Almost everyone has heard about the Boca Raton
attorney who came up with a controversial method for getting out of a DUI checkpoint. Attorney Warren Redlich is the one
whose technique requires that drivers do not lower their window or speak to
officers at a DUI checkpoint.
He recently tried out his technique in Coral
Gables and wound up in handcuffs.
Earlier this year, Redlich’s method for avoiding a
DUI checkpoint was all over the news. Per his method, instead of rolling down
your windows, you press a card to your driver’s side window that reads, “I
remain silent, no searches,” and you show your license and registration through
the window.
But when Redlich tried it in Coral Gables, he was
repeatedly warned by the officer. The police weren’t going to accept the
documents through the glass technique. A camera captured the officer opening
the door and handcuffing Redlich.
Redlich said that they think he’s required to roll
down the window and hand over his license and he thinks he’s not required by
law to do that, he told CBS4.
To Redlich, DUI checkpoints are a waste of time.
He calls them ineffective and says they’re publicity stunts. They don’t work,
he told CBS4’s David Sutta in an
interview.
Redlich also believes that DUI checkpoints violate
people’s 4th Amendment protections against unlawful searches.
Redlich Wanted to Make an Example of Coral Gables
According to Redlich, he didn’t end up in Coral
Gables that evening by chance, he deliberately went there to make an example
out of Coral Gables.
After Redlich’s “Fair DUI” made the headlines,
Coral Gables attorneys took a closer look. They adopted a policy that according
to Redlich, was more extreme than anything he’d seen before.
If a driver refuses to open their window at a
checkpoint, they could get arrested. The penalty is usually a ticket for a
non-moving violation.
That night in Coral Gables, Redlich was handcuffed
for three hours. He says he’s confident that he’s right and they are wrong. In
the end the officers let him go. He was ticketed for failing to show his
driver’s license.
Coral Gables City Attorney Craig Leen told CBS4 that the officer has discretion,
and that Redlich could still be charged with obstruction of justice. Leen
called the situation sad and said that he’s playing a game, that he’s not here
for any purpose but to obstruct a DUI checkpoint and that, he said, is wrong.
As Redlich considers taking his argument to
federal court, the city is ready to fight back. Leen said that he will defend
his view and they will prevail.
If you were
arrested for DUI, contact my firm to get
your legal questions answered by an experienced Miami DUI attorney who is a
former prosecutor.
