Archive for the ‘Florida DUI Penalties’ Category
Thursday, March 8th, 2012
There are times when drivers are faced with a difficult situation: getting pulled over for a suspected DUI, being asked to perform field sobriety tests and/or a preliminary breath test while still roadside and declining to comply, which you have the right to do. You may be taken to the police station or a medical facility and asked to submit to another test, which you can again refuse to do, with the exception of very slight circumstances that involve accidents with injury. However, with Florida’s “implied consent” law, your negation to submit to these diagnostic tests may mean adverse consequences for your refusal. For example, the state of Florida could suspend your license for a period of a year for the first refusal and for a period of a year and a half for subsequent refusals. If you decide to submit to a DUI diagnostic test and have a blood-alcohol-content (BAC) value of or in excess of 0.08, you will have a suspended license for at least 180 days (approximately 6 months).
According to the Florida Uniform Traffic Citation, the yellow ticket that was issued to you at the time of your DUI related arrest can be used as temporary license, as your original government-issued license will be confiscated for a period of 10 days. This temporary permit, as it stands, will allow you to drive for business or employment, for trips to the grocery store, for appointments at your attorney’s office, or other required trips that involve travel. However, driving for leisure-related purposes (i.e. to the local bar) is not allowed. While you are within this 10 day window, it is extremely important to file an application for a Formal Review Hearing with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, commonly known as DHSMV.
A Formal Review Hearing may allow you to challenge the legality of the suspension of your license and possibly pursue restoration of your driving privileges. With the exception of additional legal troubles in addition to your DUI related license suspension, The Florida DHSMV will prolong your work-only license for extra period of 42 days and schedule a hearing within 1 month. However, if you do not file for the Formal Review Hearing, you may experience the penalty of not being able to drive for the first month of the administrative suspension. You have the option of registering for an accepted alcohol abuse education program, which may allow you to apply for an additional temporary work license. If you refuse to submit a “formal chemical test,” then you will forfeit 3 months before you can apply for a work-only license. Any additional refusals to the “formal chemical test” may make you ineligible for a temporary work license. In other words, compliance is the key to getting back in the driver’s seat, legally.
Before your hearing, it is advised that you make substantial preparations. If at all possible, you and your lawyer should prepare your statement and issue subpoenas to any witnesses you may need. For instance, during the hearing, if you subpoenaed the arresting police officer, you may be able to challenge whether he or she had probable cause when you were stopped. In addition, you may be able to question whether or not you were over the legal BAC, barring any refusal to take the BAC diagnostic test. Any refusal to take the determining test would change the issue from being one of probable cause to one of being informed. In other words, did the arresting officer inform you of the consequences of refusing to comply with diagnostic chemical tests? In order to answer this question, you need an experienced, competent DUI defense attorney on your side. If you are in Florida, an experienced Florida DUI attorney will help you from start to finish in the effort to regain and protect your license to drive.
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Wednesday, November 9th, 2011
Sometimes the application of legal penalties is not proportional to the potential harm caused by a violation. This is certainly true with the severe penalties associated with drunk driving. Evidence is mounting that the penalties associated with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol may be out of proportion to the risk of an alcohol-related accident. It is reasonable to presume that the reason for DUI laws is the perceived risk of auto accidents involving those who are under the influence. If there were some way to guarantee that an intoxicated driver would never be involved in a motor vehicle accident, it seems doubtful that DUI laws would even exist. This means that the best way to assess the appropriateness of drunk driving penalties is to consider their relationship to increased accident risks.
While many states have various restrictions on cell phone use while driving, Florida currently does not prohibit talking or texting while driving though a number of bills are currently being considered. Traffic safety experts are increasingly conceding that distracted driving particularly talking or texting on a cell phone may pose as serious an accident risk to motorists as driving under the influence. A recent scientific study directly compared the relative impact of DUI to texting on driving skills and reaction times. The results are quite illuminating:
- Default braking time: 0.54 seconds
- Braking distance for drivers over legal limit: 4 more feet
- Braking distance for drivers who are reading a text message: 36 more feet
- Braking distance for drivers who are composing/sending a text message: 70 more feet
While braking time is not the only driving skill that is impacted by being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, slower reaction times resulting from impaired judgment and slower reflexes is a leading cause of many DUI accidents. Based on this study, one would presume that the penalties for texting while driving are comparable to DUI penalties. However, texting while driving is not even prohibited in Florida so there is no penalty even for a repeat offender who has been involved in multiple accidents while texting.
