Jacksonville Criminal Lawyer Blog

We have read several articles on the Internet about police and Florida Highway Patrol officers stepping up efforts to stop people speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (aka drunk driving, DUI and DWI) in the Jacksonville, Florida area this weekend. Keep in mind that police come out in force on such holiday weekends and make many more traffic stops and arrests than on an ordinary weekend.

Another thing to keep in mind is that when a police officer suspects you of driving under the influence, every question he/she asks and everything he/she does from that point forward will be designed to obtain evidence against you to support the DUI case. For some reason, a lot of people think it is a good idea to answer questions about whether he/she has had anything to drink that night and if so, how many drinks. Unless the answer is zero, answering this question will only serve to help the state prove the DUI case against you. The same goes for the field sobriety tests. A person fails the DUI field sobriety tests when the police officer says so. It is a subjective test. And this is the same police officer who already has it in his/her head that you are drunk or he/she would not have asked you to perform the field sobriety tests in the first place.

Obviously, the best plan is to either not drink or get a ride with a friend or a taxi if you have been drinking. But, if you have been pulled over and the police officer is asking questions relating to a DUI or any other crime, understand that you have a Constitutional right to remain silent. If you decide to waive that right and answer questions, your answers will be used against you.

Posted by Shorstein & Lasnetski | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: DUI , Traffic Infractions

Bookmark:

This year, the Florida legislature will be reviewing a proposed bill that would set statewide standards for cameras at intersections that take pictures of the license plates of vehicles that run red lights. Once the picture is taken of a vehicle that allegedly ran a red light, a traffic ticket is automatically mailed to the owner of the vehicle. Legislation regarding standards for red light cameras have been before the Florida legislature several times before, but they have not been able to agree on how to split the revenues.

We see a few problems with red light cameras. First, the ticket goes to the owner of the vehicle, but it is not clear what happens when the owner is not the person driving the vehicle when it goes through a red light. Does the state or county have to prove that the owner was driving or does the owner have to prove that he/she was not driving?

Additionally, as criminal defense lawyers, we represent many people who have been charged with the crime of driving with a suspended license. This can be a serious crime that results in jail time and a longer driver's license suspension if a person gets multiple convictions. Many people have their licenses suspended without knowing it and do not find out until they are stopped by the police. If a vehicle owner is sent a ticket but does not receive it because it got lost in the mail or he/she changed addresses, that person may have his/her license suspended without knowing it. One could see how the system does not function properly resulting in a lot of people facing potential driving with a suspended license charges without knowing it until they are stopped by police and arrested.

Posted by Shorstein & Lasnetski | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Misdemeanor Crimes , Traffic Infractions

Bookmark:

A new proposed law is going to the Governor that would allow police officers in Florida to pull drivers over for failing to wear their seat belts. Of course, it is already a violation of the traffic laws for a person to drive without wearing his/her seat belt. However, it is currently considered a secondary violation, as opposed to a primary violation. If a violation is considered secondary, a police officer cannot stop a driver based on that violation alone; the officer can only ticket the driver for a secondary violation if the police officer has probable cause to believe the driver committed a primary violation first, such as speeding or running a red light.

Under the new law, a police officer can stop a driver and give him/her a traffic ticket for the seat belt violation alone. What implications does this have for criminal defense lawyers? Failing to wear a seat belt is not a criminal offense; it is a civil infraction, and this new law will not change that. However, as criminal defense attorneys know, traffic violations are often the starting point for criminal investigations into drug crimes and gun crimes. Police in Jacksonville, Florida and other parts of Florida will pull a driver over that they consider suspicious and use a traffic infraction as the basis for the stop. The police officer will then proceed to ask questions and initiate an investigation looking for illegal drugs or guns or other evidence of criminal activity. This new law may give police officers another basis to stop drivers who are driving appropriately but are not wearing their seat belts.

Of course, any time a police officer pulls a driver over and conducts a search for drugs, guns or other evidence, criminal defense lawyers will look closely into whether the police officer had a legal basis to stop the vehicle and conduct the search. But be aware that, assuming this law passes, there is one more good reason to wear your seat belt.

