Miami DUI Attorney Blog

Carol Jean May of Manatee, Florida, who is 71 years old, was found passed out in her vehicle recently in the parking lot of the Desoto Square mall. Manatee County Sheriff's deputies received a call around 11:00 p.m. that May's vehicle had run over some bushes in the mall, which is located a block across the street from the Sheriff's office. Upon arrival, they noticed that May's car was in fact lodged between some bushes at the mall and was completely off the pavement. The responding deputy had to wake the sleeping May who was initially unresponsive and could not stand on her own. May readily admitted to the driving under the influence of alcohol. When asked by the officers how much she alcohol she had consumed, May responded, "Too much." Miami DUI lawyer Musca advises clients to be careful about their statements to police.

May was so intoxicated, according to the officers, that she was unable to perform a breath test or any field sobriety tests. She barely responded when police attempted to read her Miranda rights. The police report filed by Manatee County Sheriff's deputies stated that she could not sit upright in the back of the police car. May stated that the arrest did not matter to her because license was already suspended for the rest of her life anyway. Indeed, May's license was suspended for the rest of her life after a 2002 drunk driving incident.

The arrest is May's seventh for driving under the influence. After her first arrest in 1971 May was subsequently arrested in 1973, 1978, twice in 1998 and in 2002. Those six prior arrests have resulted in five prior convictions. Most recently, May was convicted of DUI and driving with a suspended license in 2002 after she crashed into another car. She was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days in jail and her license was suspended for life. She is currently being held on $80,000 bail at the Manatee County Jail.

More information is available here.

The United States Coast Guard, along with local law enforcement in Miami-Dade County, have joined together to crackdown on boating while intoxicated this Fourth of July weekend.

Many Miami-Dade area residents choose to spend their holiday weekend on a boat enjoying the region's local waterways. This recreational activity can be harmful to the public safety, however, when alcohol is involved, says Miami DUI attorney John Musca. Experts estimate that around 20 percent of the approximately 400 fatal boating accidents that occur in the United States every year are caused by boaters who operate their vessels while intoxicated. The legal limits for operating a boat or other water vessel after having consumed alcohol or a controlled substance are the same as for operating a motor vehicle. Above the legal limit of a .08 percent blood alcohol concentration a boater is considered per se intoxicated under the law. For boaters with a BAC of .08 or boaters who have consumed other intoxicating substances determining whether they are intoxicated enough to face criminal penalties is based on the totality of the surrounding circumstances. Boaters may be asked to perform field sobriety tests similar to those motorists perform.

Experts have determined that boating under the influence is especially dangerous because intoxicated boaters are more susceptible to be distracted by surrounding environmental factors. The effects of the sunlight, of loud noises and the wind are all increased when a boater operates his vessel while under the influence.

Miami-Dade law enforcement officers and Coast Guard officials are taking a two-pronged approach toward dealing with the problem of intoxicated boating this 4th of July. As part of Operation Dry Water, officials will educate boaters on the dangers of boating while intoxicated and on measures they can take to reduce fatal accidents such as wearing a life jacket. Second, officials will increase patrols of the area's waterways in an effort to both deter and respond to intoxicated boating.

More information is available here.

Miami DUI lawyer John Musca notes that the crime of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs is one that has affected even the powerful and well-connected. On June 12, Congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, son of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, checked himself back into a rehabilitation facility to deal with his ongoing problems with depression, prescription drug addiction, and bipolar disorder. Congressman Kennedy made headlines in 2006 when he crashed his 1997 Ford Mustang into a barricade in Washington, D.C. at 2:45 A.M., while apparently under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs. Surprisingly, Kennedy was not asked to perform field sobriety tests after the crash, but was instead driven to his home by the police officer who responded to the scene. Several witnesses later noted that Kennedy had been drinking at a local bar prior to the accident.

