What kind of employment/career impact can I expect from a Florida DUI conviction?

Typically, most employers require that any and all convictions be divulged at the time of employment, including DUI convictions.  Keep in mind that when you apply for a new position, any DUI convictions will be present in public records and can be obtained during a criminal background check.  Also, DUI convictions may prevent you from obtaining some professional certification or state licensing that may be required for certain types of employment.  College admission or financial aid awards may be forfeited as well.

Will I be denied citizenship or deported as a result of Florida DUI conviction?

DUI convictions may be deemed as a crime of moral depravity and may have very serious implications for those seeking citizenship.  If you have a recent Florida DUI charge and you are not a U.S. citizen, it is very important that you contact an experienced Florida DUI defense attorney who can advise you.

Are there any other types of penalties that can be expected from a first-time DUI conviction?

Yes, in addition to the personal implications, you may also face:

• Vehicle impoundment for a period of 10 days.
• Community service for a period of 50 hours.
• Participation in an approved alcohol treatment program.
• Installation of an ignition interlock device.

We hope this list of frequently-asked-questions provided the answers to some of the questions you might have regarding first-time Florida DUI convictions.  However, we strongly encourage you to contact the team of Jacksonville DUI attorneys at Musca Law.  If you or someone you love has been arrested or charged for a Florida DUI, the experienced Florida DUI lawyers at Musca Law have helped many people avoid the extremely harsh consequences of Florida DUI convictions.  We invite you to contact a Jacksonville DUI attorney at Musca Law to schedule a free confidential consultation: (800) 687-2252.

Will I be able to keep my driving privileges if have a DUI conviction in Florida?

Typically, a license will be suspended for period of between 180 days (6 months) to 1 year, following a first offense.  John Musca, Florida DUI defense attorney, may be able to aid you in filing for a hardship license, which will allow you drive to and from work.  Under Florida’s Implied Consent law, any motorist who refuses to submit to a blood alcohol content (BAC) diagnostic chemical test may receive 1 year of administrative suspension of their Florida driver’s license.

I was arrested for a DUI-related offense.  Will I be forced back into jail if I am convicted of a first offense DUI?

There is a possibility that you may be sentenced to jail time for a first offense DUI conviction.  However, we have had a successful track record of keeping our clients out of jail for a first offense DUI conviction.  The maximum term is 180 days (6 months), except if you were involved in an accident that caused property damage or bodily injury.  If your conviction is for a DUI that caused property damage, your sentence could be from 6 to 9 months.  If your conviction is for a DUI that caused bodily injury, or worse, you could face a term in a state prison for a significant period of time.

What kinds of financial penalties can I expect for a first-time Florida DUI conviction?

You may encounter a fine of $500.00-$1000.00 if your blood alcohol content (BAC) is below 0.15%, for your first offense.  If your BAC is in excess of 0.15% or you have a minor in your vehicle when you are arrested for a DUI-related offense, your fine will increase to $1000.00-$2000.00.  Other costs may also be included, such as fees in lieu of community service ($10.00 for each hour of community service ordered) or the cost of installation of an ignition interlock device.  You may also be subject to significant increases in your insurance rates as a result of a DUI conviction.

If you or someone you love has been arrested or charged for a Florida DUI, the experienced Florida DUI lawyers at Musca Law have helped many people avoid the extremely harsh consequences of Florida DUI convictions.  We invite you to contact the Jacksonville DUI attorneys at Musca Law to schedule a free confidential consultation: (800) 687-2252.

Field Sobriety Testing Defense Strategies

FSTs are simple physical tasks that are supposed to provide an indication that a driver is intoxicated.  While there are many examples of FSTs that people may be familiar with from depictions in the media.  There are only three (3) of these FSTs that have been approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA): (1) one leg stand; (2) horizontal gaze nystagmus; and (3) walk-and-turn test.  These tests are referred to as “divided attention” tests.  The officer is testing your ability to both follow directions and perform physical tasks.

FST Defense 1: While the three approved FSTs (referred to as “Standardized Field Sobriety Tests”) are really little more than agility exercises designed to make you seem intoxicated, they are the only FSTs that have ANY validity whatsoever in a DUI case.  There are many other FSTs that officers may ask you to perform including: finger count test, reciting the alphabet, Rhomberg balance test, finger to nose and others.  These FSTs (referred to as “Non-Standardized Field Sobriety Tests”) have absolutely no validity which Florida DUI defense attorney John Musca has the experience to communicate in court.

