How to Beat a Fleeing and Eluding Charge in Orlando

Disobeying a law enforcement officer can lead to serious charges. One such potential charge, fleeing and eluding a police officer, is a felony in Florida.

A criminal traffic defense attorney in Orlando can help you avoid the penalties you might face upon conviction. Contact The Ticket Fighter Law Firm to discuss your fleeing-and-eluding charges and the options you have for defending yourself.

Immediate Evidence Preservation Strategies Following an Arrest

Florida law includes two offenses that can lead to Orange County fleeing-and-eluding charges.

First, the law prohibits drivers from willfully refusing or failing to stop once they know that a law enforcement officer has ordered them to do so. Likewise, drivers cannot willfully flee in an attempt to elude the officer after having stopped to comply with their order.

To prove this offense, prosecutors need evidence of the following:

The driver knew that an officer had ordered them to stop
The driver willfully disobeyed the officer’s order by refusing to stop or fleeing once stopped

Second, the law prohibits anyone from willfully fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer in an authorized and marked law enforcement vehicle with its siren and lights activated. Notably, this charge doesn’t require the accused to be in a vehicle — it could happen if the accused were driving, walking, or riding a bicycle.

Substantiating this offense requires the following evidence:

The suspect willfully fled or attempted to elude an officer
The officer was in a marked police car with the siren and lights activated

Prosecutors must prove each element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. This means that a jury can only convict if it has no reasonable questions about your guilt after viewing the prosecution’s evidence.

How can you beat a fleeing-and-eluding charge in Florida? Faced with accusations of this offense, your Orlando fleeing-and-eluding attorney can present several legal defenses. However, the first step is to gather evidence that either disproves an element of the offense or raises an affirmative defense.

Countering the Prosecution’s Evidence and Gathering Defensive Evidence

The prosecution’s evidence will likely come from two sources.

For one, the police department may have dash cam or body camera footage of the encounter. These videos may support your side of the case by showing that the officer didn’t activate the police car’s lights and siren. They may also show that you were too far away from the vehicle to see the lights and sirens, or that you did, in fact, stop when the police car approached you.

The prosecution is supposed to supply this information to your Orlando fleeing-and-eluding attorney during the discovery process. However, your lawyer can request the videos if the prosecution doesn’t turn them over.

Additionally, prosecutors may rely on the officer’s testimony about what happened. Police officers are trained to testify in criminal cases. The officer will likely provide exactly the testimony the prosecutors need for a conviction.

As part of your fleeing-to-elude criminal defense, your attorney will present evidence to support your side of the story. The evidence your lawyer will gather may include:

Eyewitness statements from passengers or bystanders who saw the encounter happen
Traffic camera videos showing what occurred

Your lawyer may also use your testimony, although you have the right to refrain from testifying in your trial, and your failure to testify can’t be held against you.

This evidence will help your attorney challenge the prosecution’s case. They can either present it during your portion of the case or use it to cross-examine witnesses during the prosecution’s arguments.

For example, if the dash cam video contradicts the police officer’s testimony, your lawyer can use it during cross-examination to build your defense against fleeing-and-eluding charges in Orlando.

Deconstructing the Prosecution’s “Willful Intent” Requirement

A key element of the prosecution’s case is proving that you willfully refused to stop or willfully fled the police. Under Florida law, criminal acts are willful when the suspect intends to perform the prohibited action. Unintentional, accidental, or acts outside one’s control aren’t willful.

In most criminal prosecutions, intent is inferred from the accused’s actions. That’s because people rarely declare their intent before committing aggravated fleeing or other criminal offenses.

One factor that might persuade a jury that you acted willfully is the time and distance you traveled while the police attempted to stop you. The traffic and weather conditions at the time of the stop might also affect whether a jury can infer willfulness.

Driving for a minute or two with the police following you might be reasonable. If the road was crowded and you couldn’t pull over to the shoulder, you might reasonably drive for a few minutes before stopping.

Similarly, if the weather was bad and visibility was poor, you might drive for several minutes before noticing the police car behind you. An additional couple of minutes might pass as you look for a safe place to pull over.

Other excuses for refusing to stop might seem reasonable, but are inadequate to disprove willfulness. For example, if you’re uninsured or have outstanding warrants, you might have a good reason for not stopping. In this instance, however, your intention is to elude the police, which means you likely violated the law.

Countering Evidence of Willfulness

Having a reasonable excuse for failing to stop may give your lawyer an opening to build a fleeing-and-eluding defense in Orlando. Here are some possible explanations you can give to counter the prosecution’s evidence of willfulness:

You were inattentive or distracted and failed to see the police vehicle
You were suffering from a health condition or other emergency that made it impossible to stop
Your vehicle had a mechanical failure that prevented you from seeing the officer’s vehicle or pulling over
Traffic or weather conditions made it unsafe to stop

For example, your rearview mirror might have been broken, preventing you from seeing the police vehicle behind you. While you may be cited for an equipment violation for driving without a rearview mirror, you may escape a conviction for fleeing or eluding.

