DUI & BUI

May 28, 2010

ST. PETERSBURG: Bribing the Police Doesn’t Work… Unless You Want An Additional Felony Charge

According to a humorous story in today’s St. Petersburg Times, a St. Pete resident, who was arrested on charges of Felony Battery and DUI early Friday morning, made the following last-ditch offer to the cops on his way to the Pinellas County Jail (otherwise known as the “Sheriff Coats Motel”):

He would give the arresting officer $300 to let the whole thing slide? According to St. Petersburg Police Department, Philip Charles Wood’s “offer” was not only rejected, but earned him an additional Felony charge of Bribery.According to police, Wood was first accused of Assaulting a man about 3:00 a.m. at 233 Central Avenue in downtown St. Pete. After that, officers noticed Wood driving by the scene of the assault and pulled his vehicle over.

The victim of the assault later identified Wood. Officers also determined that Wood was Driving Under the Influence, according to his arrest report. Wood, however, refused to take a breath test or do field sobriety exercises (what’s known in the business as a “double refusal”).

Following his refusal to submit to FSE’s or a breath test, Wood was placed under arrest for DUI. Later that morning, around 4:40 a.m., as a transport officer drove him to the Pinellas County Jail (PCJ), Wood offered a $300 bribe to let him go and “drop the charges.”Let’s just say, in a nutshell, that did not work!

In the State of Florida, law enforcement agencies can charge suspects for the time their officers spend investigating them. This is usually done at Sentencing when the State Attorney’s Office requests “Investigative Costs” as part of an individual’s sentence.

According to Wood’s arrest report, two (2) St. Petersburg Police Department officers spent five (5) hours total on his case at their standard rate of $25 an hour, for a total of $125. Apparently, in Wood’s intoxicated condition, he used this amount to calculate the amount of his alleged bribe.

“[The] Defendant stated that I would only be getting $125 for Investigative Costs anyways,” the officer wrote in a report, “so he would make it $300.”

According to the St. Pete Times, Wood should have saved his money. If convicted, he’ll be responsible for paying that $125 in Investigative Costs, as well as the standard Fines and Court Costs that will be assessed in court.

Assuming this is Wood’s first DUI, he’ll be looking at over $1,000 in Fines and Costs (not including the price of an attorney, DUI School, an Alcohol Evaluation and any recommended follow up treatment, “cost of supervision” which will be payable for Probation, etc.). As I commonly tell many of my “first time” DUI offenders, “a first time DUI is a $5,000 cab ride” by the time you pay for your attorney and all of the above-listed fees, fines and costs.

A quick look at Wood’s address on his Arrest Report shows that he lives in northeast St. Pete (which, on average, is a $20-25 cab ride). Unfortunately, as we see way too often, alcohol consumption frequently leads to poor decision making.

Wood was being held in the Pinellas County Jail Friday afternoon in lieu of a $15,250 Bond. Making matters worse, Wood was already out on Bond on Burglary charges when he was arrested. Therefore, it can be expected that the Judge and/or the State Attorney’s Office (SAO) will move to “revoke” his previously posted Bond for violating the terms of his Pretrial Release. Continue reading

February 4, 2010

PINELLAS COUNTY: “Youthful Offender” Sentence for 20-Year Old Involved in Fatal Car Wreck

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

A 20-year-old St. Petersburg man was sentenced to three-and-a-half (3 1/2) years in prison after pleading guilty to a charge stemming from a fatal wreck that killed two (2) people – his 23-year-old cousin, who was a passenger in his car, and a 59-year-old woman, who was a passenger in the other car. For the complete story, check out the TBO.com story.Joshua Malone’s prison term will be followed by twenty-four (24) months of community control (aka: “house arrest”).

Last December, Joshua Malone pleaded guilty to Driving a Motor Vehicle Without a License – Involving Death. Earlier this week, he was sentenced at the Pinellas County Criminal Justice Center.

