Limitations On The Fellow Officer Rule In Dui Cases

By Author: M. Dye
Total Articles: 4
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Earlier this year, the Florida Supreme Court heard a DUI appeal with major implications. In the case of State vs. Bowers, the Defendant was arrested and charged with DUI in addition to minor drug charges. The Defendant filed a motion to suppress challenging the validity of the traffic stop. A hearing was held on the motion to suppress and the State only called as a witness the second officer who carried out the DUI investigation along with the arrest. The officer that performed the DUI investigation and arrest testified that he never saw the Defendant drive her car and that his complete understanding of the traffic stop was based on what had been told to him by the officer who made the stop. The Defendant's lawyer objected on hearsay grounds. The State countered with the line of reasoning that the statements were admissible since the "fellow officer rule" or "collective knowledge doctrine" permitted the arresting officer to testify regarding what he had been told by the officer making the traffic stop.While the county court overruled the hearsay objection, it granted Defendant's motion to suppress based on the court's ...
... inability to obtain clarification about issues surrounding the stop. The case eventually worked it's way up to the Florida Supreme Court. The Florida Supreme Court ruled that the fellow officer rule is intended to assist officers in the field by enabling them to depend on their collective knowledge when determining probable cause and making an arrest decision. Nevertheless, the fellow officer rule is not a rule of evidence and can't be used to bypass the hearsay rules of evidence. Therefore, the officer who carried out the DUI investigation and arrest shouldn't have been allowed to testify regarding the facts and circumstances resulting in the traffic stop and the investigation that followed as the arresting officer had no firsthand knowledge of such.Michael Dye and Daniel Rosenberg are DUI Attorneys located in Broward County Florida. For further information please visit their websites at the following links: Michael Dye Broward County DUI Attorney Daniel Rosenberg Fort Lauderdale DUI Attorney.