A young woman accused of driving the wrong way on the Sawgrass Expressway, resulting in an accident that killed two people, was allegedly impaired by alcohol at the time of the crash.
A search warrant obtained by investigators revealed that a blood sample taken from the accused - who was also seriously injured in the crash - showed a blood-alcohol level of .15, nearly twice the legal limit in Florida of .08.
A recent Supreme Court case ruled that search warrants must be obtained before a blood sample is taken from a suspect.
The suspect remains in a Broward County hospital. However, now that the blood-alcohol level has been determined, I fully expect the young woman to be charged with two counts of DUI manslaughter. Each count of DUI manslaughter is punishable by 15 years in prison, with a 4-year mandatory prison term.
The police have also discovered messages allegedly sent by the accused over Twitter indicating that she may have been drunk.
Investigators believe that the accused was drinking at a Coral Springs bar before getting onto the Sawgrass Expressway heading the wrong-way. She ended up in head-on collision that killed the driver and passenger of the other car.
As of right now, no criminal charges have been filed.
Eric Matheny is a Miami DUI manslaughter lawyer and Broward DUI manslaughter lawyer.