Fine:

BAC under .15: $500-$1000

BAC over .15: $1000-$2000

Incarceration:

BAC under .15: Up to 6 months

BAC over .15: Up to 9 months

Probation: Up to 1 year

Probation Conditions:

DUI School,

Substance Abuse Course,

Complete treatment if called for,

50 hours of community service,

Impound DUI vehicle for 10 days

License Suspension: 6 months to 1 year

Fine:

BAC under .15: $1000-$2000

BAC over .15: $2000-$4000

Incarceration:

BAC under .15: Up to 9 months

BAC over .15: Up to 12 months

If prior DUI occurred within last 5

years: 10-days jail mandatory

Probation: Up to 1 year

Probation Conditions:

Multiple Offender DUI School,

Substance Abuse Course,

Complete treatment if called for,

50 hours of community service,

Impound DUI vehicle for 30 days

License Suspension:

Last DUI was more than 5 years

before current DUI: 6 months to 1

year

Last DUI was within 5 years of the

current DUI: 3 years

Fine:

BAC under .15: $2000-$5000

BAC over .15: $4000-$5000

Incarceration:

More than 10 years since last

DUI: 1 year

Less than 10 years since DUI: 5

years, 30 days mandatory

Probation:

More than 10 years since last DUI:

1 year

Less than 10 years since last DUI:

5 years

Probation Conditions:

Multiple Offender DUI School,

Substance Abuse Course,

Complete treatment if called for,

50 hours of community service,

Impound DUI vehicle for 90 days

License Suspension:

Previous DUI more than 10 year: 6

months to 1 year

Previous DUI within last 5 years: 5

years

Previous DUI within last 10 years:

10 years

Fine:

BAC under .15: $2000-$5000

BAC over .15: $4000-$5000

Incarceration: Up to 5 years

Probation: Up to 5 years, mandatory 30 days jail

Probation Conditions:

Multiple Offender DUI School,

Substance Abuse Course,

Complete treatment if called for,

50 hours of community service,

Impound DUI vehicle for 90 days

License Suspension: Permanent

Fine:

Same as number of DUIs and BAC

Incarceration: Up to 5 years

Probation: Up to 5 years

Probation Conditions:

DUI School,

Substance Abuse Course,

Complete treatment if called for,

50 hours of community service,

Impound DUI vehicle for 90 days

License Suspension: At least 3 years

Fine:

Same as number of DUIs and BAC

Incarceration:

Mandatory minimum 4 years and;

If did not flee scene: up to 15 years

If fled scene up to 30 years

Probation:

If did not flee scene: up to 15 years

If fled scene: up to 30 years

Probation Conditions:

DUI School,

Substance Abuse Course,

Complete treatment if called for,

50 hours of community service,

Impound DUI vehicle for 90 days

License Suspension: Permanent

“Why was I stopped?”

In Florida, anyone, regardless of their level of sobriety, can be stopped if person commits a traffic infraction. Because there are so many traffic laws, it is not uncommon or difficult for an officer to observe a traffic infraction.

In addition to traffic infractions, police officers can stop a person if they have “reasonable suspicion” that a crime is in progress, about to occur, or has occurred.

In absence of a specific traffic infraction, DUI stops can happen when all of the circumstances give the officer reasonable suspicion that a DUI is taking place. For example, if an officer observes a person stumble out of a bar, fumble for the keys, and then get into a car to drive, then that officer could rightfully stop that person without observing a traffic infraction.

There are some circumstances, such as a traffic crash, where law enforcement is investigating something else and make observations that give them suspicion that a DUI might have also occurred.

Knowing the reason for the DUI stop is vital in assessing the options in any DUI case. If there was no legal basis for the stop, then the bad stop might invalidate all of the other evidence police obtained. Knowledge of the full facts of the case is crucial for making this determination.

Even if you weren’t stopped under suspicion for DUI, an officer might get that suspicion after interacting with you during a traffic stop.

An officer cannot detain a person based upon a mere hunch. However, many circumstances that would justify a DUI investigation can be immediately apparent law enforcement. In other words, it does not take much or long for a traffic citation stop to quickly transition into a DUI investigation.

In addition to any observations from the driving pattern, law enforcement can consider other signs of impairment, such as: odor of alcohol or other intoxicating substances, slurred speech, glassy eyes, bloodshot eyes, delayed or inappropriate responses to questioning, statements admitting to the consumption of alcohol or other intoxicating substances. When law enforcement has initiated a valid DUI investigation, then you are not free to leave.

Your statements and conduct are being used by the officer to determine whether there is enough evidence to arrest you for DUI. You never have to cooperate with this investigation and, if you are guilty of DUI, cooperation might generate even more evidence against you.

However, be aware that, when get your Drivers License, you agree to submit to a breath, urine, or blood test if an officer has probable cause that you have committed a DUI and that officer has requested that you submit to such a test. Failure to submit to this testing will result in an immediate license suspension. If you have previously refused to submit to testing, refusal to submit to testing again could result in a misdemeanor charge.

A person can be convicted of DUI when driving, but also when that person is in “actual physical control” of a vehicle, which is not necessarily the same as driving.

In many instances, law enforcement rightfully stops a person on suspicion of DUI before he or she actually drives. An obvious reason for this is so as not to engager anyone else by letting a person drive while intoxicated.

For example, a person sleeping in a validly parked car can still be arrested for DUI because that person is in “actual physical control” of the vehicle, even though the car is not moving.

Whether someone is in “actual physical control” of a vehicle can be complicated. For example, where are the keys? On the dashboard or in the trunk? Were there any intentions of driving?

