Tiger Woods might be in for a “dogfight” following his bust for allegedly crashing his automobile beneath the affect of medication, based on one professional.
The golf nice crashed his SUV in one of many strictest counties within the Sunshine State — and prosecutors might be desperate to make an instance out of the billionaire with a historical past of dangerous conduct.
“He’s in for a authorized dogfight, for my part,” Matthew Olszewski, an Orlando lawyer who focuses on DUI instances, advised The Publish.
“They’re going to be attempting to show a message and what greater message to show than, ‘Even in the event you’re Tiger Woods, you do that in our county and we’re going to slam you.’”
“Tiger goes to must put up the most effective protection that he can purchase and attempt to fight that.”
Police mentioned Woods, who has a rocky previous with prescription capsules and automobile wrecks, was not drunk on the time of Friday’s crash, however mentioned he gave the impression to be beneath the affect of “some sort of treatment or drug.”
The athlete appeared glassy-eyed in a mugshot, taken shortly after the Friday incident during which he rolled his SUV as he tried to overhaul a utility truck and ended up clipping the opposite automobile.
Prosecutors will probably use Woods’ historical past in opposition to him, Olszewski theorized, although the offense is technically his first DUI.
The athlete was famously arrested in 2017 after being discovered unconscious behind the wheel of his working automobile whereas excessive on a cocktail of prescription painkillers, however he took a plea deal for reckless driving and served a yr of probation.
The 82-time PGA winner was additionally significantly injured in a high-speed 2021 automobile crash in California that left him with a number of leg fractures and required instant main surgical procedure, although no drug use was suspected in that incident.
“However, particularly contemplating the county that he’s in, given his prior DUI arrest after which his different driving points that he’s had up to now, I’d suspect that the prosecutor and particularly the decide will definitely take that under consideration going ahead on how they dealt with the case,” mentioned Olszewski, who was named Florida’s finest DUI protection lawyer in 2018.
The prosecution may have its personal uphill battle, contemplating Woods didn’t consent to a urine check — which means officers can not show the athlete was beneath the affect on the time of the incident.
Whereas a decide may order Woods to submit a urine check as a situation of his launch, it won’t show when or how a lot medication he had taken earlier than getting behind the wheel.
Moreover, if a check comes again constructive for prescription treatment, Woods can be within the clear.
Plus, it’s believable the “torpid” conduct that led police to imagine Woods was beneath the affect could have been attributable to the crash itself, mentioned Olszewski.
Prosecutors will probably level to Woods’ refusal to supply a urine pattern as an act of contrition — one thing cops have already began claiming.
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek mentioned Friday that Woods refused to adjust to the urine check just because he was not “attempting to incriminate himself.”
“Everybody understands that after you’re arrested, you’ve got the suitable to stay silent. And Tiger was merely exercising that proper. He has each single proper beneath the Structure to not present any proof to the state after he’s been arrested,” mentioned Olszewski.
Presently, Olszewski theorizes that Woods has the “higher hand” within the case given his urine check refusal and that authorities may battle to show he was excessive, however expects a fierce combat from either side.
“It ought to be a battle that’s going to go on for at the very least the following couple of months,” mentioned Olszewski.
