When a person in Florida is involved in an accident in which another driver is suspected to have been under the influence of alcohol, it is reasonable to expect that the judicial and law enforcement systems could step in to help. That is likely what some people riding in a van hit by a woman they say was drunk thought should have happened for them but did not.
The incident occurred in the summer of 2016 and just recently it was announced that the woman accused of driving drunk will not face any criminal charges for impaired driving or related to two crashes she was involved in. Essential to the ruling that no charges will be filed is the lack of concrete evidence that one might consider standard to obtain after a crash. This includes the lack of field sobriety test results, breath or blood test results and police camera footage.
The lack of this evidence is because no tests were administered and no video footage was ever captured. The alleged drunk driver was an assistant state attorney in Sarasota. The state attorney fired her after the incident. The first of two crashes involved a minivan with multiple people inside, some of whom allege her behavior indicated she was drunk. It is not known if any civil charges have been or will be filed in the case.
People who have been injured in a drunk driving accident might find working with a lawyer a good way of seeking justice and compensation.
Source: Herald-Tribune, “Ex-prosecutor won’t be charged in late-night crashes,” Carlos Munoz, January 4, 2018