Even in states where texting and driving is prohibited, it usually constitutes an infraction (meaning no jail time) or non-moving violation and involves a nominal fine of less than $100. By contrast, the sentence for a first time DUI conviction can include:
- Jail Time: A maximum of 6-9 months depending on blood alcohol concentration (BAC)
- Fine: $500-2000 depending on BAC
- License suspension and other penalties
One might assume that the reason that the penalties for DUI are so much harsher is that drunk drivers cause many more accidents. If drunk driving was much less common than texting while driving, this might result in fewer distracted driving accidents. A study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute suggests that distracted driving practices like texting while driving are common behaviors. The study concluded that as many as 80 percent of all accidents are caused at least in part by distracted drivers.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has characterized the problem of drivers using mobile devices like cell phones as an epidemic. The Transportation Department has indicated that distracted driving results in almost 450,000 accident related injuries per year. This number is growing annually as cell phone use and texting continues to increase.
The question remains if distracted driving practices like texting while driving are as dangerous or arguably more dangerous than driving while intoxicated why the difference in penalties. The answer is that DUI penalties have become highly politicized by groups like MADD. The penalties for DUI are as much related to moral outrage promoted by such groups as by the real risk of auto accidents posed by motorists who are under the influence.
This sense of moral outrage affects the District Attorney’s office because members of MADD and other groups vote. Thus, police and prosecutors pursue such cases very aggressively. If you are arrested and charged with DUI, you need an experienced Florida DUI attorney to help you fight for your freedom and to protect both your reputation and driving privileges.
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Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011
Many times you hear of someone being convicted as an accomplice to a robbery or an accomplice to a homicide, but now it is possible to be convicted as an accomplice to drunk driving incident. That involves being convicted of allowing someone who has been drinking get behind the wheel of a vehicle. In one particular case that happened in Maine, men were having a few drinks at a bar.
When they decided to leave, the car owner gave the keys to his car to his friend who had less to drink. They were pulled over and both of them were taken to the police station. The owner of the car, who was not driving, would not take a breathalyzer test since he was not the one at the wheel of the car. Because of his actions, he was charged with attempting to operate a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. He went to trial and he was convicted on principal and as an accomplice.
They appealed the case. The jury found that there was evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty of intent and accomplice liability. The court said that he intentionally gave his intoxicated friend they keys to drive his car, knowing his friend had been drinking. This act gave the jury enough evidence to find him guilty of specific intent.
At the time it may seem like the best solution, but as the law shows, it can get you into trouble. In most courts in America today, any person that is in the car with a driver that has been drinking, even if it is the owner of the car, he or she can be considered liable as a conspirator to a DUI offence. It even goes as far as to say the accomplice does not actually have to be a passenger in the car.
One case that exhibits this is that of Guzman v. State. He let his brother and a fourteen year old drive his car after he gave the boys beer. They were killed and he was charged and convicted of two counts of vehicular homicide. They based if off the fact that he gave the young boys alcohol and keys to the car. Then he sat back and allowed them to get in the car and drive away. He knew what they were doing as well as the risks that were involved with enabling them.
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Monday, October 31st, 2011
When you think about the death penalty, the first thing that comes to mind is first-degree murder, the kind of murder that is premeditated and done in cold blood. No one thinks about vehicular homicide. Mothers Against Drunk Driving have been incredible successful in their quest to pressure political campaigns. They have even gotten some courts to come up with a new sect of murder that they call DUI murder. This is not like excusable homicide or manslaughter. They are putting this in the same category of first-degree murder.
Under normal circumstances, if someone is driving drunk and they kill someone they face involuntary manslaughter charges. It is looked at as an unintentional act of murder that is cause by the driver’s reckless actions. You would think that there would be no comparison between the cold blooded, planned murder like what you see on television and vehicular homicide, but because of the work that Mothers Against Drunk Driving is doing, that gap is narrowing.
