Awful Driver Retains License

Broward DUI Lawyer William Moore knows that the reason DUI offenses are enhanceable – meaning that the more times you are convicted of DUI, the more severe the punishment – is to discourage repeat DUI offenses and maintain safe roads. The Florida mechanism for dealing with repeat driving offenses is, to a large degree, the points system. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles requires that, in most cases, a traffic offense will result in points on your driver’s license. If you accumulate enough points in a specified period of time, the DHSMV will suspend your license. Broward DUI attorney William Moore regularly represents DUI clients at administrative driver’s license revocation hearings at the DHSMV.

A Fort Lauderdale-Dade man, however, has managed to thwart the system. In a county in which “withholding of adjudication” is common, where by the person accused of a traffic offense is allowed to pay fines and attend traffic school without receiving points, subpar drivers may stay on the road longer. The various driving misadventures of Gabriel Delrisco, who is 40, have come to public attention recently after the man apparently ran a red light, causing an accident that killed three children in another vehicle. The crash is still under investigation, pending law enforcement officials’ conclusions as to whether Delrisco was under the influence of alcohol and if the brakes on his sport utility vehicle were operable at the time of the accident.

Many observers are questioning why Delrisco even had a driver’s license at this point in time. Since 2001, Delrisco has received 26 separate traffic citations – several of them criminal, including DUI. All of the citations occurred in Fort Lauderdale-Dade County. In the past eight years or so, Delrisco has been cited for a wide variety of offenses, including driving under the influence , failing to stop at a stop sign, driving without a license plate on his vehicle, driving the wrong way on a one way street, leaving the scene of an accident, and other citations. Most of the tickets were for moving violations, such as speeding.

At the time of the accident, Delrisco continued to have a valid commercial driver’s license for his business. Besides withholding of adjudication in some of his cases, he also avoided points in other ways. The citation for leaving the scene of an accident was subsequently dropped and the police officers did not always show up in court for some of the others. In some cases, officers referenced the incorrect traffic law on the citation and in other cases, the evidence was insufficient to maintain the charges against him.

Now, Delrisco is recovering from surgery following the collision. His attorney reports that he has been deeply affected by the children’s deaths and has been trying to make contact with the family to extend his condolences. Delrisco has two children of his own.

Fort Lauderdale DUI attorney William Moore was a prosecutor and a public defender prior to becoming a private DUI lawyer. If you have been charged with DUI in south Florida, contact William Moore Criminal Defense, P.A., which has an experienced Fort Lauderdale DUI lawyer with offices in Fort Lauderdale-Dade, Broward, and Fort Lauderdale Counties.

This article should be used for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice nor as implied representation of any person.