Tiger Woods is set to change his plea in court five months after his arrest in Florida on a driving under the influence charge in a rollover crash. Court records show a change-of-plea hearing is scheduled for Wednesday morning in Martin County.
That hearing is the next formal step in a case that moved quickly from roadside chaos to the courtroom. Woods was arrested in March after the crash, then pleaded not guilty that same month to misdemeanor DUI and refusal to submit to testing. He had passed a breathalyser test, but Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said he declined a urinalysis screening for other drugs.
The reason the case has kept drawing attention is not just the name on the file. Woods is not only facing DUI and refusal charges; he is also a defendant who was taken from the wreck after his vehicle clipped a truck, rolled over, and left him crawling out through the passenger door to free himself. No one was injured, but the body camera footage released in April showed how close the crash came to ending far more badly.
In that video, Woods told officers, “I looked down at my phone, and all of a sudden, boom.” He also told them he had not consumed alcohol that day and answered “I take a few” when asked about prescription medication. Authorities later reported finding two white pills in his pocket, identified as hydrocodone.
That detail sits uneasily beside the official account of the stop. Woods passed the breath test, yet officers suspected his normal faculties were impaired by an unknown substance, and he later said on social media that he was stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment and focus on his health. The incident marked his second arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence.
What plea Woods will enter has not been made public, but the hearing on Wednesday morning is the point where the case changes shape. After months of arrest records, videos and statements, the court is about to show whether this stays a DUI case on paper or becomes something else in practice.
