TILDEN LAW – Orlando Criminal Attorney

Pinellas County Sheriff’s office arrested a jail employee on allegations of DUI yesterday.  According to authorities, Diane Ferron, an assistant inmate records supervisor, was leaving work Wednesday when she lost control of her vehicle and plowed through the jail’s exterior chain-link fence.  Ferron, a civilian employee at the Pinellas County jail was charged with driving under the influence after reportedly crashing through a jail fence.

When deputies responded, they noted that Ferron seemed to be impaired. She reportedly failed a field sobriety test, but deputies ruled out alcohol. Ferron said she had taken prescription medication.

Ferron was charged with DUI and DUI with property damage. Since both charges are misdemeanors, the sheriff’s office reports that Ferron will be allowed to return to work pending an internal inquiry.

Florida penalties for a DUI with accident are considered more severe than an ordinary DUI charge.  When a crash is involved, the minimum charge is a 1^st degree misdemeanor which means the potential jail sentence is 1 year instead of 6 months.

If you have been arrested or charged with a Orange County DUI or other criminal offense in Orlando and are facing criminal prosecution in either Orange County, Seminole County, Florida, contact the attorneys at Tilden Law for an initial and confidential consultation, 407-599-1234.

Sharon Wolfe faces charges of DUI and Leaving the Scene of a Crash causing damage (hit and run) stemming from a traffic incident this past Sunday, April 4, 2010.  Sharon Wolfe is the wife of Tavares Mayor, Robert Wolfe.  According to witness statements, Wolfe was driving a Chevrolet Camaro when her car veered off the roadway and struck a speed limit sign before she drove off from the scene.  Wolfe’s DUI charge is considered a higher level offense due to the accident.

Wolfe was later found by Tavares police asleep in the driver’s seat of the car parked in a handicapped space at Florida Hospital Waterman just before 5 a.m.   Police also found a bottle of Kahlua and Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueurs and several pills of the prescription sleep aid Ambien in the car. According to police reports, Wolfe had a blood-alcohol level between .072 and .073 percent. The legal limit in Florida is .08. However, police charged her with DUI because she told officers she drank the alcohol and took the medication.  Because her blood alcohol level was under Florida’s legal limit, Wolfe’s driver’s license will not be administratively suspended.

Florida law allows for DUI charges to be prosecuted by way of the “impairment theory” due to alcohol amounts reacting differently in individuals.  Wolfe was booked into the Lake County Jail and later released after posting $750 bail.

Orange County law enforcement agencies teamed up for a multiagency DUI checkpoint in Ocoee Friday night.  The checkpoint accounted for nearly 20 Orange County DUI arrests with another 10 arrests on a variety of other criminal charges.  The DUI checkpoint was conducted from 9 p.m. Friday to 4 a.m. Saturday, March 13^th.

One motorist attempted to avoid the DUI checkpoint by accelerating to what officers described as a high rate of speed in an attempt to enter Florida’s Turnpike.  The driver was unsuccessful and ended up crashing his vehicle.  After a short foot chase, the driver was arrested and was later found to have almost three pounds of marijuana in his vehicle. 

About 150 personnel were on duty for the event, with volunteers from Mother’s Against Drunk Driving “MADD” and the Ocoee police union also providing support.

If you have been arrested or charged with a Orange County DUI or other criminal offense in Orlando and are facing criminal prosecution in either Orange County, Seminole County, Florida, contact the attorneys at Tilden Law for an initial and confidential consultation, 407-599-1234.

Marion County Deputies pulled over a driver Sunday, March 7, 2010 after they witnessed the driver of the vehicle speeding and weaving in and out of traffic with his son in the car.  Deputies report that Anthony Earl Siple’s Honda Sunday night on suspicion of drunken driving.  Marion County deputies report that Mr. Siple  and followed him at 70 mph in a 55 mph zone for more than a mile with her lights on before he pulled over.

