This week’s Florida appellate decisions, covered case by case: deputies found a man asleep behind the wheel in a Hillsborough parking lot, and the whole case turned on whether the welfare check was still running when a deputy told him to roll down his window. The Second District said it was, and reversed the suppression order on the State’s own appeal. Plus a first-degree murder conviction reversed because the trial court answered one evidence question and never asked the second one, a manslaughter plea withdrawn because counsel never mentioned a suppression motion, a three-year minimum mandatory thrown out because the enhancement statute defines possession differently than the offense does, five defendants told that the six-person jury argument belongs in Washington, and a UM carrier that lost its rescission claim on the tortfeasor’s tax returns. Then a deep dive on the question every sleeping-driver case turns on: when does a welfare check end.

PRACTICE AREAS THIS WEEK: eleven criminal decisions and one injury decision, with a Hillsborough DUI stop, two Sarasota sentencing cases, a Manatee plea withdrawal, and an uninsured motorist appeal out of Indian River County.

CHAPTERS
0:00 The second question
1:27 Fuchs: the sleeping driver, and the window
4:12 Wellons: the flight evidence the jury never heard
6:16 Ruiz: the plea, and the suppression motion nobody mentioned
8:28 Hamilton: possession, and possession under the enhancement
9:49 The six-person jury cases, and how to preserve the issue
11:30 Edwards and Gunter: the scoresheet and the costs order
12:15 Auguste: the State concedes the door was closed
13:22 The rest of the week
13:42 Clark: Judge Neff on Florida’s Anders procedure
14:11 Heimler: the UM settlement and the insolvent tortfeasor
16:26 Deep dive: when does a welfare check end
23:28 The working playbook for a sleeping driver file
25:51 The week in one line

Cases covered:
State v. Fuchs, 2D2025-1542 (Fla. 2d DCA Sept. 9, 2026)
Wellons v. State, 4D2025-2340 (Fla. 4th DCA Sept. 9, 2026)
Ruiz v. State, 2D2025-2118 (Fla. 2d DCA Sept. 9, 2026)
Hamilton v. State, 2D2025-1231 (Fla. 2d DCA Sept. 9, 2026)
Mullins v. State, 2D2025-0655 (Fla. 2d DCA Sept. 9, 2026)
Tolliver v. State, 2D2025-1345 (Fla. 2d DCA Sept. 9, 2026)
Oakley v. State, 2D2025-1120 (Fla. 2d DCA Sept. 9, 2026)
Brown v. State, 2D2025-1071 (Fla. 2d DCA Sept. 9, 2026)
Edwards v. State, 2D2025-1211 (Fla. 2d DCA Sept. 9, 2026)
Gunter v. State, 6D2025-1045 (Fla. 6th DCA Sept. 10, 2026)
Auguste v. State, 4D2024-3260 (Fla. 4th DCA Sept. 9, 2026)
Clark v. State, 1D2025-0453 (Fla. 1st DCA Sept. 9, 2026) (Neff, J., concurring)
Progressive American Insurance Co. v. Heimler, 4D2025-1854 (Fla. 4th DCA Sept. 9, 2026)

Discussed in the deep dive: Popple v. State, 626 So. 2d 185 (Fla. 1993); Cady v. Dombrowski, 413 U.S. 433 (1973); Greider v. State, 977 So. 2d 789 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008); Dermio v. State, 112 So. 3d 551 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013); Daniels v. State, 346 So. 3d 705 (Fla. 2d DCA 2022); Danielewicz v. State, 730 So. 2d 363 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999); Delorenzo v. State, 921 So. 2d 873 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006); State v. Leiby, No. 4D2024-2490 (Fla. 4th DCA Nov. 5, 2025); Caniglia v. Strom, 593 U.S. 194 (2021); Case v. Montana, No. 24-624 (U.S. Jan. 14, 2026); Kentucky v. King, 563 U.S. 452 (2011).

Most of these decisions are not final until the time for rehearing expires. Want the opinions, or the one page welfare check timeline worksheet? Email rory@thesafirlawyer.com and I will send them over, no charge.

Safir Injury and Criminal Defense Law handles criminal, DUI, and personal injury matters across Florida, and we gladly accept referrals from fellow attorneys. Call or text 727-472-8096, or find us at thesafirlawyer.com.

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