VERO BEACH — Judge David C. Morgan is expected to rule on Wednesday afternoon on a motion filed by Bobby Guttridge, attorney for County Administrator Joe Baird, claiming Baird never should have been stopped for speeding on May 16th in the incident that resulted in his arrest for driving under the influence.”We’ve filed a motion to suppress the stop, that the law enforcement officer did not have probable cause,” Guttridge said. Baird was pulled over at about 10:30 p.m. in the 600 block of 21st Street in Vero Beach and was asked to complete a roadside sobriety test, the video of which has been released by the State Attorney’s Office and widely viewed on YouTube. He refused to submit to a Breathalyzer test, and was subsequently booked for DUI. Baird was returning from a Luau benefit he atteneded that evening for Youth Guidance. According to Guttridge, Baird was originally stopped on the grounds that he was spotted speeding, but there was “no objective evidence” of radar being used to clock Baird’s speed. He claims the arresting officer only “paced” Baird over a two-block distance before stopping him, and that this distance would not have been sufficient to accurately determine how fast Baird was going.”You can’t pace a car in that short amount of time,” Guttridge said. He plans to assert that it would have taken the officer following Baird’s Jeep a half mile to one mile to determine his speed without use of radar.Should the motion to suppress succeed, Guttridge said all other evidence related to the stop, including the video of the roadside sobriety test, could be subject to suppression.Guttridge said he intends to file other motions in the case. In regard to the venue, Guttridge said the point in the case when a change of venue could be requested would be when a trial date is set, and if and when it was determined that an impartial jury could not be found in Indian River County.
“In a case like this, the jury selection process typically takes about a half a day,” he said. “But in this case there has been so much written about it or leaked to the press, it’s going to be hard.”The hearing will take place at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Indian River County Courthouse, Courtroom 2.
