Broward DUI Lawyer Blog

Baseball player Miguel Cabrera avoided jail time after entering a no contest plea in connection with a February DUI charge in Fort Pierce, TCPalm.com reports.

With his trial set for January and jury selection around the corner, he decided to enter a plea rather than risk going to trial. Our Fort Lauderdale DUI defense lawyers have chronicled this case and have wondered whether Cabrera would go to trial or settle on a sound plea agreement.

Being charged with DUI in Fort Lauderdale can be a stressful experience. There's an initial amount of fear and embarrassment for the driver, who now must figure out what to do next. Having to attend many hearings and appearing in public doesn't help.

But as in Cabrera's case, there is hope. He was even able to get his driver's license back after requesting a Florida DMV administrative hearing. Anyone charged with DUI must request a hearing within 10 days of their arrest.

The hearing is largely technical and is separate from the criminal case. Whatever happens in that hearing won't affect the DUI charge itself.

And as Cabrera's case shows, a first-time offender can sometimes end up with a somewhat positive outcome. According to police, Cabrera was on the side of the road in his broken down Land Rover on February 16 last year.

Officers stated that Cabrera's speech was slurred and his eyes were bloodshot and watery -- all signs to officers that the person has been drinking -- and they handcuffed him for not following orders. Before being arrested, officers said Cabrera grabbed a bottle of Scotch and drank from it in front of police.

He was initially charged with two counts of resisting officers without violence as well as DUI. Prosecutors dropped one count of resisting officers without violence early on in the case and as part of the plea agreement, the second resisting charged was dropped.

In entering a no contest plea, Cabrera was ordered to pay $1,436 in court costs, attend DUI school and a victim impact panel, perform 50 hours of community service and endure a driver's license suspension for six months. He was also placed on probation for six months and had to pay a $500 fine.

As you can see from the penalties, even a misdemeanor DUI charge is a major crime in the justice system. For a multi-millionaire, the price tag isn't bad. Cabrera can also opt to pay $500 to cover his community service time. But, he can't buy his way out of attending DUI school and a victim impact panel or dealing with six months of probation and without a driver's license. And the real cost of a DUI conviction can approach $20,000, counting skyrocketing insurance premiums, missed work and other costs.

Those are major inconveniences that can be tough to live with. And while someone with a lot of money may be able to afford a driver, what about the rest of us? Imagine being in the position of not being able to afford cab rides or not having someone who can drive you around? It's a major inconvenience.

In this case, it was better than the alternative of going to trial and possibly being sent to jail or facing other sanctions if convicted. That's the gamble of taking a plea instead of going to trial. Every DUI defendant must take an aggressive approach to these charges and that means scrutinizing every piece of evidence and looking for holes in the state's case.

Continue reading "Baseball All-Star Miguel Cabrera Avoids Jail Time in Fort Lauderdale First Offense DUI" »

Mlive is reporting that Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera will go to trial on a charge of DUI in Fort Pierce after a prosecutor asked for a continuance.

As our Broward DUI Lawyer Blog reported on earlier this year, Cabrera was arrested and charged with DUI in Fort Pierce last February after police responded to his Land Rover that was pulled off to the side of the road.

Officers reported that he was drinking Scotch inside the vehicle when officers arrived. Officers didn't see him driving the vehicle when they saw him drinking, so after a driver's license administrative hearing, his license was returned.

Many people will question how a person charged with DUI in West Palm Beach could get a victory in a related court hearing. Simple -- it's a different type of hearing altogether. A driver's license administrative hearing must be requested within 10 days of a DUI arrest, otherwise, you can kiss your license goodbye.

Administrative hearings are designed to look at the actions of police and whether they followed specific procedures and protocols when conducting the stop and how they interacted with the driver. An experienced West Palm Beach DUI defense lawyer is able to handle both the administrative hearing and the DUI defense case.