In California, a prosecutor ignored the vehicular homicide statute that was previously in place, and he charged a drunk driver with second-degree murder. He was able to make his case and convict the man of second-degree murder. They appealed the case because the prosecutor just pulled this new crime out of thin air. The California Supreme Court did not agree with the defendant and ruled in favor or the prosecution. He was charged as if he acted out of malice and disregard for human life.
There are major problems with this conviction. When the courts tried to explain their ruling, they said the motive was someone who consumes alcohol to the point where he or she is intoxicated while knowing that he or she must drive at the end of the night. That combination impaired judgment and a physical facility is enough to reasonably find intent because of the blatant disregard to the safety of others. This description can describe any person that has any alcohol then got behind the wheel of a car.
The court coined the term “conscious indifference.” This leaves the doors wide open for zealots to try to convict drunk drivers for murder one. In 1997, a man was charged with first-degree murder in a DUI case that involved the death of two people. The prosecutor had pulled for the death penalty but they recommended life without parole.
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Wednesday, September 7th, 2011
One great folly breathalyzers encounter is the fact that they are created to test the average human being, but since no one is the same, the breathalyzer uses an assumptive average gauge that is used to test an individual’s breath. This is a major problem because every person’s physiological make up is different, so the machine honestly has no idea what “average” is except for what it has been programmed to test. This can cause many problems; chiefly being an inaccurate reading which can get many people in unjust trouble; another driving under the influence test that has room for error is the urinalysis test. The urinalysis test assumes the “average” parts of alcohol that already exist in a person’s blood, and compare them to that of the urine being tested. In actuality a person’s urine can vary greatly on a daily basis, and the chance of someone having the accepted average is very slim.
Therefore, if the ration is out of balance for the test, so will be the final results. This constant reliance on what the “average” is should be completely omitted from driving under the influence testing. The fact that the tests have a great chance to be wrong is enough evidence to quit using them. It is not acceptable to use testing that has the potential to be wrong, and then unjustly throw someone in jail that has a “wrong” reading on the urinalysis and breathalyzer tests just because their results were held to the standard of “average” when society does not accurately know what average is. This uncertainty even pervades into field sobriety testing. Officers all across the nation have been trained in the “follow my finger test”, and they have been trained to judge those they test based on what they have been taught about the “average” person. This needs to be changed.
No one has an accurate idea of what the “average” person is, and it is unfair to compare people who have a vast physiological make-up from each other, to one stereotypical average. There are many other valid ways to test people who are believed to be driving under the influence. For example: people who cannot walk a straight line at the risk of falling over would definitely be considered intoxicated. Everyone is capable of walking a straight line sober, unless they have a medical problem. So, those who cannot walk a straight line due to intoxication, this test would be a perfectly valid way to prove their guilt, and charge them with a DUI.
Call 1 800-687-2252 to Speak With a Florida DUI lawyer In Your Area.
Hiring a Florida DUI attorney to aggressively defend you can help you obtain the best possible result in your case. Call our toll-free, Florida DUI Advice Helpline at 1 (800) 687-2252 for a Florida DUI law firm near you (by appointment only).
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Tuesday, August 16th, 2011
It is well known that a DUI arrest can lead to a driver’s license suspension and increased insurance costs. There are other financial consequences that the average law-abiding Florida motorist may not know about but should seriously consider if they have been drinking.
Legal costs for first-time offenders can easily reach $5000 or more. In Florida, a third DUI within 10 years is considered a felony, and all subsequent DUIs are also felonies, regardless if it was within 10 years. Retaining an attorney for a felony matter can cost you a minimum of $15,000, and is usually much higher.
A DUI arrest triggers two legal proceedings–criminal and civil. The criminal proceeding is confined to the actual arrest and criminal penalties, such as possible incarceration, probation and its attendant conditions, fines, and alcohol rehab classes. The civil proceeding takes place with the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, which has the power to suspend anyone’s license for an alcohol-related driving offense. Both matters can be defended by an attorney who may charge you not only two separate fees, but possibly an expert’s fee as well if you decide to challenge your arrest before a judge or jury.
