West Palm Beach Dui Attorneys – West Palm Beach is known for offering tourists and residents great beaches, restaurants, shopping and nightlife. Many people enjoy going to Downtown, Clematis, the Kravis Center, and the Norton Museum of Art. With so much nightlife and entertainment, West Palm Beach has a lot of DUI arrests.
If you have been arrested for DUI in West Palm Beach, your case will be heard before a district court judge in the West Palm Beach Courthouse. The county court division has multiple judges and a prosecutor is assigned to each case. Our DUI attorney will look for weaknesses in the DUI case against you to help you get the best possible outcome.
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A first time DUI in West Palm Beach can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony. DUI is a misdemeanor as long as no one is seriously injured in the accident. A misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail if a breathalyzer or blood test shows an alcohol content of less than 0.15. The misdemeanor is punishable by up to nine months in jail if tests show a blood alcohol content of 0.15 or higher. A first DUI is punishable by up to a year in jail if the accident occurs. DUI is a third-degree felony DUI punishable by up to five years in prison if the accident results in serious bodily injury.
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Your DUI in West Palm Beach may have been tied up in one of these ways. As locals, we know the speed limits on the roads that may be relevant to your DUI stop. Traffic violations require probable cause for the police to stop you. Have you been pulled over for speeding or not following your lane? These types of stops can be contested, resulting in your DUI case being dismissed.
The DUI defense strategy we employ involves finding and exploiting weaknesses in the prosecutor’s case against you. We wonder why the police stopped you. Many times the police stop the driver without a valid reason. The police must have probable cause to stop you for a traffic violation or reasonable suspicion. The police must need a reason to stop you. Without cause, we can potentially dismiss the entire DUI case.
Florida law requires that a second DUI offender be sentenced to at least ten days in jail if the second DUI arrest occurs within 5 years of the first DUI conviction. If this is your second DUI offense, you should definitely talk to a DUI attorney. In addition, you will face a five-year driver’s license suspension.
Unfortunately, Miranda only applies to statements made by the defendant as a result of “custodial interrogation.” These are statements designed to elicit an incriminating response while the accused reasonably believes that he is not free to leave police custody. For example, a person sitting in a police car on the way to jail is an example of someone in police custody. A police officer who then asks the defendant if he had been drinking and driving is cross-examining the defendant because the question is designed to elicit an incriminating response.
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However, in DUI cases, the prosecutor often does not need a statement from the defendant to prove his case.
Being over .08, the legal limit in Florida, does not mean you will be convicted of DUI. A DUI case can be attacked in a number of ways to either reduce it to a reckless driving charge or have the charge dismissed. The police must follow the correct legal procedures to use evidence against you. In some DUI cases, the police violate the defendant’s Fourth Amendment by stopping a vehicle without probable cause. Such violations may allow us to render inadmissible evidence collected by the police. The police will also have to monitor you for twenty minutes before the breath test. If the police have not completed the mandatory observation period, the breath test results may be inadmissible.
In most cases, if you refuse a breath test, your driver’s license will be suspended for one year for refusing the first breath test. If you have a previous DUI breathalyzer, the DMV will suspend your license for 18 months. However, refusing a breath test makes it more difficult for the prosecution to prove that you were driving under the influence of alcohol. That’s because the prosecutor can’t tell the jury he was over the legal limit. Instead, you must prove to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that your normal faculties were impaired. It is more difficult to convince a jury that a person’s physiological abilities were impaired compared to a presentation of intoxication, a breath test of 0.08 or higher.
It is much easier to reduce a DUI to reckless driving if a person has not taken a breath test than if they have given a breath test reading of 0.08 or higher.
Can You Be Convicted Of A West Palm Beach Dui If You Refuse A Breathalyzer Test? — Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney Blog — December 11, 2022
Every case is different and not every case results in reckless driving. When negotiating a DUI reduction with a DUI client attorney, the prosecutor will look at the driver’s criminal history and whether there are any aggravating factors in the case. For more information on negligent plea deals, see our blog post on how to convert a DUI to reckless driving.
I was sleeping in my car in West Palm Beach when the cops arrived, can I get a DUI?
Florida law states that a person can be arrested for DUI if they have “actual physical control of the vehicle.” An actual physical check might mean the person was asleep in the front seat with the keys in the ignition. Whether someone had actual physical control of the vehicle depends on the circumstances of each case. West Palm Beach DUI attorneys can tell you if you had actual physical control of your vehicle when the police pulled you over for DUI.
In most DUI cases, if you do not have a criminal record, we can get you into the Palm Beach County DUI diversion program. This program allows DUI offenders to avoid jail time. In addition, the program offers the added benefit of a reduced DUI charge to reckless driving. You also won’t get any points on your license.
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A DUI cannot be removed from your record. This is why it is important to consult with a DUI attorney. We may be able to reduce your case to reckless driving or even dismiss the charge entirely. It all depends on the facts of your particular case. A reckless driving charge with a conviction can entitle you to have your record sealed.
Florida Statute 324.023 states that a person convicted of DUI must purchase and maintain personal injury insurance in the amount of $100,000/$300,000 for 3 years. This is called FR-44 insurance and a person convicted of DUI must have it before their license can be reinstated.
The FR-44 FR is for financial responsibility and the driver’s insurance company sends a proof of financial responsibility to the Florida Department of Highway Safety.
A DUI is a felony if you have two prior DUIs and the second DUI conviction occurs within 10 years of the third DUI arrest. For example, if your second DUI conviction occurred in 2013 and your third DUI arrest occurred in 2022, you may be charged with a felony DUI. A DUI offense is punishable by up to five years in prison and a ten-year driver’s license suspension. Florida law requires that a defendant convicted of a felony must serve 30 days in jail or a correctional facility.
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Why did the policeman ask me to get in line, put my foot up and count to thirty?
Walking the line is a test of walking and turning. This is one of the main field sobriety tests or agility tests that cops use to get ammunition in DUI cases against you. It is true that the officer believed you had problems before asking you to take this test. Even if you pass this test, there is a high chance that the police will arrest you. The same goes for the one leg test. The policeman asked you to read standing up. This is a divided attention task in that it tests your ability to perform a mental exercise (counting) along with a physical exercise (holding your leg up). The problem is that these tests lack scientific credibility. It’s not easy
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