Clearwater DUI Lawyer

The city’s red-light camera plan is all but dead, spiked by leaders’ worries over legal and political push back.

The City Council will vote on Thursday to put its plan on ice until challenges by lawyers and state legislators are resolved.

The council’s sudden change makes Clearwater the biggest city in Tampa Bay to get cold feet. St. Petersburg and Tampa will likely have red-light cameras rolling by year’s end. Six other local cities and Hillsborough County are pushing ahead.

In recent weeks, Clearwater appeared close to installing eight cameras above Belcher Road intersections at Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard and Sunset Point Road. Police and traffic officials met with camera companies Redflex, American Traffic Solutions and Gatso last month.

But Clearwater staffers on Monday recommended that the council postpone the program due to worries over the systems’ uncertainty, which has caused extra work and “confusion over the (cameras’) effectiveness.”

“It does not make any sense for us to wade into muddy waters,” council member Paul Gibson said. “This is one of those times where I don’t want to be first.”

The council voted to pursue a plan in December but grew camera-shy in March as statewide opposition grew. Attorneys across Florida fought the $158 red-light camera tickets in court, winning key dismissals. A state bill to ban the cameras passed in the House but died in the Senate.

The city sought proposals for the cameras in April after the council sided with member John Doran, its biggest camera advocate. In 2008, Doran accidentally ran a red light and injured another driver in a crash he called a “wakeup call.”

But Doran said Monday that the city “may never be ready” for the cameras, even with his support. His term ends next year, leaving the plan’s future to members like Gibson and Vice Mayor George Cretekos, who have voiced stiff opposition.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: FloridaDui | Permalink | Email This Post

A Tampa man died Saturday night in a motorcycle wreck after driving recklessly, according to Clearwater Police.

Justin A., of Brentwood Place, was driving his yellow Suzuki GSX motorcycle eastbound on Causeway Boulevard near Island Way at excessive speeds when he went airborne, hit the median, and was thrown from his bike and into a small tree in the median, police said.

Justin had been driving in the curb lane approaching a small bridge before he went airborne, witnesses told police. Justin was pronounced dead at the scene.

The accident happened just before 10 p.m. Saturday, and police partially closed Causeway Boulevard until 11:50 p.m.

A great tragedy, but also a great reminder to always drive safely. RIP Justin.

Source

Posted by: FloridaDui | Permalink | Email This Post

Jeff Ashton, who was one of three assistant state attorneys prosecuting the Casey Anthony murder trial, will retire. That’s according to WKMG-TV, our sister station in Orlando.

Ashton grew up in Clearwater and graduated from the University of Florida. He has been with the State Attorney’s office for 30 years. He earns about $125,000 a year. He recently adopted two young children.

He was one of the first attorneys to get a murder conviction in a case based on DNA evidence.

No word on whether Ashton decided to retire due to the outcome of the Casey Anthony trial.

Source

Posted by: FloridaDui | Permalink | Email This Post

A man who stepped onto a road was struck and killed this afternoon, the Clearwater Police Department said.

The man, who hasn’t been identified, died at the scene of the 5:30 p.m. crash at Drew Street and Baker Avenue, police said.

The man stepped onto traffic and was struck by a vehicle driving on Drew Street. The driver of the vehicle tried to stop but still struck the pedestrian, police said.

The westbound lanes on Drew Street have been closed as police officers investigate the crash.

I will post updates as they become available.

Source

Posted by: FloridaDui | Permalink | Email This Post

Joshua D. was just trying to make a living.

The 32-year-old didn’t really want to be driving a taxi, but the former bartender and construction worker was having trouble finding a steady job.

So about 2 a.m. on April 12, 2010, Joshua was waiting for his next fare as he drove along Drew Street approaching Belcher Road. With a green light, he entered the intersection.

“Unfortunately, that’s where he crossed the defendant’s path,” prosecutor Della Connolly said in her opening statement Tuesday in the trial of the man accused of killing Joshua while driving drunk.

John Doe, a habitual traffic offender whose license had been yanked by a judge nearly a decade earlier after multiple DUI convictions, is charged with DUI manslaughter, fleeing and eluding, and driving with a revoked license.

Prosecutors said Tuesday that Doe, a 48-year-old transient from Largo, was fleeing a traffic stop when he blew through a red light and slammed into Joshua’s taxi.

When Clearwater police Officer Kyle Resler approached the mangled sedan, Joshua was “gasping for breath,” he testified in court Tuesday.

Joshua, a father of three daughters from New Port Richey, was pronounced dead at Mease Countryside Hospital at 2:35 a.m., less than an hour after Resler had seen Doe drive away from the Copper Mug Bar on Belcher Road in a pickup truck.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: FloridaDui | Permalink | Email This Post

A Pinellas County deputy crossing a Clearwater street was hit by a woman who took off after being told what had happened, according to a Sheriff’s statement.

