Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney Blog

When the police place a suspect under arrest on suspicion of drunk driving, they will likely tell the suspect that they must take a breath test to determine if their blood alcohol level is above the limit. This machine is what most people still refer to as a Breathalyzer.

This is actually the brand name of alcohol breath testing machine that was developed in the 1950s and used for a number of years. Basically, this is an old trademark that has become a generic term for alcohol breath testing machine.  These days, police forces are much more likely to use a machine made by CMI called the Intoxilyzer, a machine made by Draeger, or an Intoximiter EC/IR II.  The Broward County Sheriff’s Office, for example, uses the Intoxilyzer 8000.  This is part of their Breath and Alcohol Testing (BAT) Unit. Continue reading

If you are arrested on suspicion of drunk driving in South Florida, there are certain things you can do to help your situation, and there are certain things you should never do.  Before we get into the specifics, the first thing is you should always be polite and respectful to the investigating or arresting officers.  This does not mean you must agree to do everything they ask of you, but you should let your DUI defense lawyer do the fighting for you at a more appropriate time.

One of the issues is that you often start off in a less than ideal position following being pulled over or the officer or trooper is approaching your vehicle following a suspected drunk driving traffic accident. One recent example of this can be seen when a Florida man was arrested for allegedly crashing into a “Don’t Drink and Drive” police cruiser while under the influence of alcohol, as discussed in a recent article from the Palm Beach Post. Continue reading

The drunk driving statute (Title XXIII, Ch. 316 Section 193) states that a defendant must be in actual physical control of a vehicle to be convicted of driving under the influence. While we will get to a more specific explanation of what that means later in this post, keep in mind that actual physical control, or “APC” as it is often called by DUI defense lawyers, does not necessarily mean driving the car.

By now, most people have probably heard that world famous golfer Tiger Woods was arrested in Jupiter, Florida for driving under the influence.  We have all seen the mug shot of him that was taken at 3.a.m. in which he looks less than his best.  However, in this particular case, it should be noted that he was given a breath test and blew 0.000, as discussed in a recent news article from CNN.  This reading, coupled with his own alleged admissions about taking prescription drugs, means this is what is known as a DUI drugs case. Continue reading

Field sobriety tests are heavily relied upon in criminal prosecutions of DUI in Florida. However, that does not necessarily mean they are 100 percent accurate. And while motorists are required by the implied consent law in F.S. 316.1932 to submit to breathalyzer or urine tests upon request from an officer, the same is not true of field sobriety tests. More often than not, the outcome is not in your favor and serves only to add to the evidence against you.

Recently, daughter of “Matrix” actor Lawrence Fischburne was arrested shortly after requesting advice from a traffic officer on how to successfully complete a field sobriety test. A better approach would have been to simply decline.

According to a recent news report from My Statesman, she made headlines for an arrest in Fort Lauderdale on suspicion of drunk driving.  Authorities have said Montana was driving her vehicle on Interstate 95 in the Fort Lauderdale area when she allegedly crashed into an SUV. Continue reading