Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...In examining the issue, *708 the county court noted that Florida case law delineates the circumstances under which a misdemeanor arrest can take place. The most obvious circumstance is where the officer witnesses each element of a prima facie case. See § 901.15(1), Fla.Stat. (1993). Additionally, pursuant to section 316.645, Florida Statutes (1993), when an officer is investigating an "accident" he may develop probable cause to charge DUI....

...Briefly, appellant's theory is that Officer Green was without authority to arrest Sheffield because the offense which she had committed was a noncriminal traffic infraction. Appellant points out that an officer's authority to arrest without a warrant is limited to that authorized by statute, and that only Section 316.645 arguably provides such authorization in this case. Also, Section 316.645 has been interpreted in light of Chapter 318 as not providing authority to make an arrest for a noncriminal traffic infraction. State v. Young, 45 Fla. Supp. 126 (Fla. 4th Cir.Ct. 1977). Section 316.645 provides: A police officer who makes an investigation at the scene of a traffic accident may arrest any driver of a vehicle involved in the accident when, based upon personal investigation, the officer has reasonable and probable grou...

...s an infraction as defined in Section 318.13(3). An infraction is "a noncriminal violation which is not punishable by incarceration and for which there is no right to a trial by jury or a right to court appointed counsel." Appellant argues that when Section 316.645 and Chapter 318 are construed in pari materia, the term "offense" in 316.645 must be limited to the criminal offenses listed in Sections 316.655(4) and 318.17, and since Sheffield's arrest was for a noncriminal infraction, not a criminal offense, it cannot be justified under Section 316.645 or any other statutory provision, therefore any arrest of Sheffield was illegal and any subsequent consent to accompany her upstairs was invalid....

...accompany her upstairs. In addition to the foregoing, we note that the officer investigating a traffic accident has a duty to expeditiously complete and file written accident reports in many cases, Section 316.066(3)(a) Florida Statutes. Construing Section 316.645 in light of chapter 318, an officer may not have authority to formally arrest an individual in the fullest sense and hold them for interrogation or until bail is authorized....

...The officers' intrusion into appellant's second floor bedroom was neither reasonable nor necessary to accomplish their mission, if indeed, as the majority finds, it was simply to secure Sheffield's assistance in filling out accident reports, and to issue a traffic citation to her. [1] It seems clear to me that Section 316.645, Florida Statutes, which Sheffield is alleged to have violated, does not give an officer arrest authority except at the accident scene. The text of the statute is quoted in the majority opinion. However, the majority has overlooked the section heading, which reads: "316.645....

...estee, to enter his dormitory room where arrestee had been followed to go to secure identification papers, without necessity of exigent circumstances. [2] Originally enacted as Section 316.07, Chapter 71-135, Section One, Laws of Florida (1971). [3] Section 316.645, when considered in connection with the section heading quoted above, discloses an intention to effect only a narrowly circumscribed expansion of warrantless arrest rights under Section 901.15, subsections (1) and (5), which provide,...

...In State, Department of Highway Safety v. Williams, 937 So.2d 815, 816 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006), the First DCA, upon certiorari review, had previously considered whether there had been • a “traffic crash” within the meaning of a different statute, section 316.645, Florida Statutes (2005)....

...her than that belonging to Williams, the incident involving Williams’ vehicle did not legally constitute a traffic accident; consequently, the officer could not rely on the traffic-accident exception to the warrant-less arrest rule, as provided in section 316.645, Florida Statutes, which states: A police officer who makes an investigation at the scene of a traffic crash may arrest any driver of a vehicle involved in the crash when, based upon personal investigation, the officer has reasonable...

...(Emphasis added.) The HO concluded that the Department had satisfied section 322.2615, Florida Statutes, 1 and denied *817 Williams’ claim that the arrest was unlawful. In quashing the suspension order, the circuit court acknowledged that no Florida appellate court had defined the term “traffic crash,” as used in section 316.645, but it decided,' from its review of a Florida county court order, State v....

violation of the mandatory seat belt law. Section 316.645, Florida Statutes, provides general arrest

...Specifically, the motion argued the arresting officer did not witness the defendant operating or in actual physical possession of a vehicle while impaired, nor did he or any other fellow law enforcement officer personally investigate the traffic crash as sections 316.645 and 901.15(5), Florida Statutes (2019), require for a warrantless misdemeanor DUI arrest. On appeal, the defendant argues the trial court erroneously denied her suppression motion....

...personally conducting his own investigation, the officer arrested the defendant based on only the field sobriety tests he administered and what the public safety aide had investigated, contrary to the plain and clear requirements for a warrantless arrest delineated in section 316.645, Florida Statutes (2019) (“A police officer who makes an investigation at the scene of a traffic crash may arrest any driver of a vehicle involved in the crash when, based upon personal investigation, the officer has reasonable and...

...The sheriff's office may employ traffic infraction enforcement officers with specified training requirements who may issue citations when the officer " observes the commission of a traffic infraction or, in the case of a parking infraction, . . . observes an illegally parked vehicle. . . ." 5 (e.s.) Section 316.645 , Florida Statutes, states: "A police officer who makes an investigation at the scene of a traffic accident may arrest any driver of a vehicle involved in the accident when, based upon personal investigation , the officer has reasonab...

However, this is a misstatement of the law. Section 316.645 of the Florida Statutes (1995), appropriately