Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Happy belated St. Patrick’s Day! Of course, with the festivities comes the alcohol which also means the arrests. One newspaper did some research and found that in this one night, police made 50 Dui arrests!

In Denver, police reported almost 50 driving under the influence arrests alone over a five day enforcement period. Eight arrests Friday, five Saturday, eleven Sunday, five Monday and eleven on St. Patrick’s day meant the police were kept busy.

These arrests were not just alcohol based. Besides the 47 DUI arrests, police made an additional three arrests for driving while under the influence of a controlled substance.

LEGAL ANALYSIS

As previously mentioned, DUI arrests can be from alcohol, drugs or a combination. Possession of most illegal drugs (with the exception of small amounts of marijuana) is considered a felony. Most DUIs if there is no death or injury, are only misdemeanors. This includes drug-based driving under the influence charges as well. For example, possession of cocaine is a third-degree felony, with a punishment of up to five years in prison. However, if a person was found to have consumed cocaine and then was pulled over for erratic driving and failed field sobriety exercises AND a drug test, he could only be charged with a misdemeanor DUI. Even the positive drug test would not be enough to charge him with a felony if no drug was in his possession.
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BayNews 9 just broke a story about wrong way driver resulting in a crash into a police car.

21-year-old Madison Best of Saint Petersburg must of had a great Thursday night out…right up to the time she drove on the wrong side of the street and crashed into a police car!

The officer was driving near 9th street and 103rd ave N early Friday morning. and started drivng south. At that time he saw a car, driven by the defendant driving north in the southbound lane at around 50 mph. Despite turning on his emergency lights, the officer had no time to avoid the crash.

The collision caused the officer’s patrol car caused him to spin out near Gandy and 9th street. The officer, in a daze, managed to radio in the crash but was otherwise unresponsive. Police and rescue units found the cars by using the patrol car’s GPS unit.

Rescue units found the policeman laying by his car but otherwise alright. Said a spokesman, “It could have been a lot worse, the silence that followed his initial radio transmission, in law enforcement, is probably the worst thing that can happen.”

Rescue units spoke with the suspect and noticed she was extra animated and showed signs of impairment. While speaking with Madison, a man came by on his bicycle and said she was the same driver who had hit his bike and causing him to be thrown off! There is no word yet if she will be charged with a hit and run as a result of this.

St. Pete Police began a DUI investigation on the suspect. While she refused field sobriety exercises and breath tests but police found multiple signs of impairment and arrested her for driving under the influence.

After her arrest, both Madison and the officer were transfered to Bayfront medical, where to policeman was treated for minor injuries.

Unfortunately for Ms. Best, this was not her first run in with the law. Police mentioned that she had at least three prior incidents including careless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and a domestic battery.
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From frigid Maine, a woman makes a bad situation even worse when she attacks a police officer after her DUI arrest…

Getting a DUI? That is a bad day. Making the day worse? Going crazy and biting multiple police officers who were arresting you! This woman is now facing felony charges instead of just a misdemeanor driving under the influence…

33-year-old Jennifer Merry of Maine was arrested on Monday on several charges. Responding to a report of a single-car accident, police arrived to find a car rolled over in a ditch and a witness helping Jennifer out of the overturned SUV.

State troopers also arrived and determined that Jennifer was driving north when she lost control of the SUV on a straight stretch of road. The jeep ended up in a ditch facing the opposite way she was traveling. Now while Ms. Merry was the driver she was not helping the investigation.

“Merry was very uncooperative and interfered with Brown’s attempts to investigate the crash,” an officer said.

The defendant repeatedly got into the officer’s way during the investigation and was warned multiple times to stop. She was eventuallu put under arrest for disorderly conduct but continued to be uncooperative and refuse arrest.

Finally both a trooper and the police stepped in. Jennifer fought back.

“During the struggle, the subject bit [an} Officers… hand and apparently bit the hand of the state police detective who was on scene, assisting,” a police spokeman said.

The defendant’s night went from bad to worse. Besides the disorderly conduct charge, Jennifer was also arrested for the DUI and two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer.

As of this writing, the defendant had her blood taken and it was being analyzed at a lab. If she has a communicable disease, she may face additional criminal charges if she knowingly attempted to transmit a disease to law enforcement by biting them.
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A woman drives into a bar…not the beginning of a bad joke but rather an unfortunate incident for the unlucky driver.

29-year-old Sully Marie Torre-Medina was charged with possession of marijuana and DUI with injury after her car crashed into the Independent last Tuesday. The bar, which is located at 5016 North Florida Avenue, received minor damage but a customer was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries.

After the crash, the suspect tried to leave the scene but was detained by other customers until police arrived. She failed field sobriety exercises and blew a 0.16 which is exactly twice the legal limit.
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From People magazine, a woman shows that driving under the influence arrests aren’t always because of beer, wine or spirits.

We had previously written about a man arrested for DUI who claimed he smelled of alcohol because of the beer-battered fish he consumed. Well in Wayne County, New York a woman has upped the stakes in DUI follies.

Police in upstate New York were called out to a Walmart onreports of erratic driving. Once there they found the driver, 46-year-old Carolyn Kesel in a stupor. After noticing signs of impairment and failing field-sobriety exercises, she was arrested for DUI.

At the police station, she blew and had a BAC of .26%, move then three times the legal limit! Even more shocking was the discovery that Carolyn became intoxicated by drinking two bottles of vanilla extract.

While vanilla extract, a common baking ingredient, often has alcohol added to it, this particular brand had an impressive 41 percent alcohol level- comparable to most hard liquors.

The lady was arrested and a check showed that she had at least one prior DUI. Because of her priors she was charged with a felony DUI.

LEGAL ANALYSIS

It has been mentioned both on this blog and elsewhere many times before the facts about intoxication. It is no defense that this was not beer, wine or hard liquor. As she had intentionally drank the vanilla extract and she was found to be under the influence of alcohol while driving she was rightfully charged with a DUI. There has been DUI convictions for drinking mouthwash, rubbing alcohol, cooking wine and even nail polish remover.

Likewise, it is possible to receive a DUI for taking prescribed prescription drugs. Remember a doctor prescription does not relieve you of the responsibility to ensure that you are not intoxicated when you are driving a vehicle.
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