At a court appearance several months later, Kennedy pleaded guilty to operating a motor vehicle while impaired and was ordered was ordered to pay a $250 donation to the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington, a $100 fine to the Victims of Crime Fund, and to perform 50 hours of community service with the Boys and Girls Club, says Miami DUI attorney John Musca. Kennedy was also given 12 months of probation and required to attend weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Kennedy blamed his car crash on an ongoing addiction to prescription medication which stemmed from his struggle with bipolar disorder. Prior to his sentencing, Kennedy spent one month in in-patient treatment for alcoholism and prescription drug abuse at the Mayo clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Interestingly, Kennedy's sponsor in Alcoholics Anonymous has been a former Congressman from across the political aisle, Republican Jim Ramstad from Minnesota. Congressman Ramstad, who had his own addiction problems when he was first elected to Congress in the early 1980s, stated that the AA organization is well-equipped help people like Kennedy with a wide range of problems such as mental health and prescription drug abuse that go beyond alcoholism. Congressman Kennedy's office was reluctant to provide details about his decision to re-enter treatment. The Congressman's office did not disclose where Kennedy was entering treatment. Kennedy has admitted to attending treatment as a teenager for a cocaine addiction and having ongoing problems with alcoholism and depression.

Miami DUI lawyer John Musca has learned that law enforcement officials in St. Petersburg, Florida have charged a woman following a late-night alleged drunk driving spree. Witnesses reported that a vehicle was driving on the wrong side of the road, failing to stop for red lights, and otherwise engaging in erratic, dangerous maneuvers.

By the time police were able to track down the wayward truck, it had plowed into two different parked cars. The truck came to a stop after crashing into a house. Police pulled the driver, Billie Jean Vercellona, 28, from the truck. They also found her infant son, who is only five months old, in the backseat of the truck. Both were examined at a nearby hospital.

Vercellona has been charged with DUI causing property damage and child abuse or neglect. She was also charged with three counts of battery on a health care provider, apparently arising out of her alleged actions after she was transported to the hospital. She is being held in jail and her bond has been set at $8,500.

DUI with property damage (Florida Statute 316.193) is a first degree misdemeanor in Florida, which is punishable by up to a year in jail for the first offense. Child abuse (Florida Statute 827.03) is generally characterized by an intentional act to cause emotional or physical injury to a child; child neglect, however, and can include intentionally or negligently engaging in conduct that could reasonably be expected to kill or seriously harm a child. If the child in such a scenario is not actually seriously injured, the person who placed the child in harm's way can still be convicted of a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. Miami drunk driving lawyer John Musca notes that child abuse or child neglect charges do not always accompany DUI when there is a child in the vehicle, but it is not out of the realm of possibility. The sentence for a DUI can also be enhanced when young children are present in the vehicle.

Read the original report here.

Many drivers cannot envision a DUI arrest. Imagine that you have been at a friend's housewarming party. While there, you snacked on various cheeses and enjoyed several glasses of red wine in the company of friends, staying late into the night. At around midnight, however, the party begins to die out as most people depart to leave for their respective homes. You stay behind for about ten minutes to help the host pick up after the guests before saying good night yourself. After pulling out of the driveway in your own car, you drive slowly down the deserted residential street, becoming increasingly aware of the wooziness you feel from the wine. Up ahead is a 24-hour drug store, so you decide to pull into the parking lot and relax for a few minutes, until you feel that you are in a safer driving condition. You pull into a spot, remove the keys from the ignition, and place them into your pocket. Then, you lean back, and maybe even doze off for a few moments, only to be abruptly jolted by a very suspicious police officer. His demeanor is immediately alarming to you, because he is acting as though you have done something wrong. Have you?

According to the criminal laws of the state of Florida, you probably have. If you are impaired by alcohol or another substance while "driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle within this state," you are guilty of driving under the influence (Florida Statute 316.193). This reading of the law is surprising to most people. After all, in the scenario above, the motorist is trying to be safe and is not actually operating the vehicle when the police officer appears. However, the term "actual physical control" has been construed to apply to people who are not literally driving a car, even when the keys are not in the ignition. In fact, even if you had relaxed for a few moments in your car in the friend's driveway - on private property and without ever turning on the car - you could still be arrested and convicted for DUI.

The "legal limit" at which the law assumes a driver is impaired by alcohol is a blood or breath alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent. He may also be arrested and convicted of DUI, however, with a significantly lower BAC if the arresting officer believes she her evaluation of the motorist's condition shows that he is actually impaired. But what if the sheriff's deputy or police officer takes the alleged DUI offender back to the station for testing and finds that the driver consistently blows a very low number, like 0.01 or 0.02 percent, or even shows a BAC of 0.0 percent?