An unrelated case involving the Sale and Possession of Cocaine was also resolved and included in Malone’s 42-month prison sentence.

Malone, who was only eighteen (18) years-old at the time of the Feb. 9, 2008 wreck, was sentenced as a “Youthful Offender,” which limited/reduced his maximum exposure to six (6) years in prison.According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO), Malone was driving a Ford Focus east on the Treasure Island Causeway when a Lexus turned in front of him to go south on Paradise Boulevard. Malone’s Ford Focus T-boned the Lexus.

Because Malone was under 21-years of age at the time of his Sentencing Hearing, along with the fact that he had never been previously sentenced as a “Youthful Offender,” it was within the Court’s discretion to “depart” from the sentencing guidelines. Continue reading

January 2, 2010

TAMPA BAY: “SCRAM” Monitor Usage on the Rise

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

A story in this morning’s St. Pete Times about the “SCRAM” monitor caught my attention:

For a solid year, Stephen Hulgin knew he could not sneak a drink without getting locked up.

The reason was strapped around his ankle: an alcohol monitoring device he wore 24 hours a day, as part of his sentence for a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) conviction. If he took a drink, the device would know it.”I knew it was there; I knew I couldn’t beat it,” Hulgin said. And he knew what the judge had told him: One more drink and “I go to prison for four (4) years.”

Hulgin, 44, who lives in a Clearwater rehab center and has a paving company, recently had his electronic monitor removed after an alcohol-free year. He says the device helped him and was a “big component of me getting out of jail.”

It also is becoming part of the anti-alcohol strategy for the criminal justice system in the Tampa Bay area. Judges are increasingly requiring monitoring devices for Defendants who need to prove they’re not drinking.

“I think it can be a very effective tool in protecting the public,” said Pinellas County Judge Donald E. Horrox, who has ordered Defendants to wear them.

Week after week, judges sentence people for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) and other alcohol-related offenses. While some get jail time, probation usually follows. Others are released on bail as they await their trial.

Judges almost always order these people to stop drinking alcohol while they are on probation or awaiting their trial. But how do you make sure someone doesn’t drink?

There are ways, such as random urine samples, mandatory AA meetings, and visits to probation officers — all with the threat of more jail time looming overhead.

But it can still be possible to cheat, partly because traces of alcohol disappear from the body more quickly than other drugs. Alcohol monitors are designed to take away that possibility.

The Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor, or “SCRAM” brand alcohol bracelet, which has been used in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties, is strapped to a Defendant’s leg above his or her ankle and can be hidden under a pants cuff.

It samples sweat on the skin every thirty (30) minutes, and detects the presence of alcohol. It records the data and sends results back to a central computer and, eventually, on to the court system.

“It’s a Breathalyzer for your ankle,” said Kathleen Brown, spokeswoman for the Denver-based company that makes them, Alcohol Monitoring Systems.

It also contains anti-tampering technology designed to detect when someone is trying to fool the device — such as the person who wedged a piece of baloney in between his ankle and the bracelet. (Baloney may feel roughly like skin, but it’s cold and doesn’t sweat.)

About fifty (50) of the SCRAM bracelets are in use at any one time in the Tampa Bay area, said local representative and bail bondsman Frank Kopczynski. More than 10,000 are in use nationwide, Brown said.Pinellas County Judge Paul Levine said he became intrigued with the alcohol bracelets when he realized they provide a good way to continuously check on serious alcohol offenders, such as repeat drunken drivers. They’re also good for Domestic Violence offenders who get violent when drunk; take away the alcohol, and you often take away the violence, he said.

But over time, he said he heard from Defendants who say “they can’t believe they actually went ninety (90) days without drinking, and it helps their recovery.”

“It’s a tool now to help break the cycle of drinking,” he said.

Hulgin agrees. He said when he was sentenced in Pasco County to wear the bracelet for a full year, the judge told him “If I drank, I’d be in prison. He made sure I understood that if I failed … I’m going away.”

