Good people are sometimes the victim of circumstances in life and these circumstances sometimes lead to an arrest. Drinking too much and driving afterwards has consequences if stopped by a law enforcement officer. Domestic arguments with a spouse or adult children can often times gets loud resulting in the police being called which means someone is going to jail. Neighbors engaging in pushing and shoving can be an ugly but often times too frequent an occurrence.

Many options are available for the first time offenders offenses which may can result in entry into a Pre-Trial Intervention Program in either Felony and Misdemeanor Courts. These can include simple assault and simple misdemeanor battery offenses. Drug problems are often because of pain syndromes resulting from injuries suffered in automobile collision or slip and fall incidents. The client is unware that he or she is developing a dependency on lawful pain medications given by doctors helping to control the client’s suffering from work or automobile related injuries. Over medication and unexpected reaction to lawful drugs may still result in a person being charged with a drug offense or a driving impaired offense in violation of the laws of the State of Florida.

Drug Court is often the manner to deal with drug offenses which would otherwise remain on a client’s record and affect employment opportunities, college or career choices. When a client successfully completes such an intervention program, the client will secure the dismissal of all criminal charges where the evidence would otherwise amount to proof beyond a reasonable doubt of the client’s guilt and result in a permanent stigma on the client’s record. As a former prosecutor, Mr. Rosello aggressively will attempt to secure the minimum consequences for the client’s actions or the outright dismissal of the criminal charges by the Court or by the State Attorney’s office. The outcome of every criminal charge can affect the client for the remainder of his life and certainly the lives of family members and friends. Professionals face serious licensing problems with State of Florida governmental regulatory bodies who are charged with the restricting or removing of a professional’s right to make a living. Options include entry into treatment centers to improve the person’s chances before the Court in possibly saving one’s professional license or having minimum restrictions on the right to work in one’s chosen profession.

• Motions to reduce bond or withdraw outstanding capias or warrant
• Drug charges
• Juvenile delinquency petitions
• Youthful offenders
• Domestic violence injunctions
• Shoplifting/retail theft
• Driving while intoxicated
• Driving with a suspended license
• Driving while license suspended
• Leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury, death or property damage
• Suspension of driving privileges
• Felonies and misdemeanors State and Federal Court
• Traffic Court
• Violation of probation hearings

Driving Drunk Has Consequences! First Offense:

• Lose your driver’s license for up to a year
• Adjudication of guilt means you have a permanent record and you will have additional consequences if you get a second or third within five or ten years
• Fine from $250 to $500
• Probation from 1 day to 365 days
• County jail time 1 day to 6 months
• 50 hours of community service
• Completion of approval DUI School
• Alcohol and substance abuse evaluation
• License suspension six months (180 days)

Legal challenges begin with an evaluation of the probable cause which existed in the officer’s eyes at the time of the stop which was the basis of the officer’s claim that he or she had reasonable cause to believe the client was driving while impaired. It is not enough in Florida that the color of the car you were driving did not match the color of the car as it appeared on the motor vehicle registration form in the Department of Motor Vehicles. Police officers will attempt to justify the stop and the subsequnet search of the motor vehicle and the driver or occupants.

If standing alone, the fact that you painted your car to another color from the color listed with the Department of Motor Vehicles is insufficient as a matter of law to have a legal stop of your vehicle. A motion to suppress the blood alcohol readings may be granted, eliminating at least one important piece of evidence the prosecutor would be using against the client. For example, an officer who states that he stopped a car because the car you were driving had a “single mirror missing on the exterior of the car” is not a legal basis to stop the driver and the evidence seized from the illegal stop was suppressed. Stops based on “cracks in the windshield” are illegal stops unless the crack in the windshield presents a hazard to the safe operation of the motor vehicle. The same is true regarding stops based upon the non-transparent nature of the rear window.

“SHOULD I REFUSE TO TAKE THE BREATH TEST OR SHOULD I PROVIDE THE BREATH SAMPLE?”

Don’t convict yourself if you know you have been drinking. However, understand that you will not be able to apply for a hardship permit for 90 days into your one year license suspension and your insurance rates will increase.

If you have refused to take the breath test, that does not prevent the DUI case the State Attorney’s Office from prosecuting you for driving while impaired. In addition, your license will also be suspended for one year for your refusal to take the breath test. In some cases, the prosecutor, when seeing the evidence against you is less persuasive that he or she hoped for, may allow you to plead to a reckless driving charge which has lesser penalties. The offer might be made by the Prosecutor to plead to a lesser included offense rather than permitting a jury to let the client go without any consequences if the defendant is found not guilty.  A reduced charge of reckless driving does not have the same consequences as an adjudication of guilty on the DUI.

Often a driver will recognize that he or she is not capable of driving safely and pull over into a parking area to sleep. Officers who approach a vehicle and feel the hood of the car to see if it is warm may arrest you because you are at the wheel and asleep. Can you be convicted of DUI? Were you operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol which the State of Florida can prove beyond a reasonable doubt?  Call and discuss this situation or others with Mr. Rosello.