In the vehicle with Mr. Siple was his 12 year old son in the passenger seat.  According to deputies, Siple had a smell of alcohol and red and watery eyes.  Siple failed the walk and turn, one-leg stand and finger to the nose field sobriety tests, the deputy said. During the alphabet test, the man stopped at the letter “H.” 

Siple was arrested on charges of driving under the influence and child abuse and neglect and was taken to the Marion County Jail, where a breathalyzer revealed Siple’s blood-alcohol content to be .292, deputies said. The boy was released to a relative could not finish, the deputy said.

If you have been arrested or charged with a DUI or other criminal offense in Orlando and are facing criminal prosecution in either Orange County, Seminole County, Florida, contact the attorneys at Tilden Law for an initial and confidential consultation, 407-599-1234.

University of Central Florida police arrested a driver accused of being intoxicated on campus Sunday.  UCF police allege the driver had more than 70 pills of controlled muscle relaxants in his car.

UCF police arrested Thomas Clyde Mastin Jr., 34, of Orlando, on allegation s of DUI.  According to UCF police, Mastin  admitted to the officer that he  had oxycodone, carisoprodol and alprazolam — three powerful muscle relaxants — in his car because he had “2 dislocated discs in his back,” the arrest report shows.  The police reports also shows Mastin explained he was on his way home after having “just a little bit” of alcohol at his mother’s bar in Casselberry where he works as a bartender.

Police found multiple prescription bottles for the medications under his name littering the vehicle. They also recovered a bottle of a prescription in another person’s name. All the pills had been mixed and divided among the different prescription bottles, police said.

Mastin  faces multiple counts of possession of carisoprodol, possession of controlled substance in unapproved manner, sale or delivery of oxycodone, possession of alprazolam with intent to sell, unlawful possession of a prescription, trafficking in oxycodone and driving under the influence and is being held at the Orange County Jail on a bond of $57,200.

Reports show police found his car parked in a grassy area on the side of Gemini Boulevard at about 6:21 a.m. Mastin was sleeping in the driver’s seat and appeared intoxicated, according to the arresting officer’s report.

Mastin failed the sobriety tests; however, a breath test measured his blood-alcohol content at 0.000. He told police he had a little alcohol before he left his mother’s bar, but also said he had taken some oxycodone before he started working.

If you have been arrested or charged with a DUI or other criminal offense in Orlando and are facing criminal prosecution in either Orange County, Seminole County, Florida, contact the attorneys at Tilden Law for an initial and confidential consultation, 407-599-1234.

Beginning Friday, March 12, 2010, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Orange County Community Safety Task Force, the Ocoee Police Department will be hosting a DUI checkpoint that night, from 9 p.m. Friday to 4 a.m. Saturday, March 13^th.

Information released by law enforcement agencies indicate that eastbound and westbound drivers will be stopped near 11953 West Colonial Drive. Ocoee and Orlando police, deputies and Florida Highway Patrol troopers will stop drivers in an attempt to remove suspected DUI offenders and other criminal traffic violators from the roadways.

Anyone stopped by police will be subject to a driver license check and possible arrest for suspended license offenses and outstanding warrants.

If you have been arrested or charged with a Orange County DUI or other criminal offense in Orlando and are facing criminal prosecution in either Orange County, Seminole County, Florida, contact the attorneys at Tilden Law for an initial and confidential consultation, 407-599-1234.

TILDEN LAW was recently hired by a client charged in Seminole County, Florida with a 4th offense DUI.  Additionally, our client was facing charges of refusal to submit to a breath test and driving on a suspended license. Our

According to the police report, our client was driving his vehicle recklessly, failing to maintain a single lane and entering a intersection at a red light causing oncoming cars to swerve to keep from hitting our client’s car.   Our client was facing a lifetime driver license revocation if convicted along with mandatory jail.  Prior to trial, our office filed pre trial motions and conducted depositions.  During the depositions, plea negotiations were conducted with the State Attorney.  We were able to present several mitigating factors to the State including independent counseling.   We were able to resolve our client’s case at the trial date with a dismissal of the Felony DUI and a  plea to the lesser included misdemeanor reckless  driving.  As a result, our client was not sentenced to jail/prison and avoided the DUI lifetime driver license revocation.