If you decide to plead guilty or are found guilty, and your blood alcohol level was less than .20 percent, your fine for a first offense will range from about $250 to $500. You face up to six months in jail, although a first offender with a minimum blood alcohol level and no other aggravating circumstances, such as an injury accident, will usually receive a much lighter sentence. If your blood alcohol level was over .20 percent or above, your fine increases to between $500 and $1000, and your jail time can be up to nine months. Felonies carry a minimum of one year in jail.
After your arrest, your car will be impounded for 10 days. You will have to pay to have it released. During this time, you will have to use alternate transportation. After you complete a DUI education class, you can apply for a hardship reinstatement allowing you to use your car only to drive to and from work. Some people who drive for a living may find themselves out of work if the terms of their employment preclude a DUI conviction or driver’s license suspension.
Many injury victims file personal injury claims against the offender’s insurance, but if the insurance is inadequate or nonexistent, then the offender may be subject to a civil judgment for medical costs, wage losses, property damage, and pain and suffering.
All motorists are required to carry liability insurance. DUI offenders are classified as high risk since repeat offenders cause about 12 percent of fatal accidents. Consequently, their premiums are extremely expensive and an offender can expect to pay a high cost for several years.
Time in court can lead to lost time from work but being incarcerated inevitably leads to loss of employment. If you are arrested for DUI in Florida, the high cost of a conviction outweighs the cost of an aggressive DUI defense. A Florida DUI defense attorney will usually offer a free consultation so it is a good idea to contact an attorney as soon as possible.
Call 1 800-687-2252 to Speak With a Florida DUI lawyer In Your Area.
Hiring a Florida DUI attorney to aggressively defend you can help you obtain the best possible result in your case. Call our toll-free, Florida DUI Advice Helpline at 1 (800) 687-2252 for a Florida DUI law firm near you (by appointment only).
Tags: DUI Financial Consequences in Florida, Florida DUI Attorney, Florida DUI Penalties
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Wednesday, July 20th, 2011
When it comes down to driving while under the influence, many do not know what all entails from receiving a charge or conviction of such a misdemeanor. Many are in dismay after they actually understand the shocking depth of what the outcome of driving while under the influence truly is within Florida. An individual can expect one of the least extremities of the results is a driver’s license suspense issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) if they have refused to participate in a urine, blood, or breathalyzer test administered by a law enforcement officer.
If an individual submits themselves to the participation of the breathalyzer exam, in which the results show that the blood alcohol level (BAC) is or greater than .08, a license suspense of six months will be giving by the DMV. Now either if your innocent of guilty, you will have a suspended license regardless of the court ruling due to the DMV’s administrative powers, which can be appealed separately ten days within the DUI incident. Many people do not understand how vital time is in this situation, and inevitably must deal with the suspension either way. When and if convicted of a DUI, the real penalties of drinking while under the influence or other substances really comes to play, which are a result of a plea of no contest or guilty.
The proper lawyer will fight and try to bargain the penalties of the conviction, or possible a case dismissal, which then cancel out all the penalties of the conviction associated with driving while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. 180 days within a county jail can possibly be a route of punishment for a first time offender of a DUI, which from there results in possible probation close to 12 months and a hefty fine of $1000. Also DUI school then becomes mandatory, or even rehabilitation services. Besides your motor vehicle being possibly impounded by a county, or state, a driver’s license suspension between six to twelve months will be instated separately from the DMV, which could end up all additively together up to two years. If a BAC of .15 is blown using a breathalyzer will be awarded another hefty fine of $1500 and even nine months within future, as well as an ignition interlock device which has a breathalyzer installed in the vehicle before driving it at all times. Depending on all the convictions that resulted as the driving while under the incident, the driver can easily face more fines to be paid and even a longer stint in jail.
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Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
DUI offenders are generally classified as repeat offenders after their third or subsequent offense in a period of five years. There are many sanctions that the court may impose in order to punish a repeat DUI offender in Florida or to implement rehabilitative procedures for the prevention of repeat offenses. These include licensing or vehicle sanctions, attendance of mandatory alcohol abuse treatment and education programs, increased jail time and more. Whenever a DUI charge involves the injury of another person, the punishment provided by the charge generally will be more severe.
