Jury finds Florida man featured in viral video guilty of driving under the influence
By Denise Royal, CNN
(CNN) — A man whose arrest footage went viral in Florida last week was found guilty Monday of driving under the influence.
Edited police body worn camera footage of Calvin Riley’s 2023 arrest by Tallahassee Police Department officers made the rounds on social media, appearing to show an officer open a bottle of liquor, pour out the contents and place it back inside Riley’s vehicle as evidence.
Video of the incident was played during the trial and edited clips went viral online. CNN has requested a copy.
A jury deliberated for less than two hours.
Riley, 56, was sentenced to spend 10 days in the Leon County Jail. He was also sentenced to six months of probation. As part of his sentence, Riley must also attend a DUI course, perform 50 hours of community service, participate in random breathalyzer tests and his driver’s license will be suspended for six months.
During the two-day trial, jurors heard testimony from the three officers present during Riley’s traffic stop. Riley did not testify.
Originally, Riley was charged with driving under the influence and driving with a suspended or revoked license. The latter charge was dropped during the trial.
Jurors had to decide whether Riley was the operator of the vehicle and if prosecutors proved he was impaired at the time of his arrest. Emma Hirschy, a legal certified intern with the Leon County State Attorney’s Office, argued Riley admitted to being at a bar on the night of his arrest and having “a couple of drinks.” She told jurors Riley was “slurring his words, he was not making sense.”
Riley’s defense argued the police officers in the case were not credible. They pointed to two of the officers changing details in their testimonies and that all of the officers turned off their body-worn cameras at one point during the investigation.
“Officer Oliver opened a bottle of vodka – a bottle that had never been opened before. You hear her break the seal, pour it out, and put it back in the car. Then she used that evidence against him,” said defense attorney Desiree Goodfellow.
During the trial, the officer admitted opening the bottle and putting it back in the car was “a mistake.” She and another responding officer denied the bottle was used as evidence to support the DUI charge.
Before he was sentenced, Riley said he took responsibility for his actions and apologized.
The-CNN-Wire
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