The Arrest
Our client was arrested for DUI in St. Petersburg, FL after she caused an accident. Our client merged into another car and tried to leave the scene to go home. When police arrived, our client was belligerent and argumentative. She performed poorly on field sobriety tests and provided a breath sample of over .14% BAC–nearly twice the legal limit. To make matters worse, our client was out on bond for a disorderly intoxication charge she had been arrested for that same month.
The Criminal Case
When our client was arrested for DUI, her bond was revoked for her disorderly intoxication charge. This meant she had to remain in custody until that case was resolved one way or the other. Our office was retained right away on both charges and we were able to get the disorderly intoxication charge dropped within days. After that our client was able to bond out. We then got to work on the DUI. Our client’s case was unique because she is a permanent resident in the Midwest who was only in Florida for a short time for work. She did not have a Florida driver’s license and her lease and work contract were up. Due to her multiple arrests related to alcohol, the State Attorney’s Office asked that she wear a CAM monitor. However, we were able to convince the judge to allow her to submit to three drug tests instead. This allowed our client to return home while we worked on her case.
The Plea Deal
We had our client get started right away on DUI school, a MADD victim panel, and community service. Her case was aggravated, but we were hopeful she would qualify for the D.R.O.P. Program. This program would allow her to receive a Reckless Driving disposition if she qualified. Her accident, her disorderly intoxication arrest, and a prior arrest out of state put that in jeopardy. We also had to get the State Attorney’s Office to accept an out of state DUI program. Ultimately, after our client completed all conditions, we convinced the State Attorney’s Office that she was a suitable candidate for D.R.O.P. Our client was able to plead in absentia to a Reckless Driving charge. Our client was ecstatic.