Auditing Law Enforcement Protocol and Vehicle Markings

All offenses involving fleeing, eluding, or attempting to elude a police officer require some effort by the officer to inform you to stop. One offense requires an officer’s order to stop, while the other requires the law enforcement agency to “prominently display” jurisdictional markings on its vehicles. These limitations on police power are significant.

If an unmarked vehicle attempts to stop you, the officer must order you to stop with a gesture or a verbal command. An officer in an unmarked vehicle can’t use lights and sirens alone.

Conversely, an officer in a marked vehicle may use any method to get your attention, including a verbal order, a gesture, or lights and sirens. However, the markings must be “prominent.”

These limitations give your defense attorney grounds to challenge your charges for felony fleeing and eluding in Florida. They can use statements from you and other witnesses to determine the following:

Did the officer have the vehicle’s sirens activated?
Were the vehicle’s lights flashing?
Did the officer command you to pull over verbally?
If the officer gestured, was the gesture visible, directed at you, and unambiguous?
Was the vehicle marked and, if so, were the markings prominent?

Since the statute requires an order to stop or a vehicle marked with agency insignia, the prosecution must prove these elements beyond a reasonable doubt. An attorney who knows how to fight a fleeing-and-eluding charge will raise questions about the officer’s actions and whether they were driving a marked patrol car.

Dismantling Aggravating Factors: Speed, Recklessness, and Injury Claims

The fleeing-and-eluding penalties in Florida increase when the suspect travels at high speed or drives recklessly during the alleged offense.

Although basic fleeing and eluding is a third-degree felony, adding speeding or recklessness enhances the offense to a second-degree felony. The offense becomes a first-degree felony if the driver causes serious bodily injury or death to any person, including the officer pursuing them.

Once again, the prosecution bears the burden of proving these aggravating circumstances. Even if they have evidence that you exceeded the speed limit, the statute requires that the accused be traveling at “high speed.” A few miles per hour over the speed limit may not qualify as an aggravating factor.

Likewise, the statute defines “recklessness” as a wanton disregard for the safety of people or property. This means that the prosecution must point to specific acts, such as weaving in traffic or running red lights. If you didn’t do anything risky, prosecutors can’t prove that you acted recklessly.

Even if the prosecution can point to some dangerous maneuvers, “recklessness” means that you knew about the risk your alleged recklessness posed and consciously disregarded it. An attorney who knows how to beat a fleeing-and-eluding charge can point out the deficiencies in the prosecution’s case for aggravating factors.

Pre-Trial Motion Practice in Central Florida Courts

Your attorney might file two motions in your defense. They might move to dismiss your charges if the initial stop was unlawful. Officers must have probable cause to order you to stop. If they didn’t observe or have evidence to suspect a legal violation, the initial order may have been unlawful.

Moreover, your lawyer might move to suppress any alleged confession. The Constitution protects your right to legal representation after any arrest. If officers questioned you after you asked for a lawyer, the resulting discussion might be inadmissible.

Damage Control: Mitigation and Negotiating Charge Reductions in an Eluding Case

A felony conviction for fleeing and eluding a law enforcement officer can result in a lengthy prison sentence and other penalties, including mandatory driver’s license revocation for one to five years.

A basic fleeing-or-eluding charge is a third-degree felony. The penalties for this offense can include up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.

Speeding in willful or wanton disregard for others can elevate a fleeing-or-eluding case to a second-degree felony. Similarly, willfully fleeing the scene of a crash and damaging property during the flight is a second-degree felony.

The penalties for this offense can include a prison sentence of up to 15 years and a fine of up to $10,000. The mandatory minimum sentence is three years in prison.

If you cause serious bodily injury or death during the act, prosecutors can charge you with aggravated fleeing or eluding. This is a first-degree felony punishable by a prison sentence of up to 30 years and a fine of up to $10,000. Again, the mandatory minimum term is three years.

Knowing how to beat a fleeing-and-eluding charge also means your lawyer will know how to negotiate a plea deal for a less serious offense.

Offenses like reckless driving, careless driving, and aggressive careless driving are either moving violations or misdemeanors. They may apply when the prosecution has marginal evidence of your willful intent to flee or elude. As such, you could face punishment for risky driving but not eluding the police.

Contact The Ticket Fighter Law Firm to Discuss Your Case With an Experienced Attorney

Reaching out to a reputable fleeing-and-eluding law firm after your arrest could spare you serious felony criminal penalties. For over 20 years, The Ticket Fighter Law Firm has protected the rights of people facing a range of traffic offenses, including fleeing-and-eluding charges in Florida. Our firm focuses on criminal traffic offenses, so we understand the legal defenses that can overcome these accusations.