Tiger Woods Set for Change-of-Plea Hearing in Florida DUI Case

Tiger Woods is scheduled to appear before Martin County Judge Darren Steele on Sept. 2 for a change-of-plea hearing tied to a DUI arrest that followed a March 27 crash on Jupiter Island, Florida, according to court records.

What happened in the crash?

Deputies say Woods crossed a double line while driving a Land Rover and struck a trailer being towed by a pickup ahead of him, rolling his SUV onto its side. Investigators reported his eyes were glassy and bloodshot with extremely dilated pupils and that he was sweating heavily. Woods told deputies he had not been drinking. He was charged with DUI with property damage and refusal to submit to a DUI test, plus a separate careless-driving citation carrying a $163 civil penalty.

Why does medication factor into the case?

Woods told investigators he takes medication for high blood pressure and cholesterol, along with ibuprofen and Vicodin, which contains the painkiller hydrocodone. Deputies said they found two hydrocodone pills in his pants pocket after the arrest. At the Martin County Jail, Woods took two breath tests, both of which measured 0.00 for blood-alcohol content. Steele has since ordered Woods' prescription records handed over to prosecutors and requested his hospital records from Cleveland Clinic Martin South, where he was treated and released after the crash.

Two 0.00 breath results point the case toward medication rather than alcohol.

Court documents describe Wednesday's hearing alternately as a "change of plea," language typically used when a defendant plans to enter a no-contest plea, and as a "plea conference" in a filing from Woods' attorney, Douglas Duncan. A separate status hearing had previously been set for Sept. 8. In April, a judge granted Woods permission to travel outside the country to begin what court records describe as inpatient treatment.