 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State4/10/2002
A Writ of Certiorari to the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Luis M. Garcia, Judge.
The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles ("Department") petitions this court for certiorari review of a circuit court order which quashed the Department's suspension of Anthony Bello's driver's license. We grant the petition and quash the order of the circuit court for the reasons which follow.
On August 20, 1999, Trooper Diaz of the Florida Highway Patrol responded to the scene of a two-vehicle automobile accident in Monroe County. Upon his arrival at the scene, the trooper observed a black Ford with four female occupants and a white Chevrolet occupied solely by Bello. The trooper determined that the Chevrolet had turned in front of the Ford causing the Ford to crash into the right side of the Chevrolet.
When the trooper made contact with Bello, he noticed that Bello's eyes were bloodshot, speech was slurred, and his breath smelled of alcohol After citing Bello for failure to yield at an intersection, the officer told Bello that the accident investigation had been completed and that the investigation had moved on to a criminal investigation. Bello was immediately given his Miranda rights.
After the reading of his rights, Bello admitted to driving the Chevrolet north on U.S. 1 en route to a Winn-Dixie store. Bello then refused to answer any further questions by the trooper. The trooper subsequently asked Bello to perform field sobriety exercises which Bello refused. Bello was arrested for driving under the influence ("DUI").
Bello was taken to a substation of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office where he read Florida's Implied Consent Warnings. Bello refused to take a breath test. Trooper Diaz cited Bello for DUI with property damage. Bello's driving privilege was then suspended for his refusal to take a breath test pursuant to section 322.2615, Florida Statutes (1999).
Bello timely filed a request with the Department for an administrative formal review of his driver's license suspension pursuant to section 322.2615(1)(b)(3). The hearing officer determined that there was sufficient evidence to sustain the suspension, and an order was issued suspending Bello's driving license for one year. Bello then filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the circuit court. The circuit court, relying on State v. Marshall, 695 So. 2d 686 (Fla. 1997) , reversed the order of suspension finding that "the identification of the driver was determined during the accident investigation." The Department filed the instant petition for certiorari review of the circuit court's order.
We grant certiorari and quash the order under review, because the circuit court departed from the essential requirements of law when it reweighed the evidence and ignored evidence that supported the findings of the hearing officer. See Metropolitan Dade County v. Dusseau, 725 So. 2d 1169, 1171 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998), approved in part & quashed in part on other grounds, Dusseau v. Metropolitan Dade County Bd. of County Comms'rs, 794 So. 2d 1270, 1275 (Fla. 2001). The record evidence at Bello's formal review established that Trooper Diaz had completed the accident investigation and made it clear to Bello that a criminal investigation was beginning. Bello was then read his Miranda rights. After his rights were read to him, Bello admitted to operating the Chevrolet. Specifically, the following questions were asked by the trooper and answered by Bello:
Q: Were you operating a vehicle?
A: Yes
Q: Where were you going?
A: Winn Dixie
Q: What street or highway were you on?
A: U.S. 1
Page 1 2 Florida DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|