If you have been arrested or charged with a DUI in Orlando and are facing criminal prosecution in either Orange County, Seminole County, Florida, or if you have had your driver license suspended for a DUI, contact the attorneys at Tilden Law for an initial and confidential consultation, 407-599-1234.

Being arrested for a DUI in Florida can be a frightening event.  Facing both from criminal prosecution and a driver’s license suspension, people arrested and accused of DUI often don’t know where to turn.  TILDEN LAW has over 15 years of experience in successfully handled thousands of cases in both Seminole County and Orange County Courts.  Here is an example of our success.

Our client was arrested in Seminole County on a charge of DUI causing accident and injury.  The arresting trooper arrived at the scene of the crash after the paramedics had arrived and began treating both our client and others involved in the accident.  During his DUI investigation, the trooper directed our client to submit to a blood draw to test her blood alcohol level.  Through the discovery process, it was determined that the trooper’s actions throughout the investigation were improper.  Attorney N. Fleetwood Tilden, filed multiple motions to suppress state’s evidence which were granted by the trial court.  The end result was the DUI was dismissed.

If you have been arrested or charged with a DUI in Orlando and are facing criminal prosecution in either Orange County, Seminole County, Florida, or if you have had your driver license suspended for a DUI, contact the attorneys at Tilden Law for an initial and confidential consultation, 407-599-1234.

TILDEN LAW is a Central Florida criminal defense firm that specializes in successfully defending clients charged with DUI in both Orange County and Seminole County courts.  We were fortunate enough to recently represent a client who had been arrested in Seminole County and accused of DUI.  Our client was initially stopped for failing to maintain her lane of travel.  The officer noted a smell of alcohol from our client’s breath and two passengers inside the vehicle who appeared intoxicated.   Our client agreed to participate in Field Sobriety Tests at the roadside which indicated impairment according to the officer’s report.  Our client was arrested and taken to the Seminole County Jail where she refused the breath test. 

As a result of his training and experience, Attorney, N. Fleetwood Tilden, recognized several potential issues relating to both the vehicle stop and arrest of our client.  Mr. Tilden filed several pre-trial motions based on these legal issues and began extensive negotiations with the Office of the State Attorney.  As a result, the prosecutor agreed to dismiss the pending DUI charge and re-file as a lesser charge.    

If you have been arrested or charged with a DUI in Orlando and are facing criminal prosecution in either Orange County, Seminole County, Florida, or if you have had your driver license suspended for a DUI, contact the attorneys at Tilden Law for an initial and confidential consultation, 407-599-1234.

A few weeks ago, Tilden Law was contacted by a client who had been arrested in Orlando on a DUI charge that resulted in her driver license being suspended for refusing to take the breath test.  According to the police report, our client was accused of weaving within her own lane of travel and with having a tail light out.  Once stopped by police, the officer noted a smell of alcohol and requested she participate in Field Sobriety Exercises.  As a result of her performance, the officer arrested and charged our client with DUI.  At the breath testing facility, our client refused to provide a breath sample after being read implied consent.  The result of her refusal was a one (1) year driver license suspension. 

Attorney, N. Fleetwood Tilden, filed for a Formal Review Hearing on behalf of our client to challenge the suspension of her license.  At the hearing, Mr. Tilden cross examined the arresting officer and determined that several errors were made in both the preparation and filing of the documents by the officer.  Mr. Tilden motioned the hearing officer to invalidate the suspension of our client’s driver license which was granted.  As a result, our client now has her full driver license reinstated without cost or penalty.

If you have been arrested or charged with a DUI in Orlando and are facing criminal prosecution in either Orange County, Seminole County, Florida, or if you have had your driver license suspended for a DUI, contact the attorneys at Tilden Law for an initial and confidential consultation, 407-599-1234.