Orlando DUI Attorney Blog

Phillip Lee Heekin was arrested and charged with DUI and ended up back in Osceola County Jail this week after his bail was set at $2 million.  His bail was set at $2 million because the judge said he posed a flight risk.  Heekin already has a pending case in which he is charged with vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter and causing serious injuries in the death of a woman who lived in the Orlando suburb of St. Cloud last year. 

Just before the accident that killed the St. Could woman, Cheryl Hall, Heekin ran a red light while proceeding east toward the intersection of U.S. Highway 192 and Old Canoe Road.  A witness reported that Heekin was moving at such a high rate of speed in his 1979 pickup that the witness assumed that Heekin was being chased.  Heekin's blood was drawn and his blood alcohol was measured at 0.233, three times the level at which it is presumed that a driver is intoxicated under Florida state law.  Cheryl Hall and her husband were taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center where Cheryl died.  Her husband was injured but survived his injuries.  Heekin was also injured in the crash, police said.

Heekin had already been arrested for driving under the influence again since the fatal crash late last year.  Police discovered at that time that Heekin was also wanted in Georgia on cocaine-dealing charges.  The first time Heekin was arrested for a DUI crash in 1998, he served 89 days in jail.  Records show Heekin has been arrested at least 17 times in Florida.  Heekin has also been arrested in Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania, where he was also convicted of DUI in 2007.

Continue reading "DUI Repeat Offender Charged With DUI Manslaughter; Bail Set at $2M" »

Ashley Rowe, an Altamonte Springs policewoman, resigned last week pending the results of a DUI investigation into her collision in December, in which her passenger nearly died.  Michael Kroohs, a Reedy Creek firefighter, was a passenger in Rowe's car when she crashed on Lotus Landing Boulevard near SR-434 near Orlando.  Florida Highway Patrol troopers at the scene believed she had been drinking and was impaired.

Kroohs had met Rowe earlier that evening when Rowe and several other officers had been drinking and went out for a late dinner.  Kroohs indicated that Rowe did not act drunk the night of the accident.  "It's crazy how someone can be drunk and look so normal, that is the only thing that hit me; it's kind of surprising to me, "Kroohs said.

Kroohs, who nearly died, has spent the last two months at home recovering since the December accident.  He was seriously injured and faces $200,000 in medical bills.  Kroohs says he does not plan to sue Rowe despite the high cost of his medical bills because he views her pending DUI charges and resignation from the police as more than enough punishment.  "The pain and suffering I had to go through, so I guess this is her punishment the way I look at it," he said.

Rowe had been working on desk duty while the investigation into the incident by the Florida Highway Patrol was pending.  When blood alcohol results came back on Wednesday, results showed Rowe's blood alcohol level was .15.  The investigators for the Florida Highway patrol are in the process of filing DUI charges with the State Attorney's Office.

In light of the results, Rowe submitted her resignation letter on Friday.  In Rowe's resignation letter, she said, "My decision to leave the agency has been a difficult decision but feel I need to be closer to loved ones.  I leave with much sadness."

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Florida Highway Patrol Officers arrested prominent Lake County attorney and civic leader Bruce Duncan and charged him with DUI-manslaughter connected to the death of retired postal worker Herbert "Steve" Muller.  Duncan faces 15 years in prison if convicted of the second-degree felony resulting from a collision in which his Nissan pickup truck drove into the path of Muller's motorcycle.

The accident occurred less than a mile from Duncan's home.  Muller was returning to his home in Mount Dora after riding with friends to Daytona Beach and Biketoberfest. Duncan was returning from the Florida Gators football game against Arkansas at the time of the crash.  Duncan was turning onto Majestic Oaks Drive, in the Orlando suburb of Tavaras, when his truck collided with Muller, who was headed west on Wolf Branch Road.  A blood test administered at the crash scene indicated Duncan's blood alcohol measured 0.16 twice the level at which a driver is presumed impaired under Florida state law.

Duncan's family has long been a prominent and influential family in Lake County.  His great-grandfather, Henry Holcomb Duncan, drafted the legislation that created Lake County from land in Orange and Sumter counties.  Duncan is president of Family Dynamics, a Leesburg based land development firm.  He was previously an assistant public defender, assistant Lake County attorney, and Lake's economic-development director.

He has also been prominent in civic activities in Lake County.  He is chairman of the executive board of Life Stream Behavioral Center, which is dedicated to providing mental health and substance-abuse services for Lake and Sumter counties.  He was also master of ceremonies for local charity events.

Duncan's attorney accompanied him to Lake County Jail where he was released after posting $50,000 bail. The next court date in the matter has not yet been set.

Continue reading "Lake County Attorney and Civic Leader Charged with DUI/Manslaughter" »