Diane Ferron, a civilian employee at the Pinellas County Jail, was charged last week with driving under the influence (DUI) after reportedly crashing through a jail fence when leaving work. Ferron, an assistant inmate records supervisor, was leaving the jail after working on Wednesday when she lost control of her car and drove through the jail’s exterior chain-link fence.

Pinellas county deputies responded to the accident and felt that Ferron was impaired. She reportedly failed a field sobriety test. The deputies ruled out alcohol (presumably via a breath test of some sort), however. Ferron said she had taken prescription medication.

Ferron was charged with DUI and DUI with property damage. Both charges are misdemeanors and Ferron has been allowed to return to work pending an internal investigation. She faces up to six months in jail for the DUI charge and up to a year in jail for the DUI with property damage charge.

While driving under the influence is generally an alcohol-related traffic charge, Florida’s DUI law actually speaks equally to drug impairment as well. A person is guilty of driving under the influence if he or she is driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle while (1) under the influence of alcoholic beverages, certain chemical substances or controlled substances; or (2) has a blood- or breath-alcohol level of .08 or higher.

The controlled substances designated in Florida’s DUI law include not only street drugs like cocaine and heroin but also prescription drugs like any variety of painkillers which might also lead to impairment.

DUI

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 11th, 2010 at 11:14 pm and is filed under Florida Criminal Law News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.