Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Florida Law prohibits any person convicted of a fourth DUI (Jacksonville Driving Under the Influence) from obtaining a Florida Driver's License. In Jacksonville, if you receive a conviction for driving under the influence for the fourth time in your life, your Florida license will be suspended permanently. Thus, you will never be able to legally drive a vehicle, and you are not eligible for a hardship license.

However, this could change if House Bill 971 is passed. This Bill permits those convicted of four DUI offenses to obtain a Florida driver's license after the completion of a Jacksonville DUI treatment program. In addition to the DUI program, the Jacksonville driver is required to have an ignition interlock device, similar to a breathalyzer, installed in his or her vehicle. The Bill will be presented to Governor Charlie Christ.

Sasha Pringle was arrested for DUI manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident involving death in Jacksonville, Florida. Witnesses report that the accident occurred at approximately 9:40 P.M. on Saturday, February 28th. They saw Pringle driving recklessly on the south-end of the Buckman Bridge in Jacksonville, Florida. She hit a vehicle driven by Luma Kajy causing Kajy's vehicle to crash into the St. John's River. Pringle did not stop and give aid to Kajy. Witnesses followed Pringle to her home in the Mandarin area of Jacksonville. Thereafter, they called Jacksonville police. Reports state that "Pringle was question and booked into the jail."

Jacksonville DUI Manslaughter is serious offense. If Ms. Pringle is convicted of this charge, she will go to Florida State Prison, and the media attention surrounding this Jacksonville DUI Arrest is not going to help her. She will need the best criminal defense possible to defend against these Jacksonville DUI charges. Her Jacksonville DUI Lawyer will need to investigate the case throughly to determine if Ms. Pringle has a viable motion to suppress or defense. This investigation should include interviewing the witnesses, taking depositions, reviewing all reports, investigating the breath test or blood-draw, and visiting the scene of the accident. An early investigation is important, because in most cases, a good offense is the best defense.

Drivers flash their lights by going from a low beam to a high beam. Usually, a Jacksonville driver does this to indicate to others drivers that there is something that they should be aware of. For instance, if a prudent driver sees a disable car on the side of the road, he may flash his lights to inform the oncoming vehicle of a dangerous situation. This could protect people in the disable vehicle as well on the driver and passengers of the oncoming vehicle.  As a child, my mother would flash her lights at other vehicles when she saw a dog wandering the highway. She did this to get the other vehicles to slow down.

Sometimes, Jacksonville drivers are ticketed for flashing their high beams at other vehicles. Jacksonville police officers issue the citation pursuant to Florida Statute 316.2937(7) which states that "flashing lights are prohibited on vehicles except as a means of indicating a right or left turn, to change lanes, or to indicate that the vehicle is lawfully stopped or disabled upon the highway or except that the lamps authorized in" this Section. However, this is not permitted. This Florida law was not meant to prohibit flashing your high beams in the manner listed above. In fact, a handbook issued by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles recommends that a driver flash his high beams at an oncoming vehicle that if another vehicle is approaching with its high beams illuminated. In 

Note only should a ticket issued in this manner be challenged by a Jacksonville Traffic Attorney, but it could be the basis for a motion to suppress. For example, a Jacksonville DUI Lawyer could try to get a DUI stop invalidated if the stop is based on these grounds.

In September 5, 2009, in Atlantic Beach Florida, a Bicyclist was seriously injured after being involved in an accident with an SUV. Yesterday, the driver of the SUV, William Adams, was charged with Driving on a Suspended License and Driving Under the Influence in Jacksonville, Florida.

Due to the injury involved in this case, Adams was likely charged with Driving Under the Influence Resulting Serious in Bodily Injury. In Jacksonville Florida, DUI with serious bodily injury is a third-degree felony. As such, it is punishable by up to five years in prison. Additionally, this type of DUI will score Florida prison guidelines, so Adams is looking at a minimum prison sentence, unless his Jacksonville DUI lawyer can mitigate this.

Another issue that should concern Adams, or anyone else charged with Jacksonville DUI with serious bodily injury, is the fact that serious bodily injury may turn into death. If the bicyclist were to die due to the injuries inflicted from the accident, Adams will be charged with DUI manslaughter. Jacksonville DUI manslaughter is normally a second degree felony, unless the defendant knowingly failed to render aid or give necessary information. In that case, it is a first-degree felony. As such, the penalties increase. Either way, a Jacksonville DUI charge of this nature requires immediate attention. 

Jacksonville DUI checkpoints occur when the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office designates an area in which it will stop vehicles in order to look for drivers that are possibly impaired. While it is commendable that Jacksonville is working to keep drunk drivers off the road, this is a intrusion into our privacy. No one enjoys waiting for road stop, and unfettered police discretion is never beneficial to the community.

Florida courts recognize this violation of our constitutional rights. Thus, they prohibit check-points that do not meet certain legal requirements. The Florida Supreme Court, in State v. Jones, 483 so. 2d 433 (Fla. 1986), ruled that before police can initiate a sobriety checkpoint, they must issue a set of uniform guidelines that set out certain procedures for the roadblock. In Campbell v. State, 679 So. 2d 1168 (Fla. 1996), the Florida Supreme Court made it clear that "police are not vested with the general authority to set up 'routine' roadblocks at any time or place."

For more information about DUI stops, contact a Jacksonville DUI lawyer. A Jacksonville DUI Lawyer can evaluate the guidelines set and procedures taken at a DUI checkpoint to determine the legality of the Jacksonville roadblock.

We have all seen Jacksonville Roadblocks. These are police created checkpoints that are intended to look for those driving under the influence. If someone is arrested at a Jacksonville DUI checkpoint, he or she may be able to challenge the legality of the stop. Florida courts have ruled that the state must prove the legality of these stops. As such, the state must show that "the officers in the field are governed by a set of neutral criteria procedures which field officers are to follow at the roadblocks." Guy v. State, 33 Fla. L. Weekly D2238a (2nd DCA 2008). In Guy, the Second District Court of Appeals ruled that a sobriety checkpoint was unconstitutional, because it gave the officers the discretion to selectively stop vehicles in the event that traffic backed up.

If a person is charged with a crime when being stopped during a Jacksonville DUI roadblock, he or she should discuss the legality of the checkpoint with a Jacksonville DUI Attorney.