Delray Beach DUI Lawyers

1. Link, Brian: DUI Offenses A DUI offense involves two processes: * Criminal Proceedings * Administrative Review Proceedings for License Suspension - applicable when blood or breath alcohol content was above .08 or for refusing a request for a blood, urine, or breath test. Your License is suspended by default and the right to a review hearing is forfeited if no request is made for the review. The request for the Review must be made within 10 days from the date of issuance of the notice of the driver's license suspension (usually the date of the arrest/stop). For strategic reasons in defending the criminal case, we prefer to represent a client in both the criminal and administrative proceedings. The encounter with law enforcement often consists of specific legally significant events: * Was the driver lawfully stopped by law enforcement? A stop often implicates the 4th amendment restriction against searches and seizures. Evidence resulting from an unlawful stop may be suppressed. * Did the officer have probable cause to affect a DUI arrest? If not, the results of any blood, urine, or breath tests, or evidence of a refusal, may be suppressed. * Were the proper procedures followed in acquiring the sample for the tests? * If the driver requested assistance from the officer to get an independent test and was not able to take the test, the results of the test maybe suppressed. * After the arrest, was the driver properly read his rights to allow his statements to be admissible? In deciding whether to go to trial or plea out some facts to consider are: * During a traffic stop, most officers in Florida have real time computer access to your driving information. It is reasonable that an officer will be on the lookout for impairment in any future driving related encounters. * According to some studies, the recidivism rate (the likelihood of repeating the offense) within one year of a DUI offense is 5%. Long term recidivism rates have been suggested to be 11% for first time offenders and 35% for offenders with more than one DUI. * If your future holds more DUI convictions, consider that the penalties, including jail and/or prison time, increase with each conviction. A fourth DUI conviction results in permanent lifetime revocation of driving privilege[2]. If indeed your future holds more DUI convictions, you may later wish you had challenged a previous DUI case.