Tampa DUI Lawyer Fighting To Help DUI Manslaughter Inmate Get A Second Chance

A former federal corrections officer is seeking to have his Florida DUI manslaughter conviction set aside due to mistakes made by his lawyer during his trial. Purdie Burkes was sentenced to five years in prison and still has just over a year left to serve on his sentence. His Tampa DUI lawyer has filed papers with the court asking his case be reviewed.

Burkes was driving in a heavy fog on the morning in which he was convicted of hitting and killing a bicyclist. He had a blood-alcohol level below the legal limit of 0.08 when he was tested via a blood draw but a prosecution expert testified that level would have been higher at the time of the crash. The defense argued that the accident was unavoidable and not alcohol-related but the bicycle in question was destroyed by the FHP five days after the accident and was never reviewed by the defense. His new lawyer claims an examination of the bike could have proved that Burkes never swerved off the road as troopers testified.