DUI DEFENSE
 
If you have been arrested for DUI in Florida, it is cause for concern - but not for despair or panic. By hiring a quality defense lawyer who can protect your rights, there are many ways your case may be defendable. Fighting a DUI case requires special skills and extensive experience in the Florida Criminal Justice System.

That’s why it would be a good idea to consider hiring Arthur Higgins, one of America’s Top DUI and DWI Defense Attorneys.
 

• You will be kept in jail for at least 8 hours
• Your license will be suspended immediately

• If your license was valid at the time of the incident, you will be allowed to drive with your DUI ticket for the next 10 days.

• You have 10 days from the day of the incident to request a formal review hearing and get your drivers license back. (Ten Day Rule)

• A temporary permit may be obtained to allow you to drive for up to 45 days until your hearing date.

Being convicted of Driving Under Influence (DUI) in Florida has the following serious legal consequences (for first-time offenders)

• DUI school
• Up to 6 months in jail
• Suspension of your driving privileges for at least 180 days and up to one year.
• Not less than 50 hours of community service
• Not less than $250 or more than $500 fine plus court costs
• Not more than one year probation
• Victim awareness program
• Vehicle impoundment

Permanent DUI conviction on your record for life, which means criminal record.

I will use every available resource to fight your case and get the best possible outcome and avoid extended suspension of your driving privileges. Contact our office for a free consultation. Here are a few ways as your lawyer, I may be able to win your case.

 Ways to Challenge and Beat A Florida DUI

ILLEGAL STOP OF PERSON OR VEHICLE IN FLORIDA
A driver cannot be stopped unless the officer has a reasonable basis to believe that a traffic law or other law has been violated. A person cannot be seized unless a violation has occurred.

WEAVING INSIDE THE LANES IS NOT ILLEGAL IN FLORIDA
Weaving without crossing any lines is not a violation of the law. A vehicle cannot be stopped for that reason.
 

BREATH TESTING IS INACCURATE IN FLORIDA
Virtually all experts concede that one breath test alone is unreliable. Breath testing is subject to various inaccuracies, including a variance as much s +/- 12.5%, non-specificity for ethanol, etc.
 

ANONYMOUS REPORT OF DRUNK DRIVING IN FLORIDA
A car cannot be stopped simply because an anonymous citizen reported that the driver was drunk.
 

STANDARD FIELD SOBRIETY TESTING IS INACCURATE IN FLORIDA
In healthy individuals, the one-leg stand test is only 65% accurate, and the walk-and-turn test is only 68% accurate in determining if a person is under the influence. Those persons with injuries, medical conditions, 50 pounds or greater overweight, and 65 years or older cannot be validly judged by these tests.
 

NON-STANDARDIZED FIELD TESTS ARE INVALID IN FLORIDA
Neither the Federal Government (NHTSA) nor medical science considers touching your finger to your nose, or saying the alphabet, or counting backwards, as valid sobriety tests.
 

BOOKING ROOM VIDEOS IN FLORIDA
Many police stations videotape suspects at the police station, where their speech is clear and their balance is perfect, in spite of police testimony to the contrary.
 

IN-SQUAD VIDEOS IN FLORIDA
More and more often, the suspect’s driving and performance on field tests is being recorded; often contradicting police testimony.
 

FAILURE TO PROVIDE SPEEDY TRIAL IN FLORIDA
If a client is not provided with a trial within a certain period of time, which varies between states, through delays of the court or prosecutor, the charges must be dismissed.
 

POLICE BLOOD TEST INACCURATE IN FLORIDA
Many times, police blood testing fails to follow prescribed rules of testing, analysis, or preservation recommendations.
 

HOSPITAL BLOOD TEST INACCURATE IN FLORIDA
Hospital blood tests overestimate a person’s true level by as much as 25% in healthy, uninjured individuals, and are not statistically reliable in severely injured persons.
 

BREATH TEST OPERATOR UNLICENSED IN FLORIDA
Most states require a Breath Test Operator to possess a valid, unexpired operator’s license, or the breath test result is inadmissible.
 

BREATHALYZER MACHINE MALFUNCTIONS IN FLORIDA
Most states specify that if there is a malfunction or repair of the breath test instrument within a certain period of time before or after a suspect’s breath test, the results of the suspect’s test are presumed invalid.
 

BREATH TEST OPERATOR LICENSE EXPIRED IN FLORIDA
Most states require that a Breath Test Operator must possess an unexpired operator’s license, or the breath test result is inadmissible.
 

BREATH TEST DEVICE NOT APPROVED IN FLORIDA
A breath-testing instrument must be listed on the Federal List of Approved Breath Evidential Instruments and the ISP approved list of Devices, or the results are inadmissible.
 

