TILDEN LAW – Orlando Criminal Attorney

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.

Former Altamonte Springs Police officer, Ashley Rowe, faces charges in Orange County of Felony DUI and careless driving stemming from a crash she was involved in on December 15, 2009. 

Rowe, 24, was driving on Lotus Landing near Gateway Drive just before 3 a.m. when she lost control of her 2002 Chevrolet and hit a tree, state troopers said. Rowe suffered minor injuries, but her 28-year-old passenger, Michael Kroohs of Altamonte Springs, was seriously hurt.

According to police reports, blood tests results taken from Rowe as part of hospital medical treatment showed she was intoxicated when she was involved in a crash while off-duty.  In Florida, the legal limit for blood alcohol level is 0.08.  Blood test results showed her blood-alcohol level was 0.15, nearly double the legal limit.

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.

Lake County, Florida attorney Bruce Duncan surrendered Friday to jail authorities after the Florida Highway Patrol charged him with DUI-manslaughter in the traffic death of a retired postal worker after a October 17, 2009 accident.  Duncan, 46, is President of the Leesburg land development company, Family Dynamics.  Prior to his current position, Duncan was previously employed as an Assistant Public Defender in Lake County.

Duncan has been a visible community booster. He is chairman of the executive board of Life Stream Behavioral Center, which provides mental-health and substance-abuse services for Lake and Sumter counties, according to the agency’s Web site.

FHP Sgt. Kim Montes said Duncan – who was returning home from Gainesville after attending the Florida Gator football game against Arkansas – had a half-empty bottle of vodka in an ice chest on the truck seat.  Montes said troopers drew blood from Duncan at the crash scene that measured his blood-alcohol content at 0.16 percent, double the state’s threshold at which a motorist is presumed to be impaired by alcohol.

In an affidavit, FHP traffic-homicide investigators cited Duncan’s blood-alcohol level, his unsteady appearance at the crash scene and statements by motorists who observed his driving pattern before the crash.

Terms of his pretrial release forbid Duncan to drink or drive, said Bill Gladson, division chief for the State Attorney’s Office in Lake County. After his arrest, Duncan was released after posting $50,000 bail.  A court date has not been set.

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.

Winter Springs Police stopped a marked city of Windermere patrol car shortly before 5:00 a.m. Thursday morning for suspicion of DUI.   According to agency reports, Officer Kristie Fink, a reserve officer still in training with the city of Windermere, was spotted by a Winter Springs officer driving a silver Windermere police vehicle on Winter Springs Boulevard and followed it after seeing it turn abruptly into the George Towne neighborhood.  After the stop, Fink smelled of alcohol and admitted she had been drinking but passed a field sobriety test, which did not require a breath test, a report states. 

Windermere supervisor, Cpl. Carl Head, informed Winter Springs police that she had been pounding on the door of another Windermere officer’s home. Head said she appeared to be intoxicated and was driving a patrol car, a report stated.  Fink also explained why she had been pounding on a fellow Windermere officer’s door: He was her boyfriend and they had been arguing, the report states.  

“During my conversation with Fink she stated that she turned into the area because she was afraid that a police officer was behind her and she knew she had been drinking,” the report states. “I asked Ms. Fink how much she had to drink and she replied, ‘I had three beers and I know I should not have been driving.’”  Fink told Winter Springs police officers that “she would do anything if we would let her go. Ms. Fink reported that she could lose her [law-enforcement] certification for this.” 

Windermere Police Chief Dan Saylor said Fink, 33, had been suspended pending the outcome of an administrative investigation. Officially, you don’t drink and drive,” said Saylor, referring to statewide policies for police and municipal agencies which prohibit public employees from driving a publicly owned vehicle after consuming any amount of alcohol. “No matter if it was one hour ago or 10 hours ago.”

By the time Windermere supervisors reached the scene, Fink had passed a field sobriety test.  Head told police, “I can’t believe she passed the exercises, she had been drinking since 9 o’clock last night,” the report states.

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 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.

Our client was arrested in Orange County on a charge of DUI.  The arresting Officer indicated in his report that our client was driving on the wrong side of the roadway.  The officer followed our client and viewed a driving pattern that included weaving and failing to keep her car in her lane.  A traffic stop was conducted and the officer indicated he smelled alcohol on our client’s breath.  Following the field sobriety tests, our client was arrested for DUI and ultimately refused the breath test. 

Our client is in college studying gireign relations politics hoping for a career out of the country in politics with the U.S. government.  It was required that the DUI charge be reduced or dismissed in order for her to both continue her education and then persue her career in international politics.   

After our firm made a demand for evidence, it was discovered that there may be some questionable actions by law enforcement.  Pre trial motions were filed and negotiations began with the State Attorney.  During this process, the State Attorney agreed to reduce the charge to a non DUI offense. 

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.

Last week TILDEN LAW was contacted by a former client who we represented on a DUI charge in Seminole County, Florida that was successfully resolved as a lesser charge of Reckless Driving.  As a condition of his sentence, our client was placed on probation with a special condition of probation that he neither possess nor consume alcohol.  Unfortunately, our client tested positive for alcohol during a meeting with his counselors.  As a result of the positive test result, our client’s probation officer violated his probation and the judge issued a VOP warrant with no bond.

Attorney N. Fleetwood Tilden, contacted the State Attorney’s office and was able to convince the prosecutor not to object to our client being granted a bond.  Mr. Tilden also researched the test used at the counselors office to test our client for alcohol and determined that there are additional environmental factors which may cause a “false positive” result.   Mr. Tilden filed a Motion to Recall Warrant and was ultimately successful in convincing the judge to recall the arrest warrant without ever arresting our client and allow our client to remain out of custody pending his hearing.

If you have been arrested or charged with a VOP in Orlando or are facing criminal prosecution in either Orange County, Seminole County, Florida,  contact the experienced attorneys at TILDEN LAW for a free 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.