He wore it 24 hours a day, even in the shower. After about three (3) sober months, he said he felt his alcohol cravings subside. Now that he is off the bracelet, he is optimistic that he will also be able to stay off alcohol, with help from his family and the Christian recovery center where he lives, called Center of Hope.

“It helped me,” Hulgin said. And he added, “it’s nice to be able to prove to the Court system and society that I haven’t drank a drop.”

But he does have a reason to be happy to get off of it. It costs $10 a day, and he’s the one who had to pay it.

That $300 a month is a burden that not everyone can afford. But Kopczynski, the Tampa Bay representative for SCRAM monitors, said $10 a day is less than some people spend at bars. He also has a question for people who have been released from jail but are complaining about the cost of the bracelet:

“How much money are you making in jail?”
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December 3, 2009

ST. PETERSBURG: DUI Charge For Lady Who Crashed Into Snell Island Home

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

A woman who drove her car into her neighbor’s house was charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI) yesterday.

Gail Ann Kay, 54, was driving her 2008 Jeep SUV when she crashed through a house wall at 9:36 p.m. Wednesday, according to the St. Petersburg Police Department. She left a 4-foot square hole in the house at 134 Aranda Street N.E. Fortunately, no one was injured.Kay tried to drive away, but a witness saw her car and called the police (who pulled her over a short time later). To no one’s surprise, the front of her car appeared damaged (I’m guessing with a nice paint transfer off of the house that she drove into).

Kay refused a Breathalyzer test as well as standard “field-sobriety tests.” However, the St. Pete Police Department indicated in their report that she had “slurred speech, a blank expression, and bloodshot and watery eyes” (I feel like I’ve read that before…. oh yeah, that’s what every DUI police report says).

Kay is facing charges of Leaving the Scene of an Accident Involving Property Damage and Driving Under the Influence. Continue reading

November 23, 2009

CLEARWATER: Police Will Be on the Lookout for Bad Drivers Over the Holiday Weekends

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

The Clearwater Police Department announced today it will conduct a traffic safety detail over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in an effort to reduce the number of vehicle accidents. Unfortunately, the holiday season also brings about more car accidents and more impaired and/or DUI drivers on the Tampa Bay area roadways.”Operation Safe Holiday” will be in effect Wednesday through Sunday at intersections with high-traffic volume or elevated crash rates. Officers will focus on red light violations, speeding and aggressive driving.

Additional officers will also be at large retail centers, like Countryside and Clearwater Malls, to watch for safe driving practices in parking lots and to prevent auto burglaries, retail thefts and other crimes of opportunity. Continue reading

November 7, 2009

POLK COUNTY: Undercover Detectives Bust Moonshine Operation

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

An “anonymous tip” led undercover detectives to a Bartow home, where they found a working moonshine still according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

Detectives searched the house on Thomas Jefferson Circle East in Bartow, where they found the fully-operational still. They seized the still, along with seven jars of moonshine.

The two men who live at the home, 54-year-old Kenneth Wayne Wilkerson and 36-year-old Rockie D. Smith, said they used the still to make moonshine for their own use.”I knew it was illegal but I wasn’t going to sell it. I didn’t see no harm in it,” Wilkerson said. “The moonshine we made – it was good and like I said, I wish you could have tasted some of it.”

Detectives said they also admitted to selling moonshine to their friends and coworkers.Both men were arrested and charged with one (1) count each of Possession of a Moonshine Still, Possession of Moonshine and Conspiracy to violate Florida’s beverage law. All three (3) of these charges are third-degree felonies (each punishable by up to five (5) years in prison).
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October 25, 2009

MN: Man Gets DUI on La-Z-Boy Mobile Chair

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

How lazy do you gotta be to get a DUI without ever getting off your La-Z-Boy???The following is courtesy of TMZ.com:

A 61-year-old man named Dennis LeRoy was just sentenced to 180 days in jail after cops say he got wasted at a Minnesota bar last year and tried to drive home on his suped-up piece of living room furniture.