The deputy, Deputy Randy Atchison, 47, was crossing Court Street on his way to the county courthouse when he was struck around 8:45 Friday morning.

Moments later, a witness approached the vehicle and told the driver that she had struck a deputy and needed to stop. Instead, the driver kept going, according to investigators.

Jane Doe, 32, of Clearwater was later found and arrested for leaving the scene of a crash with injuries, and driving with license supsended.  She was cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

The deputy, a 26-year veteran who was assigned to the Baliff Section at the courthouse, was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

If you’ve too been charged with hit-and-run or a related crime, such as DUI, in Clearwater or a surrounding area, then you’re a perfect candidate to contact a Clearwater criminal defense lawyer at Musca Law for a free legal consultation. Call 727-480-9675 now.

Source

Posted by: FloridaDui | Permalink | Email This Post

A Pasco County man accused of felony DUI manslaughter in a crash that killed his wife is now charged with a second DUI after a crash the night of Palm Harbor’s Parrot Head Party.

Authorities say about 9:30 p.m .Saturday night, John Doe, 59, of Trinity was driving west on Nebraska Avenue toward Alt. U.S. 19 in Palm Harbor when he hit two women.

The women were crossing Nebraska Avenue near Billy Jack’s Burger Shack, which is located in between Alt. 19 and 11th Street.

A relative of one of the victims says the pair was walking to a parking lot on Nebraska Ave when they were hit from behind. “They did not see it coming,” said the relative, who did not want to be identified.

The impact of the crash sent one of the women flying onto the car’s windshield, shattering it. The other woman landed face down on the road.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: FloridaDui | Permalink | Email This Post

Rapper Flo Rida was arrested early Thursday morning in Miami Beach for a DUI and for driving with a suspended license.

“He had a blood alcohol level of .185 which is well over the legal limit,” Deborah Doty, a spokesperson for the Miami Beach Police Department, tells PEOPLE.

According to the police report, his car was swerving. When the rapper was stopped, the officer saw that he had bloodshot, watery eyes, slurred speech and the smell of alcohol on his breath.

The officer gave him instructions on how to walk a straight line on a smooth service that was well-lighted, according to the report. But after the second attempt, the rapper told the officer: “I can’t do this. I don’t think I can walk a straight line. I had a few drinks. Let’s do another test. I live on the other side of the bridge. I can make it home.”

But when he didn’t perform to standards, he was arrested and transported to the Miami Beach Police Department for processing and was later booked into Miami Dade Correctional Department, according to Doty.

If you’ve too been charged with Florida DUI, it’s very important – in regard to many aspects of your life – that you promptly consult with a DUI attorney. To discuss your legal options with a Clearwater, FL DUI lawyer at our firm, call 727-480-9675 now to make an appointment.

Source

Posted by: FloridaDui | Permalink | Email This Post

Clearwater woman has died as a result of injuries she sustained from an accident on Bobby Jones Expressway Saturday afternoon.

According to Deputy Coroner Johnny McDonald, 20 year old Whitney R. died today in the ICU unit of MCG Health. She died as a result of anoxia caused by trauma to the head.

The driver, 37, of Augusta, has been charged with driving under the influence, open container, and his charge of serious injury by motor vehicle will be upgraded to homicide by vehicle. He has been charged previously with DUI, once in 2000 and once in 2002. According to Lt. Scott Gay, he was also charged in 1992 with an additional serious injury by motor vehicle.

The accident happened Saturday, June 4 around 5 p.m. on Bobby Jones Expressway at Doug Bernard Parkway. It was a single vehicle accident. the suspect was driving a Honda.

RIP Whitney

Source

Posted by: FloridaDui | Permalink | Email This Post

Know how frustrating a screwy printer can be? Imagine fixing one on the side of the road.

Clearwater police officers have for years done battle with their cruisers’ ornery old dot-matrix printers, their plastic warped from a decade in the sun.

The Epson printers spit out 600 misaligned traffic tickets a year, leading to a long voiding process that agitates drivers and police. Yet no driver, as far as Lt. Dan Slaughter knows, has gotten off clean because of a bum printer.

An upgrade is on the way for the force’s 170 patrol cruisers. New software and Pentax Pocketjet printers will serve as replacements, costing the city about $150,000.

The current units print carbon-copy quadruplicates: white for city records, blue for the courts, yellow for the driver and pink for the police. Each preprinted form comes with a state-issued number, to keep officers from fixing tickets.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: FloridaDui | Permalink | Email This Post