KEY WEST, Fla. (WSVN) — A jury in Key West has found Miami-Dade County commissioner Jose "Pepe" Diaz not guilty of driving under the influence last year.
On Wednesday, the jury began deliberations at around 2 p.m. and, only about 20 minutes later, concluded, that Diaz was not guilty of the DUI charge.
As the verdict was read, Diaz bowed his head in relief. He then even hugged the arresting police officers who had testified against him and said that he sometimes swayed during the field sobriety test.
Outside the courtroom, Diaz said, "I’ve seen those videos. I’ve seen everything that took place, I’m not proud of a lot of those moments, but I’ve learned from them, and I will deal with that throughout my career."
Back in December, Key West police pulled Diaz over on his Harley-Davidson for driving 74 mph on South Roosevelt Boulevard, where the speed zone is 35 mph. Diaz was in the Keys for the Key West Poker Run motorcycle weekend.
The state played three videos of Diaz to the jury, including dash cam video of his failed field sobriety test. Police also said Diaz’s breath smelled of alcohol.
Diaz’s lawyers argued that their client had trouble with the test because he is overweight and has balance issues, which made it hard for Diaz to comply with the test in what the lawyers called a "high stress environment."
"It’s embarrassing to me, arrested," said Diaz, "and everything that we went through … I felt that I wasn’t guilty of what it was. That’s why I went through the system."
The state had no comment after the verdict.
Diaz will get his license in September. For now he can only drive to and from work. He will also have to pay multiple fines, considering he admitted to speeding and not having his license.