Posts Tagged ‘DUI lawyer in Florida’
Monday, March 26th, 2012
In the event that you were arrested for a DUI-related offense, you might think that an official report concerning your charges would be unique to you and your case. However, this is not the case as more and more law enforcement officers have begun to use a template or pre-written form for each arrest. These reports are supposed to be specific to each motorist arrested, and because they are signed under oath by the arresting officer they are subject to any perjury charges. You might also think that being subject to perjury charges would encourage officers to not only submit genuine arrest reports, but to care about the reports and the implications they might carry.
The unfortunate reality is that if your case goes to court and the arresting officer has to testify in front of a judge he may very likely find himself at a loss for memory of the specific arrest. In this case, he will go back to the pre-written form/template that he filled out. Rather than filled out an official report that is specific to your case, complete with everything surrounding your case; the officer who arrested you may have decided to “cut corners” and fill out a form. Since the arresting officer probably will not remember the specifics about your case, he/she will quickly review the pre-written official report, hoping that the quick review will jog their memory. Only it doesn’t and the officer gives a testimony based on a faulty report. The officer then, in effect, perjures himself as he stands before a court of law and testifies under oath.
In a case originating in Florida, the defendant’s attorney successfully requested a court order from the Highway Patrol for any forms that the arresting officer used when the DUI arrest was conducted. The Highway Patrol turned over a document entitled “field sobriety test,” which appeared to be a template. This document appeared just you might expect a template to, including spaces to fill in the name of the driver, the weather conditions, the location of the stop and subsequent arrest, the environment the field sobriety test was given under and a very narrow empty section specifically designed for the officer to describe their observations during the field sobriety testing.
Typically, arrests do not occur as set sequence of events. There is no plotline or script to follow. Each arrest is different and unique to the offender. Unfortunately, official police reports pertaining to DUI arrest rarely, if ever, reflect this. An experienced Florida DUI attorney would work tirelessly on your case and refute any evidence deemed as misleading, including “templated” police reports.
If you or someone you love has been arrested or charged for a Florida DUI, the experienced Florida DUI attorneys at Musca Law have helped many people avoid the extremely harsh consequences of Florida DUI convictions. We invite you to contact a Florida DUI attorney at Musca Law to schedule a free confidential consultation: (800) 687-2252.
Tags: DUI lawyer in Florida
Posted in Florida DUI, Florida DUI Courts | No Comments »
Friday, January 20th, 2012
While most people think of DUI as driving while under the influence of alcohol, a driver in Florida can be arrested for DUI because of impairment by illegal narcotics, prescription medications or even over-the-counter drugs. A DUI drugs case typically arises after a breath test reveals no indication of alcohol in one’s bloodstream. The police offer will usually ask the driver to perform standardized field sobriety tests (SFSTs) and then administer a breath test. When the breath test does not yield the anticipated results, the officer will then ask the driver to take a blood or urine test. If you arrested for DUI drugs, experienced Florida DUI attorney John Musca has effectively represented those throughout Florida facing DUI charges based on legally prescribed drugs and over-the-counter medications.
DUI drugs cases are more costly and difficult to prosecute because they generally require the district attorney to utilize expert witnesses. Florida DUI drugs attorney John Musca frequently utilizes his own experts that can challenge the evidence of the prosecutor and may help persuade the district attorney to drop the DUI drugs charges or agree to a favorable reduction in charges.
While many Florida residents may be aware that they may be arrested for DUI involving illegal drugs, many do not realize that the same is true of over-the-counter drugs and prescription drugs being taken lawfully by the driver. Many types of prescription and over-the-counter medications can impair one’s driving abilities including coordination, reflexes, judgement and perception. While a driver may be arrested for DUI drugs with nothing but over-the-counter or prescription medications in one’s system, the level of impairment may be increased substantially when mixed with any level of alcohol.
If a police officer determines that a driver failed the SFSTs, which is virtually always the case, but a breath test reveals nominal or no alcohol in the driver’s system, the officer will often inquire about whether the driver has taken any medications. A driver is not obligated to disclose what prescription drugs or over-the-counter drugs the driver has taken. Further, it never advisable to provide such information, which may be used to justify a blood or urine test. Common types of prescription drugs that may form the basis for a DUI drugs arrest include anti-depressants, painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs. The types of over-the-counter medications that may impair driving ability are cold, flu, pain or allergy drugs.
A driver taking any medications in Florida should carefully consider whether the driver’s ability to drive is impacted before climbing behind the wheel of their vehicle. If you are arrested for DUI and have taken prescription drugs or over-the-counter medication, you should contact experienced Florida DUI defense attorney John Musca who has helped hundreds of people charged with DUI throughout Florida. We invite you to contact Florida DUI drugs defense attorney at Musca Law to schedule a free confidential consultation at (800) 687-2252 and learn how we can fight to protect your future.
Tags: DUI lawyer in Florida
Posted in Florida DUI | No Comments »
Friday, November 25th, 2011
Florida drivers pulled over for suspected DUI are faced with a Catch-22. You may be asked to perform field sobriety tests and a preliminary breath test at the scene, which you may refuse. However, you will be taken to the station or a medical center and given a second test. While you can again choose to refuse (except for narrow circumstances involving accidents with injury), Florida’s implied consent law means that your refusal will have significant adverse consequences. The state will summarily suspend your license for a year the first time you refuse and for 18 months for each refusal after the first. These suspensions are in place even if you are found innocent of any DUI charges. If you do consent and have a blood-alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or greater, however, you will have your license suspended for a minimum of 180 days. Our experienced Florida criminal defense lawyers have helped people just like you protect their driver’s license and stay out of jail.
The Florida Uniform Traffic Citation, the yellow ticket you were given at the time of your DUI arrest, counts as a temporary license. Your Florida driver’s license will be taken at the time of a DUI arrest, but the ticket will function as a temporary license for 10 days. This permit allows you to drive for employment or business. Generally, it is permissible to drive to work, your attorney’s office, the store, court or the like, but discretionary trips, which are merely for leisure purposes, are not permitted. During this narrow 10 day window, it is imperative that you file an application for a Formal Review Hearing with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV).
This administrative hearing permits you to challenge your license suspension’s legality and seek reinstatement of your driving privileges. Unless you have other legal or administrative issues with your license besides the DUI suspension, the DHSMV will extend your work-only license an additional 42 days and schedule a hearing for some time in the coming 30 days. If you do not file for a hearing, you will be unable to drive for at least the first 30 days of the administrative suspension. You may enroll in an approved alcohol abuse education program and apply for another temporary work license. A refusal to submit to a formal chemical test means that you must wait 90 days before applying for a work-only license. Subsequent refusals make you ineligible for a temporary work license.
Before the administrative hearing, you (or your attorney, ideally) should prepare a statement and subpoena any witnesses you need, including the police officer. The administrative hearing can be used to challenge whether the officer had probable cause to stop you and whether or not you were over the legal limit unless you refused the test. If you refused, the main issue will be whether the police officer informed you of the consequences of a refusal on your driving privileges. It is virtually impossible to prevail at the administrative hearing without an experienced Florida DUI defense attorney. An experienced DUI defense lawyer will carefully investigate the circumstances of your case so that he or she can protect your license. The attorney will also use the hearing to begin developing a defense strategy to your DUI case.
Tags: Administrative License Suspension in Florida, DUI lawyer in Florida, Florida DUI attorney in Florida, Florida DUI Law, Florida DUI law firm
Posted in Florida BUI | Comments Off
Thursday, November 24th, 2011
A person is out drinking and decides to allow someone else drive home. This is a good decision that makes the driver and others on the road safer because it means the driver does not drink and drive. This is exactly what we want to encourage drivers to do and should protect a driver from the risk of a DUI arrest … well maybe not. An alarming DUI case out of Japan may foreshadow where aggressive legal campaigns against drunk driving may be headed in the U.S. Two passengers who had accepted a ride with a driver who had been drinking and was involved in a fatal accident were convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. This case has already caught the eye of a number of drunk driving activist groups who see it as a way to force passengers to take affirmative steps to keep drivers they know have had too much to drink off the road.
The judge in the Japanese case reasoned that when the two passengers accepted a ride with the intoxicated driver they encouraged the driver to drink and drive. This encouragement was treated as “aiding and abetting” the crime of driving under the influence. While dram shop laws exist in may states that permit civil liability to be imposed on a social host or business (i.e. bar or restaurant) that serves alcohol to an obviously intoxicated person who causes injury in a drunk driving accident, the decision by the Japan court goes much further. It imposes criminal liability, which is why the passengers received a prison sentence.
The court also seems to have stretched the law in terms of “aiding and abetting” a DUI offense. The passengers did not actually encourage or persuade the driver to drive but merely accepted a ride from a person who already made a decision to drive. This is a frightening development because it could pave the way to imposing criminal liability on others who drink and drive where the person charged had no role in the driver becoming intoxicated nor his or her decision to drive. Criminal liability in the U.S. usually is not imposed for mere inaction where the risk of injury to another was not in some way created or set in motion by the person charged.
While no state including Florida imposes liability on passengers whose only alleged criminal act is to accept a ride with a driver who has been drinking, MADD and other drunk driving groups are already touting this decision as a guide for future drunk driving laws in the U.S. The sad reality is that this type of law punishes people for doing exactly what they should do, specifically not getting behind the wheel of a car if they have been drinking. One has to wonder how a law like this would work given that even experienced police officers cannot tell for sure if someone is over the legal limit so it is unclear how the average passenger in a vehicle can be asked to make this determination. If you or someone you love has been arrested and charged with drunk driving, our experienced Florida DUI lawyers will carefully investigate your case to develop the strongest possible DUI defense.
Tags: DUI lawyer in Florida, Florida DUI attorney in Florida, Florida DUI Law, Florida DUI law firm
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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!
Tags: DUI lawyer in Florida
Posted in Florida DUI Penalties | No Comments »
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