The Daytona Beach News Journal won a journalism award last week for it's series "Beating the DUI Rap," examining the reasons why nearly half of all Volusia County DUI charges are dismissed or reduced.
Our Fort Lauderdale DUI Lawyer Blog reported recently that Broward County has one of the lowest DUI conviction rates in the state. The News-Press in Fort Myers also recently published a report about the low conviction rate of those charged with DUI in Lee County. Unfortunately, the media seldom spends much time talking about the many legitimate reasons such charges are dropped or dismissed.
Hiring an experienced South Florida DUI attorney frequently results in a great outcome for defendants. As the News-Journal stated "DUI defendants who hire private attorneys enjoy excellent prospects of avoiding a DUI conviction, especially if they've never been charged with DUI before." Of the 15,240 DUI charges reviewed by the paper, 64 percent of defendants who hired an attorney had their charges dropped or dismissed.
The paper found that only about 30 percent of cases represented by a public defender resulted in a reduction or dismissal of the charges. Given that the average cost of a DUI conviction is about $10,000, counting fines, court costs, increased insurance premiums and other fees, hiring an experienced drunk driving attorney is well worth the money.
An experienced attorney will carefully review police reports and available video evidence when building a defense. The reasons for the traffic stop and a host of specific rules governing breathalyzer tests and field sobriety examinations often provide legitimate means for a defense.
The paper also said more defendants are refusing such tests. Even though they will lose their driver's license under a 90 day suspension, the lack of test results often prevents a prosecutor from proving DUI. What the paper spends less time discussing is the highly subjective nature of field sobriety examinations -- you are drunk because an officer said so -- and the fact that the tests are primarily meant to gather evidence of your guilt, not determine whether or not you are innocent.
South Florida DUI Lawyer Carlos Canet is an aggressive and experienced drunk driving defense attorney, representing clients facing DUI and other serious traffic cases in South Florida, including DUI manslaughter and drunk driving charges involving motor vehicle accidents. Call 866-7ASKDUI to discuss your rights.
