State faces $50 million civil rights lawsuit over drunk driving cases – Orlando Sentinel
The suit, filed in Orlando federal court, names the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and its executive director, Terry L. Rhodes.
It was filed on behalf of Alfredo Crespin, a 58-year-old Winter Garden man who was arrested for drunk driving in November, but if a judge gives it class-action status, it would cover an estimated 240,000 people.
That’s everyone whose license was suspended by the department in the past four years because of a drunk driving arrest.
The suit was filed by Orlando attorneys David Oliver and Stuart Hyman.
They are challenging the way the department treats drunk driving suspects, specifically what happens to their licenses once they’re arrested.
This is what happens now: The officer who makes the arrest keeps the suspect’s license, and the department immediately suspends his driving privileges.
The suspension is automatic. No judge reviews whether the officer had probable cause to make the arrest.
That, according to the suit, violates a suspect’s right to due process under the law, something guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“If a police officer believes they have probable cause to search your house, they can’t go search your house,” Oliver said. “They have to go to a judge, and a judge has to review an affidavit and make a probable cause determination for a search to take place. This is more egregious.”
The state should have a magistrate or judicially-appointed hearing officer conduct a probable cause hearing, he said.
“These citizens constitute one of the least likely group of persons to engender any public sympathy,” the suit acknowledges. “But suspected and actual offenders of Florida’s DUI laws are entitled to the same constitutional protections of every Florida citizen.”
The suit was filed late this afternoon. The department had no immediate response.
Dennis “the fat guy” Salvagio, a long-time DUI defense attorney in the Orlando area, predicted the department would argue that driving is a privilege – not a right.
He criticized the agency, saying it “treats itself as a separate entity, not answerable to the courts … I believe that that’s wrong. They should be answerable just like every other citizen in the state.”
Salvagio got his nickname “the fat guy” and became a local celebrity because he ran laps during Orlando Magic games around the Orlando Arena floor.
Donna Goerner, an Altamonte Springs attorney, prosecuted dozens of drunk driving suspects as an assistant state attorney in Seminole County and has represented dozens of others as a criminal defense attorney.
The lawsuit, she said, appears to have merit.
“I know it’ll be a big hill to climb, … but I think they’ve got a great argument and a great position,” she said.
She represented a drunk driving suspect in Lake County who refused to submit to a breath test when he was arrested, so the department suspended his license for 12 months, what it does to everyone who refuses to take the test.
He was acquitted at trial, she said.
“He thought if he won, he’d get his license back,” she said. “The fact that he was found not guilty of DUI didn’t have any effect on the fact that he lost his license for a year.”
‘Kangaroo court’
The department allows suspects to challenge their suspensions in front of a hearing officer, who is a department employee, but the suit describes them as biased and unqualified.
They must render a decision about an action taken by the department – their employer – and often in a case in which the arrest was made by a trooper with the Florida Highway Patrol, a division of the department.
Ninety-five percent of the time, a hearing officer finds in favor of the officer, according to the suit.
It describes the process as a “kangaroo court.”
Drunk driving suspects are allowed to apply for temporary “business purpose” or “employment purpose” licenses, which restrict when and where they can drive.
The suit accuses the department of grossing as much as $60 million a year from drunk driving suspects who scramble to get those special licenses and who must pay other costs because of license suspensions.
There were 61,852 DUI arrests in Florida last year, according to the suit.
How We Can Help
If you, a friend or a family member find themselves in a situation such as this, please call the Law Office of Scott A. Ferris, P.A. at 305 670-3330 right away. Scott A. Ferris, Esq. is a licensed civil law attorney who has been practicing law since 1987. He is available whenever you need him to pursue your rights. Please learn about our firm at www.FerrisLawFirm.com.
Republished by the Law Office of Scott A. Ferris, P.A.