Tampa DUI Lawyer Blog

A Hernando County driver has been arrested on charges of driving under the influence. Officers saw the driver weaving in and out of his lane in his white van. The van failed to respond when the deputy attempted to initiate a stop. The driver, 46-year old, Kevin Conmy, failed field sobriety testing and was arrested.

However, Conmy's blood alcohol content tested negative for the presence of alcohol. A search of the defendant's van uncovered prescription pill bottles. Officers claim that Conmy was under the influence of prescription pills at the time of arrest. The defendant now faces charges of DUI.

This is Conmy's second charge of driving under the influence on his record. In 1992 he received his first DUI conviction. Over 17 years later, the defendant is in trouble with the law again. He faces charges of DUI, driving as habitual traffic offender and possession of controlled substance.

A Pasco County tennis coach has been charged with DUI. Officers witnessed the driver and Saddlebrook Resort tennis professional, 28-year old Josey Gonzaga Lemos-Soares, allegedly having difficulty staying inside her lane. The Tampa Police Department initiated a traffic stop at the corner of Fowler Avenue and Interstate 275 shortly after 3:00 in the morning.

Police reports stated that Lemos-Soares exhibited signs of intoxication. She failed field sobriety testing and agreed to submit a blood alcohol test. The defendant possessed a blood alcohol content of.15. This reading is almost double the Florida legal blood alcohol limit of .08. The Tampa Police Department arrested and charged Lemos-Soares with driving under the influence. She is currently being held on $500 bond at the Orient Road Jail.

Dealing with a driving under the influence charge is a serious criminal matter. A convicted offender faces a possibility of up to six months in jail, probation time, alcohol testing, substance abuse counseling, court costs, fines and the loss of driving privileges. The National Highway Safety Board reported that drinking and driving costs the U.S. over fifty billion dollars annually.

A Hernando County deputy stopped to assist a motorist in need during the early hours of the morning. The suspect, 24-year old Joshua Hope, acted suspiciously and the deputy called another traffic officer to assist. Hope submitted to field sobriety testing, but the officers did not feel he was impaired or driving under the influence.

Officers permitted Hope to contact a friend for a ride home. The friend had to travel an hour to pick up Hope. In the meantime, officers at the scene requested to search the vehicle. Hope denied access, but a drug dog alerted the officer to the scent of narcotics. Deputies found a safe in the floorboard of the vehicle containing 3 grams of meth and a .38 caliber revolver. Officers arrested and charged Hope with possession of methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

AA Tampa pediatric surgeon has been arrested on DUI charges over the weekend. The defendant, 45-year old Spencer C. Blanton, is the co-director of anesthesiology at Shriner's Children Hospital. The arrest report stated that the surgeon had a blood alcohol content of .12, well above the Florida legal limit of .08. Police took Blanton into custody for allegedly driving under the influence on Glen Harwell Road in Plant City. He posted $500 and awaits trial outside of the Orient Road Jail.

Research shows that offenders who drink and drive do so between 50 and 200 times before getting caught by the authorities. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs impairs the body's reaction time, awareness, eye sight and judgment. In 2005 alcohol played a factor in 42% of all fatal traffic crashes. The State of Florida had 22,259 alcohol related crashes in the last year alone.

The human body generally processes around one alcoholic drink per hour. There are many wives tales about how to quickly cure a night of drinking. These myths range from drinking coffee, exercising or taking a cold shower. This is just fiction. The only remedy that will sober you up is time. Time is normally what party goers do not have after the conclusion of their evening.

She agreed to submit. Her blood alcohol content registered at .113, above the Florida legal limit of .08. Officers arrested Pizza and charged her with DUI, third offense and child neglect. Pizza has not yet made $2,150 bond is being held inside the Land O' Lakes Jail.

The State of Florida has stringent laws for repeat DUI offenders. Pursuant to section 316.193(2)(9)2,4(b),(6)j, F.S., an offender convicted of a third offense of DUI will face a mandatory minimum jail sentence of 30 days behind bars. Of those minimum 30 days, 48 hours must be consecutive. The three times convicted DUI defendant will lose their driver's license for a minimum of 10 years. This suspension is in addition to the sentence of jail time, steep fines, vehicle impoundment and/or community service.

Hillsborough County has implemented a program for at risk teens for 14 years. Most recently the speaker, John Templeton, presented information to the troubled youths on his experience with a sentence of DUI manslaughter. He pled guilty and the Court sentenced him to serve a jail sentence for his crime.

Templeton spent the night in 2002 drinking in downtown Ybor City. He entered southbound interstate highway 275 going the opposite direction. He headed northbound colliding with another vehicle head on. The impact of the crash ejected the victim, 18-year old Julie Buckner, from the wreckage. Buckner died at the scene of the accident.

Largo Police have arrested a woman in connection with a vehicular accident with a pedestrian. The driver, 47-year old Robin Mathis, struck a teenage bike rider with her vehicle on the corner of West Bay Drive and Clearwater-Largo Road. The driver did stop her car around 40 feet away from the wreck, but failed to offer any assistance to the victim. Paramedics transported the teen to Bayfront Medical Center for treatment of serious head injuries.

Largo Police reported that Mathis failed field sobriety testing and submitted to a blood alcohol sample. The blood alcohol content results are still pending. Mathis has been charged with a DUI causing serious bodily injury. The State of Florida considers this crime a third degree felony and punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

Drivers often get behind the wheel after a night of drinking because they do not want to deal with the hassle of finding ulterior transportation. However, Tampa party goers now have an alternative. A Tampa Police officer, Terry Anderson, created the Home Safe card after a 21-year old family member was involved in a head on car crash. The family member allegedly went out drinking, attempted to drive home and passed out behind the wheel. He survived, but the ordeal gave Officer Anderson an idea to create an easier way to get home.

The Home Safe card is essentially a form of gift cards to local cab companies. A parent can purchase the card online and prepay in $25 denominations. Card holders use the card for a safe ride home versus dealing with other forms of payment. Local anti-drunk driving organizations applaud the Home Safe card idea for its convenience and ingenuity.

Police pulled a driver over for excessive speeding. The driver, 33-year old Ronald Eaton, is accused of traveling 80 mph in a 40 mph zone and failure to maintain a single lane. The officer stated that the driver exhibited signs of intoxication and he further agreed to participate in field sobriety testing. The driver allegedly pleaded with the officer not to charge him with DUI because he "would go to prison."

Eaton also admitted to the officer that he had four beers earlier in the evening. He attempted the walk-and-turn test, performed poorly and had trouble following instructions. Eaton quit prior to completing the test and told the officer, "Just take me to jail. I am done". He submitted to further blood alcohol testing at the Hernando County Jail and blew a .209 breathalyzer test. This almost three times the Florida legal limit of .08. A records check revealed that this is the Defendant's third DUI arrest and he is currently being held on $5,500 bond.

A 2008 case has been resolved against a Spring Hill woman. Barbara Jean Diffendal, age 44, accepted a 13 year prison sentence for charges of DUI manslaughter and leaving the scene of a crash without rendering aid. Diffendal lost control of her vehicle on U.S. 19, crossed a median and hit another vehicle. Diffendal allegedly fled the scene on foot while carrying her uninjured 4-year old daughter.  Police caught up with Difendal and her daughter and they received medical attention. A blood test determined the Defendant was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. The victim, 34-year old Jeanine Costello Bethoney, died from her injuries.

If convicted, Diffendal faced a maximum prison sentence of 30 years behind bars. Instead of trial, she chose to accept a plea deal and will serve a 13 year prison sentence. The prosecution stated that the victim's family agreed to lessen the defendant's punishment in an effort to avoid trial.