the entire day drinking Corona beer. The boy showed the officer an empty beer bottle on the driver's seat and two full beers on the passenger side floorboard.

The officer arrested Sanoni and charged her with DUI and aggravated child neglect. The defendant has not yet posted the $5,350 bond and is currently awaiting trial inside the St. Lucie County Jail.

An officer with the FBI has been charged with DUI while driving his government vehicle. The twenty three year veteran to the FBI, 49-year old Jorge Miyar, drove into a DUI checkpoint in Oakland Park. Miyar drove between the designated cones and ran over a curb.

The Miami arresting officer reported that the defendant exhibited signs of intoxication, including smelling of alcohol. At first Miyar denied any wrong doing and explained that he ran over the curb because he was unfamiliar with his surroundings. Sometime during the investigation, the defendant allegedly confessed to leaving a party in which he consumed a hamburger and five beers. Police reports also state that Miyar discussed the trouble he was in for driving drunk in a FBI vehicle.

Miyar failed roadside sobriety testing and refused to participate in further breath testing. Officers subsequently arrested the FBI agent on charges of DUI. There is no information on what FBI disciplinary action, if any, will result from these criminal charges against Miyar.

A Broward County man faces two charges of DUI manslaughter after he allegedly ran a stop sign while under the influence of alcohol. He crashed with another resulting in the crash with another vehicle. The driver submitted a breath test with a blood alcohol content of .11.

The crash occurred at the intersection of SW Second Avenue and West Dixie Highway. The victim of the crash, 54 year old David Rose, later died from his injuries six days later at a hospital in Hollywood, Florida. The death of the victim influenced the DUI charges pending against the driver.

Officers arrested and charged the defendant, 28 year old Robert Marsicano, with two counts of DUI manslaughter. The first count is based on Marsicano allegedly driving while under the influence of alcohol. The second count is based on allegations of the defendant possessing illegal blood alcohol content.

Florida considers the charge of DUI manslaughter a second degree felony. This sentence carries a maximum penalty of 15 years behind bars for each count. Marsicano faces a maximum combined sentence of 30 years in prison if convicted.

There has been new evidence introduced into the case against former major leaguer Jim Leyritz. We first brought you this story on July 18, 2009. He faces DUI manslaughter charges and now, two years after the accident, a street lamp video tape has been released of Leyritz driving on the night of the crash.

Prosecutors state that in December 2007, the one-time Yankee ran a red light while driving under the influence of alcohol. He allegedly crashed into the victim, 30-year old and mother of two children, Freidia Veitch of Plantation. There is talk that the video evidence discounts the prosecution's version of the night's events and that the crash may have taken place 10 minutes earlier than originally presumed.

Leyritz has been charged with DUI manslaughter and has been awaiting trial out on bond. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison if he is convicted. The trial had been originally scheduled for September 18. However, in light of this new evidence brought forth, the case will most likely be postponed until January of 2010.

A driver hit and killed a Broward County bicyclist over the weekend. A Mercedes traveling north on AIA collided with a bike rider heading the same direction at 12:15 a.m. Emergency services took the victim to Broward General Medical Center where he later died.

The identity of the victim has not been released until next of kin has been notified of his passing. Officers suspect the driver of the vehicle, Melinda O'Donnell, was under the influence at the time of the accident. Officers are treating this incident as a DUI investigation. Charges against O'Donnell are still pending.

In a ceremony set to take place this week, Miami City Commissioner Tomas Regaldo, will hand over keys to the City to a famous former criminal. Rapper Pitbull, or Armando Perez, has twice been arrested for drinking and driving on the streets of Miami. In 2001, Pitbull pled no contest to the first arrest and paid a fine.

During the second arrest, the police clocked the rapper speeding 93 mph on the Palmetto Expressway. The officer reported that he exhibited physical signs of intoxication and refused to participate in a breathalyzer test. A jury found Pitbull not guilty on the charges of DUI.

Broward County judges will have to consider the accuracy of breath test machines after a State inspector has been fired for tampering with them. Florida Department of Law Enforcement fired Sandra Veiga last year for allegedly mishandling the inspections of breath test machines. Veiga admitted to turning off machines that were believed to fail inspections. This could have jeopardized the reliability of the results.

Individual agencies are responsible for performing their own mechanical inspections and then the State comes in for inspections annually. Veiga had been responsible for State inspections for two years in Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. Miami DUI defense attorneys question the accuracy of the evidence obtained by the breath test machines. Last week 33 defense attorneys on behalf of over 150 Miami DUI clients challenged the validity of the breath test in Court.