In Florida, drunk driving offenses are prosecuted very aggressively. First offenses carry significant penalties, and they increase significantly for subsequent charges. Often, Floridians assume that they have no defense if they are charged with drunk driving. But, even if you blew higher than a .08, there is still a possible defense strategy.

A DUI defense attorney would argue whether the arresting officer had a right to stop your vehicle and make an arrest, as well as require proof that the Breathalyzer test was accurate. Last week in Georgia, charges were dropped against a man who was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after it was revealed that the arresting officer has falsified evidence on more than one occasion.

The man was arrested by a Richmond County, Georgia, deputy who allegedly saw the vehicle weaving on the road. The driver faced DUI charges until recently, when the deputy resigned after admitting that he altered results of at least two DUI breath tests.

His admission has called into question the authority the rest of his arrests. The deputy worked on the DUI task force since March 2009, arresting between 250 and 400 people during this time, according to news reports.

Sixty-two of these are DUI cases that are still pending. It has not yet been announced what will happen with these cases, since the arresting officer's reports may not be valid. The deputy has said that he does not know which DUI test results he altered.

This complicates things not only for those 62 people, but also apparently for the state to prosecute the deputy. It is unclear whether the deputy will be charged for falsifying evidence because the district attorney said that it is difficult to prove which cases contain falsified records.

The deputy has resigned since his admission, and the driver in this case was sentenced to five years of probation for driving with a suspended license.

Source: The Augusta Chronicle, "DUI dropped after deputy falsified documents," Kyle Martin, Feb. 10, 2012