The La-Z-booze-mobile was equipped with a cup-holder, radio, headlight and a National Hot Rod Association sticker. It was powered by a converted lawn-mower.

Cops say on August 31,2008, LeRoy pounded around 8 or 9 beers, left the bar, mounted his chair-mobile — which is capable of speeds up to 20 MPH — and crashed into a “real car” on the way back to his home.

LeRoy was given field sobriety tests … but cops say he “failed everything.”

The La-Z-Boy driver can avoid jail time if he completes two years of supervised probation — which includes completing a chemical dependency program, random testing and 30 days of electronic monitoring.
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September 30, 2009

BROOKSVILLE: Hernando County Jury Returns $330 Million Verdict for Teen Killed in DUI Manslaughter

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

In one of the biggest jury verdicts of its kind, a Hernando County jury awarded more than $330 million in civil damages today to the mother of a 13-year-old girl that was killed by a drunk driver in April 2007. For the complete story, check out today’s St. Pete Times article.

In an effort to send a message to future drunk drivers, Angela Stone filed a civil lawsuit against Christopher Marcone for his role in a fatal crash that occurred on the night of April 12, 2007, when Shelby Taylor Hagman was riding in a minivan with her grandparents. According to authorities, Marcone’s Dodge pickup truck ran a stop sign in a residential neighborhood in eastern Hernando County and plowed directly into the right side of the minivan. Shelby died the next day from injuries sustained in the crash.

Marcone’s blood alcohol level (calculator) was .207, more than twice the level at which a driver is presumed to be impaired. Marcone, 27, is currently serving a 13-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to DUI Manslaughter and three related charges in the death of Shelby Taylor Hagman.To view Marcone’s Florida Department of Corrections Inmate Population Page, please click here.
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September 26, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY: Motorcycle Expert Helps Aquit Pasco County Biker of DUI

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

Three Pasco County deputies came to court in New Port Richey this week to testify that they each saw Robert Corbin, 55, fall off his Harley-Davidson motorcycle and flee the scene — leaving the motorcycle on its side, running, with the key still in the ignition.

That testimony, however, was contradicted by an expert witness during Corbin’s DUI trial. Ken Wood, a Harley-Davidson salesman, told the St. Pete Times on Friday that “if the bike leans over for more than 45 degrees for one second, it shuts off.” And just like that, after only a few minutes of deliberations Monday afternoon, a Pasco County jury found Corbin Not Guilty of Driving Under the Influence.

For the complete story, check out Saturday’s St. Pete Times article.

Apparently, none of the three Pasco County deputies were aware of the bike’s safety feature which Harley-Davidson made standard in 2003. The deputies also indicated that Corbin “had glassy eyes, slurred speach and reeked of alcohol.” Corbin also admitted to drinking beers and not having a valid license because it was suspended after a prior DUI.In fact, Corbin’s Florida driver’s license was revoked back in January for having four or more DUI’s.
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September 22, 2009

LARGO: Arrest Made in April Crash that Took Victim’s Leg

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

On April 20th of this year, Andrew Hall of Safety Harbor was standing on the sidewalk outside of his Main Street apartment when he was struck by a vehicle which took his leg. Five months later, an arrest has been made in the case.

Joshua Dean West, 24, was arrested under the authority of a Pinellas County warrant and was transferred to the Pinellas County Jail from the Putnam Correctional Institution, where he was being held on a Violation of Probation on previous Drug Offenses.West has been charged with DUI Causing Serious Bodily Injury, Leaving the Scene of an Accident Involving Serious Bodily Injury or Death and driving with No Valid Drivers License while Causing Serious Bodily Injury.

After a lengthy investigation, dectectives determined that Joshua Dean West was behind the wheel of the Honda Accord that slammed into Andrew Hall apporoximately five months ago. Their investigation was made more difficult by the fact that neither West nor his passenger that day, Douglas Ziegler, would confirm for investigators who was driving that morning.
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