How these differ is a magistrate judge will determine if police followed the rules and if there is enough evidence to take away a person's license. In a DUI case, the state has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable double that the person was under the influence of alcohol or drugs and drove a vehicle while in that intoxicated state. There are many more factors in play in that scenario.

In Cabrera's case, he was arrested in February after police saw his vehicle disabled on the side of the road. He was more than 100 miles from Cabrera's house in South Florida and from the team's spring training home in Lakeland, between Tampa and Orlando.

Cabrera allegedly refused a breath test that could have determined his blood-alcohol level. He was charged with DUI, resisting an officer without violence, a misdemeanor, and a citation for possession of an open container. Another charge of resisting was dropped a month after the arrest.

Cabrera was previously scheduled to go to trial at the end of November, but attorneys are now anticipating a week-long trial, rather than the previously scheduled two-day trial. Cabrera's attorneys were prepared to start, but prosecutors requested, and were granted, a continuance.

Jury selection is scheduled for one day and the trial is expected to last the four following days in mid-January, Mlive reports.

As stated earlier, a driver's license administrative hearing is designed to determine whether the police should have investigated for DUI and take away a person's license. As the report states, a judge reinstated Cabrera's license after ruling law enforcement didn't have probable cause to arrest him.

While these hearings are separate and the result of one has no bearing on the other, an experienced lawyer who wins an administrative license hearing could use some of those facts in defense of the DUI charge. Proving police didn't have reason to investigate could convince a jury the defendant should be found not guilty of the criminal charges.

Continue reading "Detroit Tigers' Slugger Miguel Cabrera Faces January DUI Trial" »

In a tight 4-3 vote the Florida Supreme Court gave some rights to drivers recently by ruling that a person's driver's license can't be suspended if they refuse a breathalyzer test during an unlawful arrest for DUI, The Associated Press reports.

This is good news for drivers throughout Florida because it now helps people retain their driver's licenses if police make a bad arrest. What some people don't realize is that an arrest for DUI and a driver's license suspension are separate issues. Fort Lauderdale DUI Lawyers have successfully defended many clients charged with DUI and been able to get their driver's licenses returned. Broward DUI Lawyer Blog recently detailed the case of baseball player Miguel Cabrera, whose driver's license was reinstated though he still has a pending DUI case.

In Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles V. William Hernandez and George McLaughlin, the Florida Supreme Court, in dealing with a pair of cases where appellate courts made different rulings on the same issue, ruled that Florida's "implied consent" law allows license suspensions for valid arrests. Implied consent means that anyone driving in Florida must consent to testing or else faces an automatic driver's license suspension. A license can be suspended for one year for a first refusal and 18 months for each subsequent refusal.

When a person refuses to submit to a breathalyzer in Florida, their driver's license is automatically suspended. But within 10 days of an arrest, a driver can request a driver's license administrative suspension hearing from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. There, a hearing officer must determine whether the arrest was lawful.

Some people may wonder how a person can be arrested for DUI and still get their license back in a separate hearing. It can happen simply if officers make mistakes. In Cabrera's case, for instance, he was arrested in Fort Pierce after officers saw him drinking scotch in his Land Rover that was broken down on the side of the road, but officers didn't see him drive it there. Under Florida law, a person can lose their license if they are above the .08 blood alcohol level limit if they are "operating or in actual physical control" of a vehicle. In his case, they didn't see him driving and the vehicle was inoperable.

But that's just one example. Officers have arrested people for DUI after pulling them over when they had no reason to pull them over in the first place. There are many avenues for a person getting their license returned if they are arrested for DUI. But it requires the experience and knowledge of decades of handling these cases. Don't let the state take what's yours. Call today.

