Jacksonville Criminal Lawyer Blog

Gas prices have become a central issue in Jacksonville and throughout the country as they continue to rise into the summer months with no relief in sight. Americans have established a lifestyle conducive to low gas prices, and many of us are having a difficult time making adjustments to the recent inflated gas prices. Of course, gas prices in Jacksonville and through the United States are not nearly as high as they are in many other countries, like those in Europe, but that is no consolation to people here who pay twice as much or more to fill up their gas tanks than they did a year or two ago.

Police departments, whose officers spend much of their shifts driving, are also having a difficult time working the increased fuel expenses into their budgets. One city in Northwest Georgia is dealing with their budget difficulties due to higher gas prices by adding a $12 fuel surcharge to each ticket for a moving violation, such as speeding, according to an article at www.USAToday.com. The city, Holly Springs, Georgia, is doing this to avoid raising property taxes. According to the article, the Holly Springs police chief has been getting a number of calls from police chiefs and city managers from other cities inquiring about their program. This is the kind of thing that could certainly catch on and spread to other cities.

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Posted In: Traffic Infractions

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When does speeding result in more than a traffic violation and become a criminal offense that can get you arrested and thrown in jail? It is not clear, but two Jacksonville drivers were recently arrested for allegedly driving well in excess of the speed limit, according to an article on www.Firstcoastnews.com.

In Jacksonville, Florida, there is no standard or law that tells a police officer when to issue a ticket for speeding or when to arrest someone who is speeding. That decision can be made at the discretion of the particular police officer. In this case, two Jacksonville motorcycle drivers were reportedly driving 142 miles per hour in a 65 miles per hour zone on State Road 9A. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office officer stopped them and arrested them. The police officer decided that driving at such an excessive speed went beyond the normal conduct that is typically addressed by a speeding citation and actually became reckless conduct which placed the two motorcycle drivers and others in danger of being injured in an accident.

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Posted In: Traffic Infractions

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In Florida, the crime of vehicular homicide occurs when a driver kills another person by driving a motor vehicle in a reckless manner such that another person is likely to die or be seriously injured. One possible defense to the crime of vehicular homicide, particularly in the drag racing context, is whether the cause of death could be attributed to someone other than the defendant, for instance, the victim or another person involved in the accident.

Consider a drag race that occurred in Florida a few years ago that resulted in a conviction for vehicular homicide. The defendant was drag racing with another vehicle occupied by a driver and a passenger. Both cars sped towards a part of the road that narrowed. The other vehicle tried to speed up and pass the defendant, but the defendant also sped up and would not let the other car pass. As the two cars raced towards the narrow portion of the road, the other car lost control and the passenger died. The defendant, who managed to safely stop his car without crashing, was charged with felony vehicular homicide and racing on a highway.

The criminal defense attorney for the defendant argued that the defendant was not guilty of vehicular homicide because his actions did not cause the crash or the death. The criminal defense lawyer argued that the other driver caused the death of his passenger by speeding up and then losing control of his car. Alternatively, the criminal defense lawyer argued that the victim herself caused her death by voluntarily participating in the drag race.

The court disagreed, and the defendant's conviction for vehicular homicide was upheld. The Florida law says that a victim's own conduct can be used as a defense to vehicular homicide but only where the victim's conduct by itself led to his or her death. An example given was where a passenger inexplicably grabbed the steering wheel and caused the car to crash during a drag race which resulted in the passenger's death. However, in this case, the victim may have contributed to her death by agreeing to participate in the drag race, but the driving of the defendant was also a contributing factor.

Regarding the other driver's conduct, his conduct was also not the sole cause of the death. The court found that the defendant contributed to the crash by failing to slow his car to let the other car pass as they approached the narrow part of the road. This created a dangerous situation which contributed to the accident and the death. When the other driver responded by driving faster, that was a foreseeable response during a drag race that did not affect the defendant's guilt for the crime.

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Posted In: Traffic Infractions

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Fines for traffic violations may be issued as a result of video cameras at some of the more dangerous intersections in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida. The Jacksonville City Council recently approved a plan to put video cameras at ten or more intersections in Jacksonville to catch drivers who run red lights, record their license plate numbers and issue a civil infraction (ranging from $125 to $300) to the owner of the vehicle that ran the red light. There are approximately three hundred cities in the United States that use cameras at intersections to catch drivers running red lights.

According to Florida law, local governments are not allowed to use pictures from cameras installed at intersections to issue traffic tickets. However, the few Florida cities that have such cameras and the cities like Jacksonville that have plans to install the cameras intend to circumvent the law by issuing civil infractions, or violations, instead of tickets. The end result is the same- a fine for the owner of the vehicle that runs the red light.

There are several criticisms of the red light cameras. While there is evidence that these red light cameras reduce the number of drivers who run red lights to some degree and slightly reduce the number of certain types of auto accidents, there is also evidence that the cameras actually increase rear end accidents. According to an article from MSNBC.com, there are numerous reports that suggest that the red light cameras cause drivers to slam on their brakes as they approach an intersection to avoid a fine which has resulted in an increase in the number of rear end accidents at these intersections with the cameras. The Federal Highway Administration's first study of intersections with red light cameras found that there have been 14.9% more crashes at these intersections than what would have been expected at intersections without red light cameras.

Another unexpected criticism that has caused several cities to take the red light cameras down is that they worked too well in preventing drivers from running red lights. These cities expected the red light cameras to generate enough revenue to pay for the cameras and also provide much needed additional revenue for the city budgets. However, in Dallas for example, the drivers figured out where the red light cameras were and stopped running those lights. That's certainly good from a safety standpoint, but the revenue lost from fewer traffic fines did not just deprive the city of anticipated revenue, in some cases it meant that the red light cameras did not even pay for themselves. As a result, Dallas, along with some other cities, have taken the red light cameras down where they have worked too well.

It remains to be seen when and where Jacksonville will install these cameras and if they will not work very well, will work too well or will be just right.

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Posted In: Traffic Infractions

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DUI (driving under the influence) arrests in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida often start when a police officer pulls a driver over for some traffic violation. However, the failure of a driver to wear his or her seat belt cannot be the reason for pulling a driver over. Of course, a police officer can give a driver a ticket for not wearing a seat belt after pulling the driver over for another reason such as speeding or another moving traffic violation, but a police officer is not allowed to pull a driver over just because that driver is not wearing a seat belt.

In the most recent Florida legislative session, a proposed law that would make the failure to wear a seat belt a primary offense (in other words, a traffic violation that would permit a police officer to pull a driver over on that basis alone) did not pass. Of course, injury accident statistics overwhelmingly support the conclusion that wearing a seat belt is a good idea, and failing to wear a seat belt can still subject a driver to a fine. However, as of now, it is not a legal basis for pulling a driver over.

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Posted In: Search and Seizure , Traffic Infractions

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