In cases where “actual physical control” is questionable, it vital to assess such issues with an attorney skilled and experienced in DUIs.

In what kind of vehicle can I get a DUI?

Just about anything.

In Florida a “vehicle” is defined as:

“Every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except personal delivery devices, mobile carriers, and devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.”

Thus, a person can get a DUI in a car, bike, scooter, riding lawn mower, Power Wheel, any type of vehicle. Although this definition focuses on “highways,” a separate statute, 327.35, also makes DUI laws apply to boats.

While one can get a DUI in just about any type of vehicle, different types of vehicles have different traffic laws that apply. For this reason, the type of vehicle might still be relevant for the question of whether law enforcement had the right to stop in the first place.

What happens if I refuse to do the Field Sobriety Tests?

Can I be forced to do the Field Sobriety Tests?

For a driver under investigation for DUI, these are important questions.

Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs), often said interchangeably with Field Sobriety Exercises (FSEs), are a series of activities a driver is asked to perform to evaluate that driver’s level of intoxication. The more intoxicated, the harder it is to complete the exercises.

Some exercises, such as making you follow an officer’s pen with your eyes, evaluate involuntary reactions your body is having to substances.

For example, alcohol will make it such that your eyes involuntarily bounce as the eyes reach either side of the eye socket. Other involuntary reactions include choppy pursuit of the stimulus, bloodshot and/or watery eyes, and abnormal pupil size.

The Field Sobriety Exercises are designed to test your level of cognition, self-awareness, and ability to follow instructions, and physical abilities, such as balance.

If you are not intoxicated, performing these exercises may result in an officer letting you drive home. However, be aware: if you are being asked to perform them, it is because the officer is suspicious that you are intoxicated and you are being investigated for DUI.

If you refuse to perform FSTs, the officer will make a decision as to an arrest based upon his observations without the exercises. In some cases, a person’s level of intoxication is plainly obvious. In other cases, the level of intoxication is not obvious, but the exercises end up demonstrating significant impairment.

There is no direct consequence to refusing roadside Field Sobriety Exercises. However, an indirect consequence might be that the officer arrests you because the officer already believed you to be intoxicated before asking you to do the exercises.

Refusal of Field Sobriety Exercises should not be confused with Refusal of a breath, blood, or urine test. Refusal to perform the exercises has no direct consequence. There are, however, consequences for refusing a breath, blood, or urine test.

Please see that drop-down explanation for more information on refusing breath, blood, or urine samples.

Do I have to blow into the machine?

Do I need to provide a blood or urine sample?

You have a Fifth Amendment not to cooperate with any investigation against you, including a DUI investigation.

However, refusing to perform a breath, blood, and/or urine test will likely result in a license suspension and your refusal can be used against you in your DUI case.

When a person gets a drivers license in any state, that person agrees that he or she will submit to a breath, blood, or urine test if an officer has probable cause for a DUI and requests such a test. Failure to submit to the breath, blood, or urine test can result in an automatic license suspension and, if there was at least one prior refusal, is a misdemeanor in Florida.

When considering whether to submit to one of these tests, know the following:

If you provide a breath sample above .08, your license will still be suspended due to your breath alcohol level and then again after a DUI conviction.

A sample above .08 is enough evidence to prove a person was legally intoxicated, regardless of how well that person performed on Field Sobriety Exercises.

If you aren’t going to blow below .08, giving a breath sample will likely create as many problems, if not more, than refusing to submit to the test.

If you are being asked to provide a urine sample, especially if you have already provided a breath sample under .08, the urine tests won’t be back for weeks and law enforcement will likely keep you under arrest.

In addition, urine is “historical,” meaning that the substances showing up in your urine are waste products from your body.

Some substances will show in one’s urine for days. For that reason, the substances shown in one’s urine are not necessarily indicative as to what, if anything, was affecting a person at the time of the DUI.

Blood draws can be mandatory in some instances. Florida law allows law enforcement to take a “forced blood draw” where there is probable cause that a driver is impaired and has been involved in an accident with serious bodily harm or death. In some, but not all cases, law enforcement needs to get a warrant to force a blood draw. Unlike urine, blood can show what is actively impacting someone at the time of the blood draw.

If you are being told that you “must” give a blood sample or you are being asked for consent to give a blood sample after an accident with serious bodily harm or death, consenting to provide one likely waives any argument you might later have that law enforcement did not have the right to require a blood sample.

If law enforcement is advising that you are required to provide a blood sample and you do not want to give one, do not resist but make it clear that you do not consent to the blood draw.

The bottom line is that, by providing a breath, blood, or urine sample, you may be offering evidence that will be used to convict you when, perhaps, the case was not up to snuff without the evidence.

There will almost certainly be consequences for refusing such tests, but there may be even more consequences if you assist in securing a DUI conviction.

Issues, such as a license suspension, can be contested after your arrest.

If law enforcement has arrested you on probable cause for a DUI and/or you have provided a breath sample above .08, law enforcement will seek to immediately suspend your drivers license. Some drivers are eligible for a 10-day grace period before the suspension.

This suspension occurs whether or not you are later convicted of DUI and is not the same suspension one receives after a DUI conviction.

However, Florida Statute 322.2615, provides that a driver may request either an informal or formal hearing on whether or not the license should be suspended. Particularly during a formal hearing, the hearing requires a legal analysis, presentation of evidence, and potentially witness testimony.

If you are seeking to prevent your license from being suspended, you have your best chance with a lawyer on your side. You’ll need one for the DUI anyway.