Continue reading "Florida Supreme Court: Unlawful to Suspend Driver's License for Refusing Breathalyzer in Miami DUI Investigation" »

The Florida Supreme Court recently addressed the important issue of probable cause in license suspension hearings. In 2006, the Florida Legislature enacted a change to Florida Statute 322.2615. This statute is also known as the 'Administrative Suspension Law.' The change effected several important sections of the law. The issue of probable cause was foremost among these. Before 2006, contesting the legality of the initial traffic stop was critical to any challenge of an administrative suspension based upon an unlawful breath alcohol content or refusal to submit to testing.
The legislature removed from hearing officer consideration whether there existed probable cause to believe that the driver was DUI. They substituted language to the effect of whether the officer had probable cause to arrest for DUI. The difference may appear subtle but the effect was substantial.
Shortly after the new changes were enacted legal challenges were undertaken across the state. One of those was Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Pelham. It was this case that made its way to the Supreme Court. The Pelham case involved a driver arrested for DUI who was offered a breath test and refused. Pelham's lawyer challenged the legality of the initial traffic stop. The hearing officer denied the challenge citing the recent change in the law. The Second District Court of Appeal held that the hearing officer committed error. The court wrote in its opinion that hearing officers were required to consider the whether the traffic stop was legal despite the change in the law.
This decision was further appealed to the Florida Supreme Court. This recent decision affirmed the previous Pelham opinion. Essentially, the Supreme Court held that hearing officers at DUI administrative license hearings are required by law to consider whether the patrol officer legally stopped the DUI subject.
The importance of this case cannot be understated. Your lawyer's ability to argue the legality of the traffic stop at the license hearing is a major tool for winning back a suspended license. For the time being this device is once again available to anyone who lost their license through a DUI administrative suspension.

Continue reading "Important New Supreme Court Decision concerning Florida Administrative Suspension Law" »

Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera got his driver's license back recently after a Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles administrator ruled the arresting officer did not have probable cause to believe Cabrera was driving under the influence of alcohol, the Detroit Free Press reports.

What many people don't understand is that criminal charges and a driver's license administrative suspension hearing are completely separate. Fort Lauderdale DUI Lawyers are proficient in both types of cases and should be trusted to handle both. Administrative suspension hearings in Miami are best left to attorneys who have decades of experience.

A person's driver's license is suspended if they refuse to give a roadside test, such as a breath test, a urine test or a blood test during an investigation for DUI. If the driver refuses to give a test, their license will be suspended for 12 months or 18 months if the person has previously refused these tests.

On the one hand, losing a driver's license can be a real hardship for people, especially if driving a vehicle is necessary to work. But on the other hand, refusing to give one of these tests can potentially keep a great deal of evidence from the state in its criminal prosecution.

In Cabrera's case, which was previously reported by Broward DUI Lawyer Blog, he was arrested in February in Fort Pierce. According to news reports, Cabrera was seen drinking scotch in his Land Rover that was broken down on the side of the road, but officers didn't see him drive it there.

Under Florida law, a person must be in control of a vehicle to be required to submit to breath testing:

• The disqualification is effective immediately upon refusal of the breath, urine or blood test or determination that the driver has a blood alcohol level of .08 or above, while operating or in actual physical control of a commercial motor vehicle. The officer will issue the driver a temporary permit which is valid for 10 days from the date of arrest or disqualification, provided the driver is otherwise eligible. However, the permit does not authorize the operation of a commercial motor vehicle for the first 24 hours of disqualification.

But while Cabrera's driver's license has been returned, the hearing has no effect on his criminal case. He still faces misdemeanor charges of suspicion of DUI and two counts of resisting an officer without violence. He could still face a driver's license revocation if he is convicted of DUI charges.

Fort Lauderdale DUI Lawyers have been fighting these driver's license suspensions for two decades and over the years, the firm has won many of these case just like Miguel Cabrera's. But trying to do it alone or hiring an inexperienced attorney gives one little chance to get back their license.

Continue reading "DUI Administrative Hearing Separate from Criminal Charges, Miguel Cabrera Learns" »

An Florida administrative hearing has been postponed so that an officer can be present to testify in the case of Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera's drunk driving arrest, the Washington Post reported.

