Duval County Jury Finds Way Guilty of Manslaughter by Overdose
Duval County Jury Finds Spann Guilty of Felony DUI
Published on: June 1, 2023
Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida
www.sao4th.com
Melissa W Nelson
State Attorney
311 West Monroe Street
Jacksonville, Florida 32202-4242
(904) 255-2500
State Attorney Melissa Nelson announces that a Duval County jury found Evander Spann guilty of Felony Driving Under the Influence, Driving with a Suspended or Revoked License, and Resisting an Officer Without Violence. With the verdict, Spann faces up to seven years in Florida State Prison. The Honorable London Kite will sentence Spann in the coming weeks.
On Oct. 23, 2022, Spann crashed his vehicle into a ditch on Armsdale Road. A witness saw Spann exit the vehicle with blood on his face and as she called 911, Spann stumbled into the nearby woods to avoid detection. When an officer with Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrived on scene, the witness pointed where Spann entered the woods. The officer spotted Spann and issued him verbal commands to exit the woods, but Spann refused to obey the officer and chose to run. The officer located Spann in the woods, noticed his red glassy eyes, droopy eyelid and detected an odor of alcohol on his breath. Spann admitted that he was in a fender bender and had a suspended license. A DUI officer conducted an independent DUI investigation that revealed multiple indicators of impairment. Spann was then arrested. He has two prior DUIs and one pending in Georgia.
The case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney Crystal Ganpath-freed and Giovanna Rivera.