The average person might assume that he would be let go, on the basis that the arresting officer must have made an error. This is probably not as likely as the typical driver would like to believe. Instead, the motorist will be asked to submit to other testing by way of providing blood or even urine samples. This is in part because the police may be suspicious that the driver is impaired by a different substance, or another substance in combination with alcohol. Additionally, blood samples are generally perceived as showing the true amount of alcohol in a person's system more reliably than a breath test machine. Still, the results may show no alcohol.

A charge of DUI can be maintained if the motorist is believed to have been under the influence of drugs. Generally, this is taken to mean illegal drugs, but it can also mean prescription drugs, regardless of whether the motorist has a valid prescription, and even over-the-counter drugs. The over-the-counter drugs may especially be considered when found in tandem with another substance. For example, a moderate amount of alcohol combined with an allergy medication that causes drowsiness is likely to render a person impaired, even if there was no such intent. The blood and urine tests allow law enforcement agencies to find substances other than alcohol. No other drug, however, has a baseline level at which the law presumes intoxication. Prosecutors often operate on the assumption, then, that even small amounts of a drug such as cocaine could have caused a DUI if a police officer testifies that a motorist's driving appeared dangerous or abnormal.

A woman in Arizona was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence on an Arizona interstate this week. Two police patrol vehicles, both the highly popular police model of the Ford Crown Victoria sedan, were parked behind her stationary vehicle on the shoulder of the highway. The law enforcement officials had placed the woman in the back of one of the vehicles after she was arrested. Then, as the police officers at the scene wrapped up additional details for the case, another unrelated vehicle hit the parked cars.

Investigating officers say that the driver of the vehicle causing the accident failed to maintain control of the vehicle and plowed into the back of one of the police officers' Crown Victoria vehicles. That Crown Victoria was pushed into the police car in front of it, which contained the female DUI suspect, which also hit the suspect's parked car ahead on the shoulder.

The Crown Victoria model has been faulted for a defective fuel system. In this case, as in others like it, the rear-ending of the police vehicles caused the fuel tanks to rupture and cause a fast, hot-burning fire which engulfed all of the vehicles very quickly. The police officers were not injured in the accident and they were able to pull the driver, who sustained injuries, from the vehicle. They were unable, however, to rescue the DUI suspect from the back of the patrol vehicle. She was killed by the fire. She was also likely unable to escape of her own accord because she was probably handcuffed and suspects are typically locked into the back of a police vehicle.

A number of police officers and others have been killed in these types of rear-impact accidents involving the Ford Crown Victoria, which is a highly-favored vehicle for police departments around the country. Arizona officials are continuing to investigate this accident and have not at this time released their findings to the public. The patrol vehicles were apparently equipped with fire suppressing devices.

The original report is available here.

A few months ago, the professional football star Donte Stallworth was arrested for DUI Manslaughter after a fatal car accident with a pedestrian in Miami Beach. Stallworth, who is a wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns, had reportedly been partying through the night at South Beach hot spots. Early in the morning, around 7:00 a.m., Stallworth left.

On his way across a causeway leading inland towards Miami, Stallworth's vehicle struck a pedestrian who was crossing the street. The pedestrian was Mario Reyes, 59, who was killed in the accident. Reyes was a longtime Miami resident who was survived by his wife and their teenaged daughter. He had been hurrying to catch the bus home after working an all night crane-operating job at a construction site, getting off work at approximately 7:00.

Stallworth was examined by officers at the scene of the accident. He reportedly blew a breathalyzer breath alcohol concentration test result of about 0.12 percent, which is 1.5 times the concentration of alcohol in the bloodstream that Florida law presumes indicates intoxication for DUI purposes. Stallworth has been cooperating with law enforcement officials in the investigation. He was charged with DUI Manslaughter, but is widely expected to argue that Reyes contributed to the accident as well. In fact, Stallworth told police officers at the scene of the accident that Reyes was not in a crosswalk and that he attempted to warn Reyes by flashing his lights at the pedestrian.

Stallworth is 28 years old and has been freed on a bond of $200,000. The judge has not yet set a date for his trial. He pleaded not guilty this week to the DUI Manslaughter charge. As a condition of his release, Stallworth is not permitted to consume alcohol or drive a motor vehicle as he awaits trial.

If you have been charged with DUI or DUI Manslaughter, contact the Miami DUI attorneys at Musca Law as soon as possible.