A Broward County DUI lawyer can contest a client's driver's license suspension through the Department of Motor Vehicle's administrative hearing. Such requests must be made with 10 days and must be in writing. Upon request, a hearing must be held within 30 days. The driver (or his attorney) can subpoena witnesses and present evidence. If he doesn't happen to be a star Major League Baseball Player and the officer doesn't bother to show for the hearing, he may win by default. In any event, challenging the suspension will also permit your drunk driving defense attorney to get a good first look at the case against you.

Fort Lauderdale DUI Defense Attorney Carlos Canet has been representing clients facing drunk driving charges since 1991 when the current administrative process was put into place. He was the first DUI defense lawyer in Broward County to successfully challenge the system based on double jeopardy and has challenged other changes to the system over the years, including the lack of neutrality of the department's hearing officers.

Cabrera did not appear at the hearing with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. He was arrested and charged with DUI in Fort Pierce on Feb. 16. A deputy reported spotting a car with a smoking engine at the side of the road and finding Cabrera inside the vehicle drinking from a bottle of Scotch.

He refused to participate in field sobriety tests, according to police. Two other officers who were at the scene were questioned at the administrative hearing, along with a mechanic who examined the Land Rover.

The mechanic determined the vehicle was inoperable. A 2008 case was overturned in circuit court, which found it was improper for the DMV to suspend a driver's license for refusal to take a breath test in a case in which the vehicle was inoperable. The court ruled Florida's implied consent rule (the law that requires drives to submit to an alcohol test when requested to do so by an officer with probable cause) applied only to operable vehicles.

Continue reading "Tigers Star to Challenge License Suspension Through Administrative Hearing Following South Florida DUI Arrest" »

While the tone of a recent WINK News "investigation" was all agasp at the prospect of drunk driving defendants winning the right to driver through Florida's administrative hearing process,, the report highlights the benefits of seeking to retain your right to drive through the state's administrative review process.

Hiring an experienced Fort Lauderdale DUI defense attorney can assist not only in the criminal case but in the administrative review that will determine your driving rights.

Anyone charged with DUI in Florida has 10 days to request an administrative review hearing through the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. There, a hearing officer will decide whether to uphold the driver's license suspension.

In 2009, a total of 5,200 drivers were successful in having their suspensions lifted. Of the 48,000 DUI arrests in Florida each year, less than half request the hearing. Meaning about 1 in 4 of those are successful in getting a suspension lifted. Some had suspensions lifted despite having BAC levels three and four times over the legal limit.

"Remember there are very strict guidelines that law enforcement officers have to follow when they're using these devices," DHSMV spokesman David Westberry said. "They have all kinds of testing and standards that they have to adhere to as far as whether they give valid tests."

In other cases, drivers were given their license back simply because the arresting officer didn't show up at the hearing.

Continue reading "Administrative hearings often result in lifting of DUI driver's license suspension" »

Recently the Florida Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, Division of Driver Licenses, Bureau of Administrative Reviews in Tallahassee decided to adopt a policy very detrimental to Florida drivers.

Florida drivers arrested for DUI who either provide a breath sample or refuse chemical testing must have their licenses administratively suspended. The same driver has the legal right to challenge the administrative suspension before the Bureau of Administrative Reviews. This is known as a "formal review" hearing. The driver has just ten days to request this hearing. It is the only chance to undue the suspension of driving privileges.

For many years, I have requested these hearings and have fought hard to restore my client's driving privileges. The formal review process has always been difficult. The Department has consistently attempted to remove all legal avenues for winning formal reviews. The Department's most recent attempt is to refuse to invalidate suspensions because subpoenaed police officers fail to appear.

Since 1991, it was always been the case that if the officer failed to show without excuse the suspension would be lifted. In 1991, a Federal lawsuit was filed against the Department over the administrative suspension process. At the time, the Department argued the hearings were legal because due process required that they invalidate suspensions if the officers did not appear. The Department has now done a complete reversal on this policy. It appears to be completely unconcerned with the due process rights of Florida drivers accused of DUI.