FST Defense 2: Although Standardized FSTs have been approved by the NHTSA, they still frequently result in false indications of intoxication even when conducted and scored according to appropriate procedures.  The one leg stand accurately identifies someone as intoxicated only 65 percent of the time with the walk-and-turn being only slightly more accurate indicating intoxication 68 percent of the time.  While the horizontal gaze nystagmus test is the most accurate of the three standardized FSTs, it inaccurately indicates intoxication 23 percent of the time.  These tests are little more than an educated guess even if conducted precisely according to the required procedures.  An educated guess is a long way from “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

FST Defense 3: The procedures for conducting FSTs and scoring are extremely precise and detailed.  Most officers that conduct FSTs have very limited FST training in the academy and lack the proper background and knowledge to conduct the tests properly or to adhere to the specific scoring criteria.  Jacksonville DUI attorney John Musca may be able to show that the officer who arrested you for DUI lacked the specialized training to properly conduct FSTs.

FST Defense 4: Because FSTs are basically physical agility tasks, physical disabilities, medical conditions, injuries, illness, obesity, lack of coordination or a multitude of other factors may impede one’s physical ability to successfully perform FSTs.  If you have any physical limitations, illnesses or disabilities, you should communicate this information to the officer when asked to perform these field sobriety tests.  Jacksonville DUI lawyers recognize that FSTs often reveal more about a person’s physical limitations or illness than about intoxication and can effectively communicate such issues to a judge or jury.

FST Defense 5: Even putting all of the potential issues above aside, FSTs require people to engage in unfamiliar and awkward physical tasks under extremely tense circumstances.  Anyone who has been pulled over by the police knows that anxiety and fear can often make people confused and disoriented.  Our DUI defense lawyers know how to help juries that are made up of ordinary folks just like you experience the stress that can cause one to fail to follow directions or perform the FSTs correctly.

FST Defense 6: The police officer is expected to explain and demonstrate the walk-and-turn and one leg stand precisely.  If the officer fails to demonstrate the task or to provide precise instructions, this can be a basis for finding the test result is invalid.

While this is hardly a comprehensive list of the effective DUI defenses that an experienced Jacksonville DUI attorney may use to challenge field sobriety test results, it provides a good illustration of the multitude of ways that your Jacksonville DUI defense attorney can make a difference.  We invite you to contact a Florida DUI defense attorney at Musca Law to schedule a free confidential consultation at (800) 687-2252 to see how we can help.

Challenging Jacksonville DUI Stop: Jacksonville DUI authorities generally may not pull you over for no reason or on a mere hunch.  The officer must be able to satisfy the legal standard of “reasonable suspicion” which typically will be the officer’s direct observations of traffic violations or other erratic or unsafe driving.  While this standard is much easier to meet than the probable cause needed for a DUI arrest, the standard is not illusionary and does require the officer to produce facts rather than mere opinion or speculation.  For example, one court found that a driver crossing the centerline on a single occasion and making a wide turn into a driveway did not meet the reasonable suspicion standard.  If a police officer does not have reasonable suspicion when making the initial vehicle stop, Jacksonville DUI defense attorney John Musca may be able to file a motion to suppress all evidence that flows from the stop.

Challenging the Accuracy of a Law Enforcement Officer: Even if you are legally stopped, the Jacksonville police officer cannot shift from a routine traffic stop to a DUI investigation unless there is reasonable suspicion that you are driving under the influence.  If you are pulled over for illegal window tinting, for example, this will justify stopping you to issue a traffic citation but does not provide any evidence of intoxication.  The officer will carefully observe a motorist when stopped in Jacksonville for evidence of signs of intoxication.  However, the types of physical characteristics often referenced by law enforcement officers include bloodshot watery eyes and slurred speech which can be no more than evidence of fatigue or illness.  The other observation also frequently referenced is the odor of alcohol.  This evidence also is questionable because the law only prohibits drinking enough alcohol that one’s driving faculties are impaired or one’s blood alcohol level exceeds .08 percent alcohol.  When John Musca represents a person facing DUI charges in Jacksonville, he aggressively challenges these observations so that inconsistencies are exposed and the judge or jury understands the many other explanations that exist for this type of physical characteristic.

These are examples of areas that Jacksonville DUI lawyer John Musca may attack even prior to the stage that a DUI investigation is initiated by a Jacksonville police officer.  These examples of Jacksonville DUI defense strategies that may be effective even before considering attacks on blood alcohol concentration (BAC) tests and field sobriety tests that are examined in Part II of this article.  If you have been arrested for a Florida DUI, you should not delay because the sooner you contact our experienced Florida DUI defense lawyers the sooner we can start fighting for you.  We invite you to contact a Jacksonville DUI defense attorney at Musca Law to schedule a free confidential consultation at (800) 687-2252 to learn how we can fight to protect your future.

