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Clearwater DUI Lawyers

• Press, Jan: The hiring of an attorney is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements.
• Tinny, Meyer & Piccarreto: Any traffic stop is unsettling, but when your stop involves a DUI charge, the legal consequences begin to multiply. Since a DUI charge can quickly result in heavy fines, the loss of your license, and even incarceration, you will need to reach a Florida DUI lawyer immediately.
• Joseph Montrone: In addition to a criminal trial for a DUI/DWI defense case, an administrative suspension may occur with each arrest. Contesting this action in a timely matter is vital to maintaining your driving privileges. Moreover, successful convictions in a drunk driving case can carry serious penalties now and can also influence the severity of penalties for subsequent convictions. You may feel or have been told that securing an attorney to represent you in your DUI/DWI defense case will have little effect upon the outcome of your case. This is not true
• Kwall, Showers, Coleman & Barac: Q: Do I need a lawyer even if I am innocent? A: Every criminal defendant needs an attorney. Innocent people do end up in jail, and the best way to prevent such a miscarriage of justice is to hire a criminal defense lawyer. Your lawyer will work throughout the criminal justice process to ensure that your rights are protected and that the truth prevails.
• Harvey Spinowitz: You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.
• Thomas Donnelly: A conviction for a felony or even certain misdemeanors may have very serious implications. These convictions can often lead to problems in your current employment and can also lead to loss of driving privileges. Possible solutions to these serious criminal charges include, depending on the facts and circumstances of the case, prompt intervention with the prosecutor, suppression of evidence, pretrial intervention programs, entry of a withholding of adjudication, a negotiated plea, and/or acquittal of all charges.
• Bauer, Crider, Pelligrino & Perry: All DUI offenders will suffer some period of suspension without any possibility of obtaining a temporary or business purposes license.
• Charles Holloway: Police may request that the Driver take a breath (Intoxilyzer), urine or blood test. Results may be admissible as evidence, and if .08% or higher, constitute evidence of impairment. Refusal to take the tests may also be admissible in evidence.
• Larry Sandefer: In Florida, if you have been arrested for DUI and your breath test result was .08 or higher, or you refused to take the breath test, the officer probably took your driver's license from you. You have 10 days to request a formal review hearing with the Department of Motor Vehicles to contest that suspension and attempt to get your license back. It is important to contest that suspension and attempt to get your license back. It is important to contact an attorney within that 10-day period. If you do not request the hearing, or do not prevail at the hearing, there are certain periods of time in which you will not be able to drive or obtain a hardship license.
• Carlson & Meisner: Florida Statues provide that anyone over the age of 21 who is driving with a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of .08% or more is legally impaired and would be subject to arrest for Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol.

  DUI - Driving Under the Influence

  When you have been arrested for a DUI, you need a lawyer who can protect your rights and make sure you are treated fairly. A DUI charge can have serious consequences. Our goal is to do everything possible to preserve your rights, keep your record clean and prevent you from losing your freedom and your license to drive. Timely contact with an attorney is imperative to do this.

  Remember that your arrest includes a cancellation of your driving privileges. Your DUI citation acts as your temporary driving permit for ONLY 10 DAYS following your arrest. If you or your attorney do not request a DMV hearing within 10 calendar days (including weekends) following your arrest, you forfeit your ability to challenge any DMV administrative suspension. In order to assure the possibility of maintaining your right to drive, you must apply for a Division of Motor Vehicles hearing within 10 days of your arrest.

  You may be asking yourself many of the following questions:

  • Should I pay the other traffic ticket that I got with my DUI ticket?
  • What if I live out of state - must I stay in the state or do I have to come back to Florida for a court appearance?
  • Could the DUI affect my job? What about my insurance rates?
  • If a video of my field sobriety test was made, how will it be used?
  • May I drive now? Can I get Hardship license?
  • What does the breathalyzer test prove? Should I have taken the breath test or refused it?
  • How long will this case take? How much will it cost? What if I have a previous DUI?
  • What if I damaged property - or injured someone - or both? Could I go to jail?

  Depending on the unique circumstances of each case, there are numerous challenges that can be made to fight a DUI charge. The circumstances of each traffic stop and arrest, breathalyzer test and equipment must be carefully evaluated. We are the only law firm in Clearwater - and one of only a handful on the West coast of Florida - to have our own Intoxilyzer 5000 for DUI defense demonstrations. The model we have is the same as those used by law enforcement throughout the Tampa Bay area. Having our own Intoxilyzer 5000 on site allows us to demonstrate at trial how the tests are administered and how the machines must be maintained in order to provide accurate blood alcohol readings.

• Staack & Simms: It is not a crime to drink and drive but only to do so to the extent your normal faculties to judge distance, exercise physical reactions and operate a motor vehicle are impaired.
• Gail Conolly: You should know that anyone charged with DUI faces certain mandatory sentences which may include:
  • a minimum 6 month drivers license suspension
  • a period of probation
  • a possible jail sentence
  • community service
  • DUI school/alcohol evaluation, fines and court costs
  • mandatory 10 day vehicle impoundment