Orlando DUI: Lake County Attorney Charged With DUI-Manslaughter

Published by Fleet Tilden, Esq. at February 13, 2010

Lake County, Florida attorney Bruce Duncan surrendered Friday to jail authorities after the Florida Highway Patrol charged him with DUI-manslaughter in the traffic death of a retired postal worker after a October 17, 2009 accident. Duncan, 46, is President of the Leesburg land development company, Family Dynamics. Prior to his current position, Duncan was previously employed as an Assistant Public Defender in Lake County.

Duncan has been a visible community booster. He is chairman of the executive board of Life Stream Behavioral Center, which provides mental-health and substance-abuse services for Lake and Sumter counties, according to the agency’s Web site.

FHP Sgt. Kim Montes said Duncan – who was returning home from Gainesville after attending the Florida Gator football game against Arkansas – had a half-empty bottle of vodka in an ice chest on the truck seat. Montes said troopers drew blood from Duncan at the crash scene that measured his blood-alcohol content at 0.16 percent, double the state’s threshold at which a motorist is presumed to be impaired by alcohol.

In an affidavit, FHP traffic-homicide investigators cited Duncan’s blood-alcohol level, his unsteady appearance at the crash scene and statements by motorists who observed his driving pattern before the crash.

Terms of his pretrial release forbid Duncan to drink or drive, said Bill Gladson, division chief for the State Attorney’s Office in Lake County. After his arrest, Duncan was released after posting $50,000 bail. A court date has not been set.

If you have been arrested or charged with a DUI in Orlando and are facing criminal prosecution in either Orange County, Seminole County, Florida, or if you have had your driver license suspended for a DUI, contact the attorneys at Tilden Law for an initial and confidential consultation, 407-599-1234.

Fleet Tilden, Esq.

Beginning in 1923, attorney John Tilden, Esq. established his law practice in Downtown Orlando with a full service law firm serving Central Florida residents. Following in his grandfather’s footsteps, attorney N. Fleetwood Tilden, Esq. began his Central Florida law practice after graduating from law school in 1993. After a career as an Assistant State Attorney prosecuting Central Florida criminal cases, the Law Office of Tilden Law was established. Practicing exclusively Criminal Defense, Mr. Tilden has handled over 5,000 criminal cases.