Criminal Defense Case Results

On June 26, 2025, the HSMV Hearing Officer at the Tampa Bureau of Administrative Reviews entered an order finding insufficient evidence to support the administrative suspension because the arresting officer and breath test officer failed to appear.

On August 5, 2025, the Attorney Hearing Office for the Bureau of Administrative Reviews issued a final order setting aside the suspension of the driving privilege. The order provided:

This case is adjudicated under the authority of Chapter 15A-6, F.A.C., and section 322.2615, F.S. The Hearing Officer has set aside the suspension of your driving privilege dated 28 March 2025 for refusal to submit to a breath, blood or urine test. Upon review of the facts of the case there is not competent, substantial evidence to support the suspension….”

On May 21, 2021, the Assistant State Attorney in Hernando County, FL, filed a “nolle prosequi” that terminated the prosecution for DUI manslaughter, the only charge pending against our client. The case involved a two-vehicle crash with a fatality that occurred in October of 2018. The charge was dropped the week before we scheduled a motion hearing to suppress the following evidence:

• our client’s medical records which were improperly obtained by the State Attorney’s Office; 
• vials of medical blood seized from the hospital after the execution of a search warrant; and
• the FDLE blood test results showing a BAC over the legal limit.

Our motion alleged that the State Attorney’s Office improperly obtained our client’s medical records without any legal authority and prior to providing notice and the opportunity to object. After obtaining our client’s medical records but before disclosing that fact, the State Attorney’s Office did provide notice of intent to subpoena the medical records.

We entered a timely objection that triggered a Hunter hearing. On November 14, 2018, a hearing was held pursuant to Hunter v. State, 639 So.2d 74 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994) on the State’s Motion for Authorization to Execute the subpoena for the medical records. After hearing arguments from the Assistant State Attorney and the defense, the State’s motion was denied. Despite losing the Hunter hearing, the State Attorney’s Office later provided us with a copy of our client’s medical records in discovery.

Our motion also moved to suppress vials of medical blood seized with a search warrant that contained material misrepresentations and intentionally left out material facts. Our motion for a Franks hearing also alleged a failure to follow proper procedures for the chain of custody and storage of the blood. Instead of going forward with the motion hearing, the Assistant State Attorney entered a “nolle prosequi” right before the motion hearing was scheduled to begin.

Our client was charged with Boating Under the Influence after being arrested for allegedly operating a boat while under the influence of cannabis. Upon receiving urinalysis results showing only the presence of a metabolite of THC, our office presented the State with a Motion to Dismiss the charge based on the State’s inability to prove that our client was under the influence at the time he was operating the boat. Upon reviewing the motion, the State agreed to reduce the charge to Careless Operation of a Vessel, which is a non-criminal civil citation.

Our client was charged in Hillsborough County with a first DUI with property damage and was not permitted to take part in a diversion program because of the property damage enhancement. We filed a Motion to Suppress challenging our client’s detention and arrest and asked the State to consider reducing the DUI charge to a Reckless Driving charge. The State declined the reduction and only offered our client to plea to the DUI as charged. Days before the hearing on our Motion to Suppress, the State offered our client a reduction to Reckless Driving with no probation or sanctions.

Our client was arrested and charged with a DUI. After reviewing the evidence, it was clear that the law enforcement officer in the case did not follow the law and arrested our client without any reason. We filed a Motion to Suppress the evidence where the law enforcement officer acted improperly and arrested our client without any reasonable suspicion or probable cause. Once the Assistant State Attorney read the motion, they agreed. On June 9, 2022, the prosecutor formally reduced the charge from a criminal DUI to a civil traffic ticket for careless driving because the client did not have her headlights on.

This client hired our firm in April 2022 after a vehicle crash that ultimately led the State Attorney’s Office to charge the client with DUI and four other charges. In January 2024, after almost 2 years of fighting the charges and filing a motion to dismiss, the state dropped four charges and reduced the DUI to Reckless Driving, in part, because of insufficient evidence of impairment.

Our client faced DUI charges. After reviewing bodycam footage and police reports, we presented mitigating evidence to the State, leading to a reduction of the charge to reckless driving.

Our client discovered a DUI incorrectly listed on her driving record for over 20 years due to a friend’s arrest under her name. We gathered court-certified documents to clarify the error, enabling her to have the DUI annotation removed and to restore her driving privileges.

Our client was originally investigated for a DUI following a traffic crash. Our client was formally charged with DUI (above 0.15) on December 11, 2023, in a case pending before Polk County Judge Green. We filed a motion to exclude the medical blood results, which were the basis for the enhanced DUI charge. To avoid a hearing on the motion to exclude the medical blood results, the State offered to reduce the enhanced DUI charge to a reckless driving charge for a withhold of adjudication and court costs. Our client was able to avoid probation and having to do any DUI-related sanctions. Our client is also eligible to petition to seal this charge from her record.

Our client was facing a second DUI charge, with the first DUI occurring over 20 years ago. We presented extensive mitigation to the State, highlighting our client’s lengthy military service. Although the State initially sought jail time, we set the case for trial. One week before trial, the State agreed to reduce the charge to a dry reckless, allowing our client to plead to reckless driving with a $500 fine, avoiding harsher penalties.