The policy rationale behind these escalating sanctions and programs is to discourage repeat Florida DUI offenses because the recidivism rate is relatively high. The effectiveness of increased DUI penalties in preventing recidivism may be questionable because habitual users may have limited control over the quantity, duration, and frequency of their alcohol consumption.
Those struggling with alcohol addiction are not the only Florida drivers convicted of DUI. It is reasonable to assume that rehabilitation programs designed to educate casual drinkers may be much more effective. Many casual drinkers may be more responsive to both educational programs and diversion programs which is why diversion programs and lesser sentences are appropriate for first time DUI offenders in Florida.
Prevention programs designed to discourage repeat DUI offenses includes implementation of an alcohol ignition interlock device, attendance of an approved alcohol highway safety class, and treatment. The type of treatment program that may be imposed for repeat offenders includes an intensive out-patient program or a treatment program at a DOH approved facility. Treatment programs must be provided by a licensed treatment provider, and be monitored by the Court Reporting Network. Another penalty that the court can impose is the confiscation of the offender’s vehicle for a certain period of time.
Requirements like rehabilitative education programs, treatment programs, and alcohol ignition interlock system are mainly to prevent repeat DUI offenses. Obviously, repeat offenses result in larger fines and longer jail sentences. Drunk driving is hazardous to the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists, and other drivers. If you are arrested and charged with DUI in Florida, you may face serious penalties and consequences. Our Florida DUI attorneys may be able to help you reduce these serious consequences or reduce their impact. We know that sometimes people make mistakes and that learning from one’s mistake is more important than imposing punishment. Call our Florida DUI Attorneys today so we can let you know how we can help.
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Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
A recent study suggests that much of the conventional wisdom about the importance of stiffer DUI laws as a way to reduce drunk driving and alcohol related accidents may be based on false assumptions. The study published in the journal of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research analyzed the driving records of forty million drivers including three million drivers with DUI convictions. The study reached some fascinating conclusions that suggest many legislative attempts to reduce drunk driving may be misguided. Florida and other states have continually increased jail time for DUI’s as a form of punishment. However, the study found that jail terms for drunk driving typically have nominal impact on recidivism rates because actual jail terms are not long enough to substantially affect behavior.
The study also offered insight into the impact of drivers license suspension and driver behavior in seeking drivers license reinstatement. According to the study, drivers license suspensions are not particularly effective because 75 percent of all drivers who have their license suspended for DUI report driving in violation of the suspension.
A first time Florida DUI conviction may result in a drivers license suspension of six month to one year while a second conviction within five years may result in a five year license revocation with eligibility for hardship reinstatement after one year. The study revealed that many drivers do not immediately seek reinstatement of their license even when they become eligible.
The study postulates that one of the reasons for this delay is the cost and hardship associate with seeking reinstatement. This is important because the study also indicates that there is a direct correlation between drivers who delay reinstatement and higher recidivism rates. The authors of the study suggest that while programs like ignition interlock programs may be an effective way to prevent repeat DUI offenses, they may have the opposite effect if the cost and administrative burden associated with obtaining reinstatement of a person’s Florida drivers license prevents prompt reinstatement once a driver is eligible.
It also appears that the effectiveness of drivers license sanctions on DUI recidivism is directly linked to the importance that a driver places on having a valid driver license when driving. The key point is that it is not the length of the suspension of a person’s drivers license that tends to indicate likelihood of a repeat offense as it is the prompt timing of seeking reinstatement when eligible. This suggests that programs that focus on education and safety and quick transition back to valid driving status may be a more effective approach to preventing DUI than increases in jail time and the length of license suspensions.
If you or someone close to you has been arrested for DUI in Florida, our experienced DUI lawyer in Florida may be able to help. We will carefully evaluate your case and investigate the facts surrounding your stop, BAC testing, field sobriety testing, arrest and other evidence so that we can advise you of your options. Call us today to see how we can help!
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