Stop Promptly: Many drivers panic when they see flashing red lights if they know that they have drugs or alcohol in their system.  While you should wait until it is safe to pull over, substantial delay in pulling over when it is safe to do so is likely to make your situation worse.  The officer may be stopping you for no other reason than a non-functioning taillight.  If it appears that you take a prolonged period of time to notice the flashing red lights, this may be used as part of the officer’s basis for initiating a DUI investigation when you are stopped.

Be Courteous: A mistake many drivers make when pulled over for DUI in Jacksonville is to become belligerent and verbally abusive.  This type of response is damaging on a number of levels.  The officer is given an opportunity to observe you and may smell alcohol on your breath.  This may supplement other observations and provide a legal basis to conduct a DUI investigation.  Further, the officer is more likely to closely scrutinize you because he is irritated by your conduct.

Do No Volunteer Damaging Information: While it might be obvious that it is never a good idea to tell a Jacksonville Police Officer of Jacksonville Sheriff’s Deputy that you have been drinking or are coming from a bar.  Many drivers volunteer this type of incriminating information which will become part of the law enforcement officer’s basis for a DUI arrest and will become part of the evidence against you in your Jacksonville DUI case.

Control the Initial Exchange of Information: When the officer pulls you over, you should have your driver’s license, registration and insurance information ready to provide to the officer when he approaches your vehicle.  While you are required to provide this information, you should avoid a conversation with the officer.  If the officer attempts to ask you questions about where you are coming from or how much you have had to drink, you should ask if you are free to leave and indicate that you would like to speak to an attorney before answering any questions.

Refuse Field Sobriety Tests: If you are stopped for DUI in Jacksonville, the police officer will generally ask that you perform a serious of physical exercises called Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs).  There is no requirement that you perform the FSTS, and there is little to gain by doing so unless you are sure you have no alcohol or drugs in your bloodstream.  The officer expects you to fail, and the only purpose for administering the tests is to obtain evidence to be used against you in a Jacksonville DUI case.

The proven Jacksonville DUI defense attorneys at Musca Law provide aggressive DUI defense to Jacksonville DUI charges.  If you are arrested for DUI, Jacksonville DUI defense attorney John Musca has helped many people charged with DUI.  We invite you to speak to a Jacksonville DUI defense attorney at Musca Law to schedule a free confidential consultation at (800) 687-2252 and put us on our side.

Sadly, there are many people who experienced the long-term adverse effects of a Jacksonville DUI conviction based on these two basic misconceptions.  There are a wide variety of ways that a private Jacksonville DUI attorney can impact the outcome of your DUI case. If your private attorney is successful, you may not suffer a DUI conviction at all.  Although most public defenders are experienced and dedicated, they are extremely limited in terms of their available time and financial resources because they are underpaid by the government and routinely handle hundreds of cases at a time. Because a public defender typically handles an enormous caseload, there is significant incentive to reach quick plea-bargain agreements as opposed to taking a DUI cases to trial. When considering whether to hire a private attorney to handle your Jacksonville DUI case, you should consider that one study found that virtually half of all DUI cases that go to trial result in an acquittal.

Even where an acquittal after trial is not a realistic option based on the facts of your case, a private Jacksonville DUI attorney may be able to have the charges substantially reduced and to avoid the potentially harsh penalties associated with your charged DUI offense.  Jacksonville DUI attorney John Musca has the time, resources and experience to employ a wide range of proven Jacksonville DUI defense strategies when seeking to have the charges against you dismissed or reduced.  Some device defense strategies that Jacksonville DUI defense attorney John Musca may utilize include the following:

• Challenging the legal basis for the initial stop
• Refuting officer observations that form the basis for initiating a DUI investigation
• Exposing the lack of scientific reliability of field sobriety tests (FSTs)
• Attacking the procedures, demonstration and scoring of FSTs
• Identifying FSTs that are not approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Uncovering violations of Miranda right against self-incrimination and right to have counsel present during questioning
• Disputing the procedures and results of chemical testing for blood alcohol concentration (BAC)
• Questioning calibration of a breath test device

While these are merely a handful of DUI defense strategies employed by Jacksonville DUI defense attorney John Musca, the point is that there are many effective techniques that can be utilized to prevent the long-term impact of a Jacksonville DUI conviction.  Public defenders also may be less experienced and specialized than private DUI defense attorneys.  Public defenders handle all types of criminal cases so they may be less specialized in handling DUI cases.  They also may be less experienced because many young criminal defense attorneys who are just starting out “cut their teeth” in the public defender’s office.

