Another professional athlete, another DUI. It will always be baffling to me that these athletes (who make millions of dollars) don’t hire a driver, or pay for a cab, and instead insist on trying to drive themselves home after a night of partying. When will they learn?
In the early morning on August 5, 2014, Marreese Speights, who plays center for the Golden State Warriors, was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Tampa, Florida.
According to the incident log, an officer stopped Speights for failing to yield the right of way while pulling out of a driveway in his black 2012 Bentley. After observing clues of impairment, the officer asked Speights to submit to the standardized field sobriety tests, to which Speights agreed. After failing the SFT’s, he was arrested and submitted to two breathalyzer tests, with results of .103 and .106; both above the Florida per se limit of .08.
In Florida, driving under the influence of alcohol is a second degree misdemeanor. This being Speights first arrest for DUI, with his blood alcohol content below .15, he is facing the following possible penalties under Florida law:
- A fine of not less than $500 and not more than $1000.
- 50 Hours of community service.
- Completion of DUI School.
- A total period of probation and incarceration of not more than one year.
- Incarceration for not more than six months.
- License revocation for not less than six months and not more than one year.
The penalties in Florida are slightly stiffer than those here in Nevada. Specifically, there is no mandatory community service in Nevada, and the license suspension is only for 90 days. In any case, with Speights’ license getting suspended for at least six months, I guess he won’t have any choice but to find someone else to driving him around at 3:00 a.m. That shouldn’t affect his ability to dunk a basketball, though.
If you need help with a DUI, we specialize in that area of law. Call us at (702) 400-0000 in Las Vegas, or (775) 400-0000 for Pahrump.