Broward Dui Lawyer

A program is under way in Florida that puts ordinary citizens on local roads durring the early morning hours. Their mission, to identify and assist law enforcement in locating the driver accused of “getting the attention” of a voulanteer. Information about the cars description and identification will be relayed to base via cell phone and units will spring into action.

Even harder to beleive is that these “weekend warriors” may decide to follow drivers that they have a hunch about. While in persuit, the MADD observer, will maintain contact with dispatchers from the Sheriff’s office relying on every minute of that 6 hour class they took back at the acadamy. The volunteers will work in pairs using their own cars and cell phones, monitoring the roads between peak DUI periods (around 10 pm to 2 am). The information collected over the course of one half year will be assesed by the local law enforcement agency.

Manatee County Sheriff W. Brad Steube estimates that Florida drunk drivers will kill approximately 1,000 people this year. Although the volunteers have been instructed not to intervene or stop any vehicles suspected of DUI, the program raises some questions. Is it necessary? More importantly, volunteers can easily be described as “state actors” for legal purposes. Many of the individuals seeking admission into the program had previously considered persuing a career in law enforcement at some point in their lives. It remains to be seen how these individuals will view their own policing power. Of course, there is no legal basis for this and the participants will not actually be police officers. They will, however, be considered agents of the State. The following of automobiles and reporting them directly to law enforcement raises some significant constitutional issues. Furthermore, overzealous participants are certain to create traffic hazards while pursuing citizens whom they believe are impaired. “This pilot program is absolutely ludicrous” claimed one local radio personality while covering the subject on a station devoted to Dui Cases. Calls subsequently flooded in from a concerned community.

“This Florida pilot program is the first in the country, so only time will tell”, claims Fort Lauderdale criminal Attorney, Andrew Alitowski. “I think that the qualified Dui Lawyers In that jurisdiction will likely have a field day with cases arising from this ’so-called’ operation.

It may very well be true that many general criminal defense firms may not recognize the numerous Dui Defense issues that will be raised when the MADD arrests start pouring in”. Our firm, William Moore, P.A. is located throughout South Florida and while we can’t speak for Florida’s northern states, it is our opinion that not all South Florida criminal defense firms are qualified to represent clients on Broward County DUI cases. In our area, general practitioners are more inclined to pass DUI cases along to one of the few Broward County DUI defense firms. this is the result of a common understanding among criminal Defense Attorneys that DUI defense cases are more specialized than any other area of practice (including murder). This is not to suggest that a DUI cases are always more complicated that all other offenses but “generally speaking” Driving Under The Influence charges, as a rule, leave an enormous amount of room for Defense Attorney error.

Litigating a DUI requires an intricate understanding of: double jeopardy, electronic surveillance, toxicology, accident reconstruction, administrative process, minimum sentences, engineering, search, seizure and even forfeiture. In fact, it is not all that uncommon to have every one of the aforementioned issues present in a particular case. “With the arrival of the MADD vigilantes and their -Observation Program-, we can expect that list to grow”, commented Alitowski.

About the Author:

DUI defense is a highly complex area of criminal law. To learn of how these complexities may be used to strengthen a criminal dui charge, contact Fort Lauderdale DUI Defense Lawyer William Moore by visiting either of the two sites below: Fort Lauderdale Dui Attorney or Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Madd Volunteers in Florida Launch Traffic Observation Program