FLEEING OR ATTEMPTING TO ELUDE THE POLICE

by LNL Legal, LLC  June 5, 2014

In Florida, the crime of fleeing the police when ordered to stop is a serious offense with several interesting factors which elevate the status of this offense beyond the “pedestrian” so to speak.

The government must prove that the accused person knew that they were being ordered to stop.  At first this seems like an impossible task but in practice, prosecutors can rely on circumstantial evidence like length of time of the pursuit, whether lights and sirens were going, whether evasive action was taken in response to the pursuit and virtually any other evidence they can present in support of this element of the crime.

In practice, the police will almost always use the old standby line before asking questions designed to elicit incriminating statements….”Things will go much easier for you if you cooperate” or “I can’t help you unless you level with me”.  Not sure why people under arrest don’t listen to the Miranda warnings and believe that        ANYTHING THEY SAY CAN AND WILL BE USED AGAINST THEM, including an admission that they knew the police were there and ordered them to stop.

Any charge of fleeing and eluding is a felony and there are no withholds of adjudication allowed.  This means that if a defendant pleads to the charge or is found guilty after a trial, he/she will be a convicted felon.  No wiggle room to craft creative solutions.

If there is an accident, injury or the person is found to be driving at a high rate of speed or recklessly the maximum penalties for the offense jump from 5 years in prison to 15.

If the injury is serious, the maximum jumps to 30 years and there is a minimum prison sentence of 3 years which cannot be shortened by good behavior (gain time).

If the police are injured during the chase, that counts as an injury for the purpose of the punishment enhancers.

Anyone convicted of the crime will lose their license for a minimum of a year, and up to 5 years and the car they were driving can be seized.

The penalties for this charge were amended in recent years in response to what this author believes is public awareness of the dangers of high speed pursuits by the police.

There is a genuine question as to the merits of allowing the police to engage in high speed chases at the expense of public safety for the sake of prosecution of low level traffic offenses.   On the other hand, will we have more people eluding the police of they know there will not be a chase?

Enacting tough laws punishing deviant behavior is only an effective deterrent if there is public awareness that the laws exist.  Despite the debate on high speed pursuits and the existence of a very tough criminal statute, when I hear the sirens of police, I get nervous that something bad is about to happen.

Cases where an innocent person is injured because of an accident caused as the result  of a police chase have universl jury appeal and as long as there is insurance coverage or a collectable defendant, are usually successful cases monetarily.

At our  law firm, we have represented clients on all sides of the issue, from the defendant charged with the crime to the person or policeman injured in the accident.  If you or someone you know needs a lawyer for any offense or accident, call us to discuss the matter free of charge.

The text of the statute appears below.

316.1935 Fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer; aggravated fleeing or eluding.—

(1) It is unlawful for the operator of any vehicle, having knowledge that he or she has been ordered to stop such vehicle by a duly authorized law enforcement officer, willfully to refuse or fail to stop the vehicle in compliance with such order or, having stopped in knowing compliance with such order, willfully to flee in an attempt to elude the officer, and a person who violates this subsection commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

(2) Any person who willfully flees or attempts to elude a law enforcement officer in an authorized law enforcement patrol vehicle, with agency insignia and other jurisdictional markings prominently displayed on the vehicle, with siren and lights activated commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

(3) Any person who willfully flees or attempts to elude a law enforcement officer in an authorized law enforcement patrol vehicle, with agency insignia and other jurisdictional markings prominently displayed on the vehicle, with siren and lights activated, and during the course of the fleeing or attempted eluding:

(a) Drives at high speed, or in any manner which demonstrates a wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property, commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

(b) Drives at high speed, or in any manner which demonstrates a wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property, and causes serious bodily injury or death to another person, including any law enforcement officer involved in pursuing or otherwise attempting to effect a stop of the person’s vehicle, commits a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court shall sentence any person convicted of committing the offense described in this paragraph to a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 years imprisonment. Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a court from imposing a greater sentence of incarceration as authorized by law.

(4) Any person who, in the course of unlawfully leaving or attempting to leave the scene of a crash in violation of s. 316.027 or s. 316.061, having knowledge of an order to stop by a duly authorized law enforcement officer, willfully refuses or fails to stop in compliance with such an order, or having stopped in knowing compliance with such order, willfully flees in an attempt to elude such officer and, as a result of such fleeing or eluding:

(a) Causes injury to another person or causes damage to any property belonging to another person, commits aggravated fleeing or eluding, a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

(b) Causes serious bodily injury or death to another person, including any law enforcement officer involved in pursuing or otherwise attempting to effect a stop of the person’s vehicle, commits aggravated fleeing or eluding with serious bodily injury or death, a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

The felony of aggravated fleeing or eluding and the felony of aggravated fleeing or eluding with serious bodily injury or death constitute separate offenses for which a person may be charged, in addition to the offenses under ss. 316.027 and 316.061, relating to unlawfully leaving the scene of a crash, which the person had been in the course of committing or attempting to commit when the order to stop was given. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court shall sentence any person convicted of committing aggravated fleeing or eluding with serious bodily injury or death to a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 years imprisonment. Nothing in this subsection shall prevent a court from imposing a greater sentence of incarceration as authorized by law.

(5) The court shall revoke, for a period not less than 1 year nor exceeding 5 years, the driver’s license of any operator of a motor vehicle convicted of a violation of subsection (1), subsection (2), subsection (3), or subsection (4).

(6) Notwithstanding s. 948.01, no court may suspend, defer, or withhold adjudication of guilt or imposition of sentence for any violation of this section. A person convicted and sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of incarceration under paragraph (3)(b) or paragraph (4)(b) is not eligible for statutory gain-time under s. 944.275 or any form of discretionary early release, other than pardon or executive clemency or conditional medical release under s. 947.149, prior to serving the mandatory minimum sentence.

(7) Any motor vehicle involved in a violation of this section is deemed to be contraband, which may be seized by a law enforcement agency and is subject to forfeiture pursuant to ss. 932.701-932.704. Any vehicle not required to be titled under the laws of this state is presumed to be the property of the person in possession of the vehicle.