Multiple Authors
Fifteen-time major champion Tiger Woods entered a plea of not guilty Tuesday to charges of misdemeanor DUI with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test, according to court documents.
Attorney Douglas Duncan of West Palm Beach, Florida, submitted Woods’ not guilty plea and demand for a jury trial in Martin County Circuit Court in Stuart, Florida.
Woods also waived his arraignment hearing, which had been scheduled for April 23.
Duncan didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from ESPN.
Editor’s Picks
1 Related
Duncan represented Woods in a 2017 case in which the golfer was arrested on suspicion of DUI after police officers found him asleep at the wheel in his running car, which had two flat tires and damage on the front and rear bumpers. Woods said he had taken a bad mix of painkillers.
Woods later pleaded guilty to reckless driving and agreed to enter a diversion program as part of the plea deal.
Earlier Tuesday, the Martin County Sheriff’s Department released an arrest affidavit that included details of Woods’ latest arrest following a rollover accident Friday near his home on Jupiter Island in Florida.
Woods told authorities that he was looking down at his cellphone and changing the radio station in his Range Rover SUV, which caused him not to see a truck hauling a trailer slowing down, according to the affidavit.
Martin County Sheriff’s deputy Tatiana Levenar wrote in an arrest affidavit that Woods was “sweating profusely” and his movement was “lethargic and slow” while she interviewed him.
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said Friday that the test of Woods’ breath didn’t show signs of alcohol. Woods refused to submit to a urinalysis or blood test for other drugs, according to the sheriff.
Woods’ SUV rolled over after it clipped the trailer. Woods’ SUV swerved and flipped on its side and slid down the road. The truck’s driver and another unidentified person helped Woods climb out of the passenger window of his SUV.
After Woods agreed to perform field sobriety exercises, Levenar said she observed him “limping and stumbling to the right.”
Woods told the deputy that he had had seven back surgeries and more than 20 operations on his right leg, which he had severely injured in a car wreck outside Los Angeles in February 2021.
“I asked Woods if he was able to perform tasks such as walking and lifting his leg, Woods advised he has a limp and his ankle seizes while walking,” Levenar wrote in the affidavit.
Because of his medical condition, Levenar told Woods to sit on the bumper of a police cruiser for the rest of the investigation.
Once Woods removed his sunglasses, Levenar noted that his eyes were “bloodshot and glassy” and his pupils were “extremely dilated.”
The deputy asked Woods if he had consumed any alcohol, and he replied: “None.”
When Levenar asked if Woods had taken any prescription medication, he stated: “I take a few.” Woods said he had taken prescription pills earlier in the morning, according to the report.
The names of the medications were redacted in the affidavit.
Another Martin County Sheriff’s deputy found two hydrocodone pills in Woods’ left pants pocket, according to the arrest affidavit.
Hydrocodone was the drug found in Woods’ system when he was arrested on DUI charges in May 2017.
Levenar instructed Woods to do a series of four field sobriety tests.
“Based on my observations of Woods, how he performed the exercises and based on my training, knowledge, and experience, I believed that [Woods’] normal facilities were impaired, and he was unable to safely operate the motor vehicle,” Levenar wrote.
After Woods was arrested, he was transported to the Cleveland Clinic ER South, but he refused all medical treatment. He was transported back to the Martin County Jail, where he was held until he was released on $1,000 bond later Friday night.
Neither Woods nor the PGA Tour had publicly commented on his arrest as of Tuesday.
