Posted on 12/07/2009 3:10:51 PM PST by GOPsterinMA
A bid by Florida cops to probe whether Tiger Woods mixed a powerful potion of painkillers, sleeping pills and booze before he crashed near his home was rejected by a Sunshine State district attorney, according to a newly disclosed document.
The report states Woods had access to the sleeping medicine Ambien and the painkiller Vicodin.
The state attorney for Orlando, Fla., brushed off a subpoena request by the Florida Highway Patrol to obtain blood tests from Health Central Hospital, where Woods was taken after the Nov. 27 crash, according to the subpoena request obtained by the Herald.
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonherald.com ...
Yep, like that!
The police report is available online. Google is your friend. Tiger was asleep, next to his car. His wife told police at the scene that he had been drinking earlier in the day. That is reasonable cause to effect arrest and to compel a blood test under Florida's statutory exception known as "implied consent".
"Why did the FHP have to try to subpoena blood evidence?"
Good question. If they had interviewed Tiger at the scene, or if they would have arrested him at the scene, they wouldn't have needed a warrant to compel a breathalyzer or BAC. In fact, they made no attempt to even speak to Tiger until the afternoon of the following day, even though they had witness statements that alcohol and prescription drugs may have been involved.
"Celebs should be treated like anyone else which means no favors but also means no publicity driven prosecutions."
That's right. And, as a military prosecutor with 25 years experience (several of which were in Florida0, it's clear to me that Tiger wasn't treated like anyone else. He was given considerations the evening of the accident that no other driver would have been. I have seen dozens of sailors involved in off-base, single vehicle accidents who were arrested while at the hospital. It happens all the time.
Wow, ok so this is why I say the pendulum has swung to far with prosecution of DWI/DUI.
How does a court convict someone or for that matter LE even arrest someone for DUI when they never even got in their vehicle? And when did a Pasenger become susceptible to DUI prosecution?
What is it PUI? RUI?
This is nuts.
We need to keep drunks off the road but we must do it wihin the confines of the law, les we become some bannana republic.
I'm surprised by the number of people who believe that you can drive drunk so long as you're on private property - like a gated community. The TN law as you've described is exactly them same as in other states in which I'm familiar, including FL.
Snowmobilers and boaters are frequently pinched for DUI, and clearly none are on roadways - private or otherwise.
I’ve worked both full-time and part-time as a Police Officer in Florida, during my college days, then Georgia after college, then as a Reserve Deputy in California then s very short stint as a Special Police Officer while I lived in Wyoming and now as a Reserve Deputy in Tennessee.
The laws are pretty much the same nationwide on DUI.
The “minimums” on these laws are tied to federal funding and lobbied for by such organizations as MADD, they do not vary much state to state, except to get stricter.
how did the cops not get to the car accident before EMS did? very interesting, someone screwed up big time or was told to look the other way.
head injury would do it. the marks from a golf club would be obvious afterwords and would not match a car accident. However, finding that out during the transport would be hard.
Florida sure went after Rush medical records.
Good thing to know. I always thought it stupid for the cops to ticket someone sleeping it off in a car that isn’t even running.......
yikes....maybe enough time has passed where this story can be told for laffs.
Well you have to concede immediately that the FHP who was requesting the subpoena did not even interview him. (That’s police code for we don’t have anything even remotely close to what we need but we sure are curious)
Bottom line he was not arrested at the scene and they did not have enough evidence to even begin to look into a prosecution. Kudos to the DA to boot them out of his office and not succumb to the temptation of a media spectacle prosecution.
I only called foul when the FHP tried to push for something they clearly had no business looking into at that point. Thankfully with the help of the states attorney they dropped this nonsense and moved on.
Anyway we are both outsiders to this event but I’m glad to see this was put to rest without a fishing expedition trial.
I must admit I lost a lot of faith in the judicial system after watching the Duke rape case unfold. It sends chills up my spine to think what would have happened had the parents of those innocent kids not had the tremendous financial resources to fight that unjust prosecution. Those kids were facing life in prison all so a politician lawyer could get reelected. Rant off.
don’t take that to the bank..like I said, it was my understanding.
I’ve a friend who got arrested for “Walking while drunk” . Thing is, he was walking cause he realized he was too drunk to drive.
One has nothing to do with the other, their could have been (and I would argue that their clearly was) enough evidence to arrest the evening of the accident. Just because someone chose not to, doesn't mean the couldn't have or shouldn't have. If it were John Smith, they surely would have.
"Well you have to concede immediately that the FHP who was requesting the subpoena did not even interview him. (That’s police code for we don’t have anything even remotely close to what we need but we sure are curious)"
Really, I've asked for and received countless subpoenas for suspects that I've never interviewed. It was reported late this evening that Tiger was admitted as an overdose. It's tough to be driving a car legally when you're being treated for a drug/alcohol overdose.
"I only called foul when the FHP tried to push for something they clearly had no business looking into at that point."
If it's not FHP's business to look into vehicular crimes - DUI is a vehicular crime - then whose business is it, exactly? Tiger Woods was so incapacitated that he barely made it out of his own driveway. Had he made it out of his neighbor, or if he had run into a home, rather than a fire hydrant and a tree, who knows who or how many he may have killed.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2007 there were 15,387 deaths as a result of DUI accidents. According to the FBI, in 2007 there were 16,929 murders - less than a 1,000 more than DUI fatalities. DUI is a big deal. It's a crime rivaling murder in America.
What Tiger Woods has to do with the Duke rape case is completely lost on me.
That's a good question. I haven't seen any answers.
I couldn’t agree more.
Alcohol, Ambien and Viocodan would do it. Any other person would have had to undergo a blood test.
BTTT
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