If you or a loved one is arrested for DUI in Jacksonville, the penalties associated with a DUI conviction can include incarceration, substantial fines, community service, probation, an ignition interlock restriction, drivers’ license suspension, counseling and alcohol education as well as other penalties.  These are only the “short-term” consequences.  If you have a criminal record for misdemeanor or felony DUI in Jacksonville, you may suffer many other adverse effects on your education, housing choices, career opportunities, immigration benefits and more.  Because Jacksonville DUI attorney John Musca may be able to help you avoid or reduce these consequences, hiring a private DUI defense attorney can save you time, aggravation and thousands of dollars.  We invite you to contact a Florida DUI defense attorney at Musca Law to schedule a free confidential consultation at (800) 687-2252 to see how we can help.

The Intoxilyzer 8000 is designed to convert a ratio of alcohol in the deep lungs to the concentration of alcohol in the bloodstream after absorption by the stomach and small intestines.  If the alcohol stored in one’s mouth has not been absorbed into the body and metabolized, it can result in someone who is not intoxicated having their BAC level erroneously inflated.  The alcohol in the mouth is hyper-concentrated alcohol because it has not yet been metabolized by the body.

There are a number of ways that one can have mouth alcohol detected by a breath test including:

• Mouthwash
• Acid Reflux
• Heart Burn
• GERD
• Medications like cough syrup
• Belching

While Jacksonville prosecutors may try to dismiss the mouth alcohol defense by arguing that mouth alcohol dissipates rapidly, this is not true for a driver that has a condition like GERD or acid reflex.  If you have a medical condition like these, alcohol may be continually introduced into your mouth as long as alcohol is present in your stomach.  Because mouth alcohol typically dissipates in 10-12 minutes, a Jacksonville law enforcement officer is supposed to observe a waiting period.  However, this will not eliminate the risk that someone may belch within 10-12 minutes of the breath test being administered in a Jacksonville DUI investigation.

Although the officer is generally supposed to observe a driver during the waiting period, many times the officer is focused on paperwork or other matters.  The officer often will not be able to observe if a driver is silently belching or suffering acid reflex so the waiting or observation period does not provide adequate protection against unjustified Jacksonville DUI charges based on the presence of mouth alcohol.  If you or someone you love has been arrested or charged with DUI in Jacksonville, the experienced Jacksonville DUI defense attorneys at Musca Law have helped many people avoid the extremely harsh consequences of a Jacksonville DUI conviction.  We invite you to contact a Jacksonville DUI defense attorney at Musca Law to schedule a free confidential consultation: (800) 687-2252.

Any Jacksonville driver under 21 who is determined to have driven with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .02 percent or above may be subject to a six (6) month administrative drivers’ license suspension on a first offense.  A second offense by an underage driver under the zero tolerance policy in Jacksonville may result in a one year drivers’ license suspension.  If your teenager refuses to submit to BAC chemical testing, he or she is subject to a one year administrative drivers’ license suspension for a first offense and an 18 months suspension in for a second BAC test refusal.

Every year hundreds of teenagers in the state including those in Jacksonville are arrested for underage DUI.  While it is normal for parents to want to believe that their kids would never put themselves in this situation, the probability that someone in your family will be involved in an accident with a driver under the influence of alcohol is virtually a statistical certainty.  The probability that someone in a household of five will be involved in a DUI accident at some time during their lifetime is 200 percent.  A disproportionate number of those involved in these collisions are inexperienced teen drivers that have been drinking and driving.

State law goes even further in trying to curb underage DUI with new laws that target parents who grant access to alcohol to underage teen drivers.  Lawmakers passed legislation in June of last year that made it a misdemeanor to host a party (i.e. “house party”) in Jacksonville or elsewhere throughout the state where teenagers will be provided with alcohol.  Penalties for second and third offenses of hosting parties where alcohol is provided to teenagers are even more severe.

The theory behind the house party law is that teenagers have limited access to alcohol because they typically will not be served with alcohol at bars or restaurants.  The house party law is designed to impose criminal liability on parents that “facilitate” underage DUI.  If you have a teen in your family who is facing DUI charges, a Jacksonville underage teen conviction may damage college admission or enrollment status and qualification for certain occupations that involve professional or state licensing.  We also provide effective representation to parents charged with misdemeanors for hosting house parties.  We invite you to contact a Florida DUI defense attorney at Musca Law to schedule a free confidential consultation at (800) 687-2252 to see how we can help.