Posted by Shorstein & Lasnetski | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Search and Seizure , Traffic Infractions

Bookmark:

What is the purpose of police giving traffic tickets to drivers? To encourage people to drive safely or to make money for the local government? Many people in Jacksonville, Florida and other cities have suspected that the police are supposed to issue a certain number of traffic tickets a month or year. These requirements are referred to as quotas and would suggest that revenue plays a major role in how many traffic tickets police give to drivers.

A recent study by the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis looked at the correlation between poor economic conditions and the issuance of traffic tickets. Not surprisingly, the study found that significantly more tickets are issued in years after which a city's revenue has declined. Specifically, the study found that a 10% decrease in revenue growth for the government in the prior year results in a 6.4% increase in the growth rate of traffic tickets. The study concluded that police give traffic tickets as a means of generating revenue rather than as a tool to increase driver safety on the roads.

Posted by Shorstein & Lasnetski | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Traffic Infractions

Bookmark:

Florida is one of twenty states that has proposed legislation that would make it illegal to drive while talking on a handheld cell phone. Florida legislators cite evidence and articles suggesting that when a driver is talking on his/her cell phone, it can be as distracting and dangerous as a person driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs. There are currently five states that have enacted a law banning handheld cell phone use while driving. Other states are also considering derivations of this law to ban driving while using a text message device and/or a hands free cell phone device.

Posted by Shorstein & Lasnetski | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Traffic Infractions

Bookmark:

Most people are familiar with Miranda warnings which warn a suspect that, among other things, he/she has a right to remain silent and a right to an attorney before the police ask him/her questions about suspected criminal activity. If the police are required to give those Miranda warnings and do not and then ask questions of a suspect, the suspect's answers will likely be inadmissible at the criminal trial. However, it is not always clear when the police are required to give Miranda warnings. For instance, are the police required to give the Miranda warnings to a suspect during a routine traffic stop before the officer asks the suspect questions about a possible crime? It depends on the circumstances.

For instance, consider a situation that occurred near Jacksonville, Florida that involved two people racing their vehicles, which is a misdemeanor crime in Florida. A police officer observed the race and pulled both vehicles over. He questioned both drivers, and they both admitted to racing. Both drivers were then given notices to appear in court to answer to criminal charges for racing. The police officer did not give the Miranda warnings to the drivers before asking them questions about the suspected racing crime.

The criminal defense lawyers tried to have those statements thrown out of court because the defendants were not given their Miranda warnings before being asked about the racing. The criminal defense lawyers were not successful. Whether a police officer needs to give Miranda warnings before asking investigative questions of a suspect depends on the nature of the encounter between the police officer and suspect. If it reasonably appears to the suspect that he/she is in custody or is under such pressure that his/her right to remain silent seems compromised, the police officer must give Miranda warnings before questioning the suspect about a crime. However, this is a fairly gray area. Some of the factors that determine whether a suspect is "in custody" are: the length of time of the questioning, the number of police officers involved in the encounter, whether the suspect is handcuffed, placed in the police car or otherwise moved to a different location and whether the suspect was searched. If some of these factors are present, the defendant likely has a good argument that he/she should have been given Miranda warnings prior to questioning and any answers he gave about any criminal activity are inadmissible in court. If, as in the racing case referenced above, the police encounter is more consistent with a normal traffic stop that is fairly brief and involves only a few questions while the suspect has not been constrained in any way, there is a good possibility that any answers he/she gives to police questioning could be used against him/her in court even if no Miranda warnings were given.

Posted by Shorstein & Lasnetski | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Criminal Procedure , Misdemeanor Crimes , Search and Seizure , Traffic Infractions

Bookmark:

Most people in Jacksonville and throughout Florida know that it is against the law to drive a vehicle without wearing a seat belt. A violation of this law typically results in a traffic ticket and a fine. It is also fairly common knowledge that many criminal investigations and arrests are initiated after a Jacksonville police officer pulls a car over for a traffic violation and then suspects that a crime is being committed by the driver such as a DUI (aka driving under the influence or DWI) or some type of drug possession.