FAILURE TO PROVE DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE IN FLORIDA
A defendant’s admission to driving, without more, does not prove a charge of driving under the influence.
 

INDEPENDENT WITNESSES IN FLORIDA
Often times, independent witnesses to accidents, bartenders, hospital personnel and others can provide crucial evidence of the defendant’s sobriety.
 

FAILURE TO MIRANDIZE IN FLORIDA
Prosecutors may not use as evidence the statements of a defendant in custody for a DUI when the police have failed to properly issue Miranda Warnings.
 

FIELD SOBRIETY TEST IMPROPERLY ADMINISTERED IN FLORIDA
According to the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration, improperly administered field tests are not valid evidence of intoxication.
 

OFFICER’S PRIOR DISCIPLINARY RECORD IN FLORIDA
A police officer’s previous disciplinary record can be used to attack the officer’s credibility.
 

PORTABLE BREATH TEST INADMISSIBLE IN FLORIDA
Most states prohibit the use of portable breath testing results as evidence at trial in a DUI case.
 

PORTABLE BREATH TEST IMPROPERLY ADMINISTERED IN FLORIDA
The manufacturers of portable breath testing devices require a minimum of two tests to consider the results evidential in nature.
 

FAILURE TO CONDUCT OBSERVATION PERIOD IN FLORIDA
Most states require that a driver be observed continuously for a minimum period, such as twenty minutes, prior to a breath test in order for the results to be considered admissible and valid.
 

EXPERT WITNESSES
Expert witnesses are available to review the validity of breath tests, blood tests and field sobriety tests.
 

MEDICAL AND HEALTH PROBLEMS IN FLORIDA
Medical problems with legs, arms, neck, back and eyes can affect the results of field sobriety tests. Further, other medical conditions can also affect the validity of breath test results.
 

BAD WEATHER IN FLORIDA
Weather reports establishing high winds, low visibility, and other conditions are available to explain poor driving or poor balance.
 

LACK OF PROBABLE CAUSE TO ARREST IN FLORIDA
A police officer must have specific and articulable facts to support any arrest for DUI, or the suspension will be reversed and the evidence suppressed at trial.
 

ILLEGAL SEARCH
The police are prohibited from searching a person or the automobile for a minor traffic offense, and may not search a car without a driver’s consent or probable cause. Any evidence illegally obtained is not admissible in court.
 

PRIOR INCONSISTENT STATEMENTS BY POLICE OFFICERS
Any statement made by a police officer, verbally, in police reports, or at previous court proceedings may be used to attack that officer’s credibility.
 

POST-DRIVING ABSORPTION OF ALCOHOL IN FLORIDA
The prosecutor must prove the blood or breath alcohol at the time of driving. Recent consumption of alcohol just prior to driving will cause the test results to be higher than what the true level was when the person was operating the automobile.
 

INTERFERING SUBSTANCES IN FLORIDA
Many items contain forms of alcohol, which may cause false results, such as asthma spray, cough drops, paints, fingernail polish. These items can cause the breath results to be invalid.
 

BREATH MACHINE NOT PROPERLY OPERATED IN FLORIDA
The manufacturers of breath testing devices have specified protocols, which must be followed for a breath result to be valid. Failure to follow these requirements will result in improper readings.

FAILURES TO PRODUCE DISPATCH TAPES IN FLORIDA
Most stops of vehicles are recorded on dispatch tapes, as well as recording police communications regarding an arrest of an individual. Failure to preserve such tapes upon request can cause all evidence, which could have been recorded to be suppressed.
 

MISLEADING STATEMENTS BY POLICE OFFICERS IN FLORIDA
Any misleading statement by the police regarding the consequences of taking (or refusing) a blood, breath, or urine test will cause the suspension to be reversed and removed from the driver’s record.
 

STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS IN FLORIDA
A misdemeanor charge of DUI must be filed within a certain period of time (which varies between states) of the date of offense, or the charges will be dismissed outright.
 

PRIVATE PROPERTY IN FLORIDA
A person who has not driven the car on a public highway cannot be suspended for drunk driving.
 

FAILURE TO DISCLOSE EXPERTS IN FLORIDA
The failure of the prosecutor to disclose the state’s expert(s) will cause those witnesses to be barred from testifying against the defendant.
 

LACTATE RINGERS IN FLORIDA
When hospital staff use lactate ringers during the treatment of a patient, the hospital blood serum results will report falsely elevated, and therefore invalid, readings.
 

FAILURE TO RECORD CERTIFICATION TESTS IN FLORIDA
The failure to include the value of the simulator solution used to test breath machines will cause the breath test results to be inadmissible in court against the driver.
 

FORCED BLOOD DRAWS IN FLORIDA
In some states, the police may not take a blood test against the driver’s consent where there has not been an injury involved, or the result is inadmissible.

FORMER PROSECUTOR

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