Since 1991, I have continuously fought the Department on issues affecting my client's rights and I will continue to do so. The Department must be fought and turned back if there is to be any chance to defeat a DUI administrative suspension. Of course, a well trained and experienced Fort Lauderdale DUI attorney in your corner is one solution.

But it's important to know what you are up against. This most recent turn of events means the state plans to suspend your license -- even if the officer whose testimony it relies upon in doing so can't be bothered with showing up for the hearing.

Continue reading "Lauderdale DUI defense lawyer calls out DMV for issuing suspensions without officer testimony " »

Former Lafayette County Sheriff Dewayne Walker, 49, was charged with DUI in May of 2008 after being pulled over for driving 27 miles over the speed limit. According to Suwanee County court records, this offense was his third DUI and he had already been removed from office twice for public drunkenness.

Walker allegedly refused alcohol tests and refused to sign the traffic citation. Inevitably he was charged with felony DUI, but earlier this week under a plea settlement accepted on Wednesday, Walker walked with just a misdemeanor.

As part of his plea deal for this third DUI, walker has been mandated to use a breath-test Ignition Interlock Device to start his vehicles.

Walker was sentenced to a year of probation, house arrest for 45 days, and six months of a revoked license. He must also finance the Ignition Interlock Device for his vehicle.

During Walker's third term as sheriff, in August of 2002, it first became public that Walker had a drinking problem. At the time, Jeb Bush was governor, and suspended Walker from his $88k position as sheriff because of the multiple incidents related to Walker's public drunkenness and alcohol problem.

After a 30-day alcohol rehab program, Bush reinstated Walker as sheriff on March 22, 2003. Walker was suspended for a second time by Bush only 4 weeks later, after he was arrested in Tampa for DUI.

South Florida and Broward County DUI Defense Attorney Carlos A. Canet has taken on those local judges that do not want to give his clients a fair hearing for their claims seeking suppression of their breath test results. Carlos A. Canet is a well known South Florida DUI Defense Attorney, who defends clients arrested for DUI in Miami-Dade County, Broward (DUI) County and Palm Beach (DUI) County. It is his intention to appeal all of those orders that have stricken the defense motion to suppress to the 4th District Court of Appeal in Palm Beach County.

There is also a plan in place if those judges that are targeted choose not to participate in the direct appeal process. Mr. Canet can request that those county court judges that have chosen not to strike his motion to declare that the issue is a matter of great public importance and thereby give jurisdiction to the appellate court. Should the targeted county court judges chose not to declare the issue as a matter of great public importance the remedy would be to file a petition for writ of mandamus to the appellate court. Mr. Canet is currently engaged in the process of preparing that petition on behalf of DUI clients whose rights have been violated.

There is no legal reason for a qualified local county court judge to defer ruling on issues of such great local importance to those accused of a Broward DUI. DUI Defense Lawyer Carlos A. Canet is continuously working to protect and defend his client's rights.

In many years of practice as a DUI defense lawyer I have learned that easily the most challenging and complicated issues in any DUI case have to do with blood draws and their analysis. Especially in felony DUI cases involving death or serious bodily injury where the stakes are the highest, most often the DUI defense attorney is confronted with a blood draw performed on his client and later analyzed either in a hospital toxicology lab or a police toxicology lab.

In almost every DUI where a blood draw is done, a traffic crash had occurred. In most of these cases there are two, and sometimes three, approaches for challenging blood evidence.

The first consideration is whether the blood was lawfully obtained. An examination of the facts surrounding the draw itself is critical. In cases where there is no death or serious bodily injury and the client is conscious and appears at a facility for treatment, most often the question is whether a breath or urine test implementation was impractical or impossible. If the client is unconscious a careful examination of the facts surrounding the accident is most important to determine whether the client was at fault.

Continue reading "Blood Analysis Issues" »