However, what is not commonly known in Jacksonville and throughout Florida is that while it is illegal to drive without wearing the seat belt, a police officer may not pull a driver over for that reason alone. A seat belt violation is referred to as a secondary offense, which means that a police officer may only give a driver a ticket for that offense after the officer has stopped the driver for a different, primary offense, such as speeding or careless driving. As a result, under the current law, the fact that a driver is not wearing his/her seat belt cannot be used as a basis to pull a driver over and initiate a more serious criminal investigation into a crime such as a DUI or drug possession.

Florida lawmakers are proposing to change this law to make a seat belt violation a primary offense. If they are successful, police officers will have the authority to pull drivers who they have reason to believe are not wearing their seat belts. This would hopefully lead to fewer injuries and deaths resulting from accidents but would also likely lead to more DUI and drug arrests.

Posted by Shorstein & Lasnetski | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Criminal Procedure , DUI , Drug Crimes , Traffic Infractions

Bookmark:

A Jacksonville Jaguar practice squad player (Travarous Bain) was arrested Saturday morning for driving with a revoked driver's license in St. Johns County, Florida, according to an article on Firstcoastnews.com. According to the officer, Bain was driving 99 miles per hour on State Road 16 near I-95 when he was pulled over.

According to the article, Bain's license was suspended pursuant to an earlier DUI change. To learn more about penalties resulting from DUI arrests and/or convictions, click here.

The article does not say what the speed limit was in the area where Bain was stopped, but he was fortunate that he was not cited for driving 50 mph or more over the speed limit. Due to a new law that has recently become effective, people who are caught driving 50 miles per hour or more over the speed limit face significantly higher fines and lengthy license suspensions for multiple violations.

Posted by Shorstein & Lasnetski | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Misdemeanor Crimes , Traffic Infractions

Bookmark:

Jacksonville, Florida is the second worst city in the country in terms of fatal motor vehicle crashes involving teenagers over the holidays, according a recent report issued by Allstate Insurance Company. The bottom three spots were each held by Florida cities. The Allstate study looked at federal auto crash statistics and the claims for damages made to Allstate over the holidays for the last eight years. The statistics showed that teenagers were involved in more than 5,000 deadly crashes over the holidays during that time period in the U.S. Not surprisingly, fatal vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death among teenagers.

In contrast to the high number of auto accidents resulting in a death involving a teenager in Jacksonville, Florida over the years, Salt Lake City, Utah was considered the safest major city for teenage drivers with only four teenage deaths due to auto accidents over the holidays the last eight years.

Among other solutions, Allstate suggests that parents sit down with teenage drivers and discuss safe driving with them. To assist, Allstate has created a contract between the parents and teenage drivers that helps explain the issues involved with, and the importance of, safe driving.

Posted by Shorstein & Lasnetski | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Traffic Infractions

Bookmark:

In Jacksonville and throughout Florida, the fines for traffic violations such as speeding have noticeably increased over the years. However, a new Florida law provides that people who are caught speeding excessively will pay a much greater fine. Drivers who are caught speeding 50 miles per hour over the posted speed limit face a $1,000 fine for a first offense, $2,500 and a one year suspended license for a second offense and $5,000 and a ten year license suspension for a third offense. This is a significant increase compared to the prior law which provided for a $250 fine for anyone caught speeding by 30 miles per hour or more over the speed limit.

Although some people may think that it is rare for a person to be driving so fast in excess of the speed limit, airplanes tracked the speeds of drivers on the highway in South Florida just after this new law went into effect and found 80 people who were speeding at 50 miles per hour or more over the speed limit.

There were other laws that specifically addressed motorcycles. It is now illegal for motorcycle drivers to lift the front wheel off of the pavement. Motorcycle drivers must also attach their license tags horizontally or face a $1,000 fine as police complain about having a difficult time reading the license tags on motorcycles that may be speeding.

Posted by Shorstein & Lasnetski | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Traffic Infractions

Bookmark:

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.

Posted by Shorstein & Lasnetski | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Traffic Infractions

Bookmark:

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.

Posted by Shorstein & Lasnetski | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Traffic Infractions

Bookmark:

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.

Posted by Shorstein & Lasnetski | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Traffic Infractions

Bookmark:

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.

Posted by Shorstein & Lasnetski | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Traffic Infractions

Bookmark:

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.

Posted by Shorstein & Lasnetski | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Search and Seizure , Traffic Infractions

Bookmark: