Posts Tagged ‘florida dui statutes’

Driving While Under the Influence of Drugs in Florida: What You Should Know

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Before a recent fatal traffic accident in Florida, one of the passengers sent a text to her sister’s cell phone expressing her concern that the driver had just taken an oxycontin, a powerful narcotic for which the driver had a prescription. Soon thereafter, the passenger was dead from a car accident for which the driver had not yet been charged pending further investigation.

Anyone who operates a motor vehicle on Florida’s highways has a duty of care to their passengers and to other motorists on the roadways, including pedestrians. The reasonableness of their actions is determined by the particular circumstances or conditions that exist at the time of their offense. Your driving conduct would be unreasonable if you were driving at the posted speed limit, but it was snowing heavily or the roadway was covered in dense fog.  Driving while impaired by alcohol or any other substance would be considered unreasonable behavior as well as illegal.

Florida does not have a “per se” law that prohibits anyone from driving if they have a detectable amount of an illegal drug or its metabolite in their blood.  A motorist can still be arrested if the officer suspects that the driver was under the influence of any drug, but unlike alcohol for which a blood level of 0.08 percent or higher makes it illegal for anyone to drive, there is no corresponding national standard to measure for drug impairment.  Some states, however, have passed measures establishing a blood level of 2 nanograms of marijuana to be considered impaired.

If the drug was legally prescribed, a driver can still be arrested and convicted for DUI if the officer considered the driver impaired. A law enforcement officer who stops a motorist for speeding, driving recklessly, or after an accident, can ask that a driver take a breath test followed by a urine or blood test.  It is the act of driving that led to the violation or accident that could reasonably be construed as impaired if the officer had a reasonable suspicion that the motorist had taken a drug that caused the impaired behavior, which led to the violation or accident. Objective signs of impairment can include confusion, a dazed look, extreme fatigue, slurred speech, or irrational behavior or responses.

While many drug takers develop tolerances to their medications, other people who are taking prescribed medication for the first time or over a short time may not be accustomed to the effects of the drug, which may cause drowsiness, confusion, or lack of coordination. Driving while under the influence in these situations can subject the motorist to arrest.  If you have been arrested for DUI or DWI for drugs, you should contact a Florida criminal defense attorney to determine your rights and potential defense strategies.

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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Posted in Drug Related DUI in Florida | Comments Off

“Baby DUI”, Driver’s License Suspension on Citizens Under 21

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Before a person turns the age of twenty-one, they can go through many new life lessons at a particular time. Colleges, moving out of the nest, or even careers affect the lives of many young adults before they turn twenty-one. However, alcohol affects millions of older teenagers, and young twenty year olds every year. If a driver that has been accused, and or arrested, of driving while under the influence of alcohol or other substances that can cause impairment in coordination, responses, and reflexes is treated differently compared that of those at the age of twenty one or older. Possession of alcohol or any other substances, legal or illegal, is not justified until a citizen reaches the age of twenty-one, which limits charges associated with it varying. Previously, alcohol was legal for consumption at the age of eighteen in all of the U.S. states until a national campaign in the 1980’s led to the age of consumption being bumped up to twenty-one. Even though the age of legal drinking arose, so did the toughening of DUI stature, and laws throughout all parts of the country.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, also known as the DMV, under certain circumstances, administers the submission and suspension of driver’s license.  These circumstances include, but are not limited to: the refusal to submit to blood, urine, or breath test, or being accused, and charged of driving while under the influence of alcohol or other substances. A DUI defendant can easily use any refusal for cooperation with field sobriety tests in the court of law, as an evidence of the driver’s knowledge, or guilt of driving while under the influence.

If a driver under the age of twenty-one is arrested for a DUI, they are treated completely differently compared to that of someone of or above the age of twenty-one. If a blood alcohol content (BAC) is read and registered at 0.02 percentage or higher, the driver’s license of the individual will be suspended for six months. If a second subsequent driving event and arrest occurs, the license is then suspended for a year. To discourage the refusal of blood or breath tests, license suspension on the first occasion will last a full year, and on the second occasion eighteen months.

If a driver’s license has been suspended from an individual from the DMV, the citizen has ten days to request an administrative hearing to discuss the foundation of the suspension with the agency. On a usual basis, a police officer will be called to testify for the reason of the traffic stop, the circumstances of the stop, and what lead to the determination of the driver being under the influence of alcohol or other substances behind the will. From these hearings alone, a driver may have their license fully restored to all driving abilities, even if a State Attorney’s Office seeks the proceeding of prosecution of the DUI of the driver in a criminal court.

Call 1 800-687-2252 to Speak With a Florida DUI lawyer In Your Area.

Hiring a Florida DUI lawyer 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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Forced Blood Draw DUI Checkpoints an Affront to Fourth of July Values

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

The Fourth of July is a time to celebrate the unique culture of America founded on principles of individual liberty and protection from the oppressive over-reaching of the government embodied in the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence.  What better way to celebrate this tradition and history than to tear up portions of both documents by implementing “no refusal” checkpoints.  No refusal checkpoints magnify the affront to the values embodied by the Fourth Amendment posed by DUI checkpoints that allow intrusion on citizens’ rights to be free of search and seizures not based on a scintilla of evidence of unlawful activity.  Florida is one of a number of states utilizing “on-call” judges at holiday DUI checkpoint to issue warrants for forcible blood draws when motorist refuse breath test.

Florida has an implied consent law that provides that a driver gives consent to submit to chemical testing via breath or blood when exercising the privilege to drive on Florida roadways.  Florida DUI law generally does not prohibit a driver from refusing a chemical test for blood alcohol concentration (BAC), but does impose consequences.  A refusal to submit to breath or blood testing will result in a 12 month license suspension on a first offense and then constitute a misdemeanor and an 18 month suspension for subsequent refusals of BAC chemical testing.  Generally, you may choose to accept these penalties without a more intrusive infringement on your Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure of a forcible blood draw for DUI though there is an exception for DUIs that result in an accident involving serious injury or fatality.

We have previously discussed in this blog the notion that DUI checkpoints are a glaring exception to the requirement that police not stop motorists when there is absolutely no evidence that the motorist has done anything illegal.  This intrusion on Fourth Amendment protections is based on what the U.S. Supreme Court considers a compelling state interest in preventing drunk driving accidents.  However, the rationale that the nation’s highest court used in carving out this exception to search and seizure requirements was largely based on very brief periods of detention and questioning with a cursory view of the inside of one’s vehicle that accompanies such a detention.

The notion of strapping someone down and forcibly taking one’s blood is hardly a brief and minimal intrusion.  Sadly, it appears that Florida and other states may be headed down a slippery slope that permits an intrusive search and seizure that is initiated from a vehicle stop where there was not a scintilla of evidence to justify the initial stop.  It is all the more ironic that the celebration of the values and protections envisioned by our Founding Fathers and embedded in the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence should serve as the basis for such a frontal attack on those same values and principles.

The concept of forced blood draws based on stops without evidence of wrongdoing are even more objectionable because a motorist cannot refuse a breath test without consequences.  Since a refusal already results in a driver’s license suspension as well as a misdemeanor charge for drivers with more than one refusal, there is even less justification for allowing officers to further violate the spirit of the Fourth Amendment by permitting forced blood draws at DUI checkpoints.

Our Florida DUI defense attorneys are committed to defending and fighting for the Constitutional protections of our clients.  We believe that limits on government abuse of authority are an important check on law enforcement and prevent the types of tyranny that our Founding Fathers were rebelling against and that the Fourth of July celebrates.

If you or someone you love is arrested for DUI during this holiday weekend, we urge you not to wait to call.  We are ready to do more than just celebrate the freedoms this holiday honors; we are ready to fight to defend these principles.  We offer a free initial consultation so call us today!

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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Posted in Florida DUI Blood Tests, Florida DUI Checkpoints | No Comments »