Facts:
My client was riding an electric dirt bike on the Pinellas Trail when he was stopped by the St. Petersburg Police Department. One of the officers believed my client had fled from him the previous day.
Additionally, my client mistakenly believed he did not need to register the bike or have a license to operate it.
My client was arrested for fleeing and eluding, driving without a valid license, and operating an unregistered vehicle. He was also cited for five traffic infractions.
The Case:
I knew that Pinellas County was taking fleeing and eluding charges very seriously, so I advised my client to complete an ADI course and obtain a valid driver’s license.
When the discovery came in, I learned that the officer who believed my client had fled did not have any body-worn or dash camera footage to support the allegation, nor did he write a report on the day of the alleged incident. In the report he did write, he alleged that my client made admissions he did not actually make. Additionally, in the available footage, it was clear there were Miranda violations.
The Result:
Based on all the issues present and the mitigation my client completed, I knew we had a strong case. I presented everything to the State, and they agreed to amend the fleeing and eluding charge to resisting without violence and to amend the no valid driver’s license charge to a traffic infraction.
My client received a withhold of adjudication, so he will be able to have this case sealed from his record. On the day of the plea, the judge also agreed to dismiss all five of the traffic infractions.
In the end, all my client needed to do was pay the court costs—a result he was very pleased with.
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