DUI CRASH WITH HIGH BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVEL REDUCED; NO CONVICTION! – DUI

Client was leaving a Jaguars game and was involved in a traffic crash in which he allegedly hit a parked trailer. He stopped to check the damage. Police arrived as he and his passenger were outside the car looking at the damage. The police arrested him for DUI and he blew three times the limit. But the police could not find where the accident happened. We prepared a motion to suppress statements prior to proof of corpus delicti (proving a crime even happened) and any statements protected by the Accident Report Privilege which protects statements made at a crash investigation as compelled because the law requires one involved in an accident to tell the investigating officer what happened. Without his statements, the State had no proof he was the driver of the vehicle. We also prepared a Motion to Suppress the breath test for an Unlawful Arrest. The State could not arrest for a DUI unless it occurred in their presence except in an accident case. The State had no crash scene so had no crash investigation to support the arrest. The State reviewed our motions (we never even had to file them) and reduced the charge. Client pled No Contest to Reckless Driving and the Court Withheld Adjudication of Guilt.