A Florida appeals court has upheld the conviction of former Naples attorney Giselle Guzman in the 2022 death of a bicyclist she struck and left behind on a residential street, rejecting her argument that her young daughter, who was in the car at the time, should have testified in her defense. The ruling came down on October 23.
Florida's Sixth District Court of Appeals affirmed Guzman's conviction for leaving the scene of a crash involving death, according to Naples Daily News. The panel, Chief Judge Dan Traver and Judges John K. Stargel and Paetra T. Brownlee, had heard oral arguments in Orlando on September 17.
Guzman had argued on appeal that her daughter, who was riding in the car during the crash, should have been called as a witness at trial.
A Deadly December Night on 41st Street Southwest
The case traces back to December 9, 2022, when 45-year-old bicyclist Alberto Martinez Gonzalez was killed along 41st Street Southwest near 22nd Avenue in Naples. Guzman testified that she initially believed she had hit an animal. Security footage, meanwhile, appeared to show her talking to her daughter in a way that acknowledged she had struck a person, the outlet reported.
At the time of the crash, Guzman was a 33-year-old associate at Wicker Smith O'Hara McCoy & Ford in North Naples. A Collier County jury convicted her on one count of leaving the scene of a crash involving death following a four-day trial, according to a statement from the State Attorney's Office, which described Martinez Gonzalez simply as the bicyclist killed in the encounter.
Sentencing, Bond, and a Judge's Retirement
Retired Collier Circuit Judge Elizabeth Krier sentenced Guzman to four years in prison followed by 10 years of probation. The timing of that sentencing is disputed in the record: the State Attorney's Office said in its release that sentencing was scheduled for November 20, 2024, while Naples Daily News reported it actually took place on November 21, 2024. Krier set Guzman's bond at $100,000 at that same hearing, allowing her to remain free while she appealed.
Suspended From Practicing Law
Guzman's legal career has also unraveled since her arrest. She was suspended in 2025 pending disciplinary proceedings. Her sentence was four years in prison followed by 10 years of probation.
Under Florida law, leaving the scene of a crash involving death is treated as a serious felony. Florida Statute 316.027 makes it a first-degree felony to willfully violate the law's requirements after a fatal crash, according to the Florida Legislature. The same statute requires the state to revoke the driver's license of anyone convicted under it.
For now, Guzman's fate hinges on two unresolved legal processes running in parallel: the appellate court's opinion is not final until the rehearing window closes, and prosecutors' push to revoke her bond has yet to reach a hearing. The Martinez Gonzalez family, and the Naples community where the crash happened, are left waiting to see whether the attorney will be ordered back into custody to begin serving the sentence Krier imposed nearly two years ago.
