Broward DUI Lawyer Blog

The battle rages forward on Florida's west coast, where defense lawyers continue poking holes into the usefulness of the state's breathalyzer machine used in Fort Lauderdale DUI cases.

Now news coming out of Sarasota shows that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is so desperate to prove their breathalyzer machine works that they spent $8,000 to get their employees drunk to test the machines. But the unscientific study has yet to sway judges that the machine actually works.

Our Fort Lauderdale DUI defense lawyers believe this shows how desperate the state's law enforcement agency is to get these poorly working breath machines to be accepted by courts statewide. The battle has been especially intense in Sarasota, where judges and prosecutors have tossed out breath test results after studies have shown they were unreliable.

Real testing by experts showed that the machines, when properly examined, showed that drivers could blow 12 liters of breath in the machine, though the human lung capacity maxes out at around 5 liters. That shows the test results are impossible, which brings into question the blood-alcohol level results for thousands of drivers who have been charged with DUI there.

And that means that drivers throughout South Florida should be skeptical of these machines. They are designed to reflect the blood-alcohol level of the driver who is stopped by police. But, as some have pointed out, these machines can't measure the blood-alcohol level, but only can estimate what it is. Without a sample of blood, a person's breath can't be accurate anyway.

In Florida, FDLE regulates the use of breath machines for officers and has only certified one -- the Intoxilyzer 8000 -- as useable by police. And because of the questionable results, attorneys statewide have been fighting their accuracy on behalf of DUI defendants. The company that makes the device has been fighting judge's orders that allow DUI defense lawyers to see how they work, claiming it would leak their trade secrets to the public.

According to the Herald-Tribune, FDLE spent $330 on whiskey, other booze, mixers and snacks in order to have their employees get blitzed and blow into the machines. There blood was also drawn to compare to the breath test results. The study, overall, cost $8,000.

In October, the newspaper reported that flawed machines were staying in operation for years without checkups or maintenance -- dishing out impossible results all the while. In about 100 cases, DUI defendants had those breath test results tossed out, leading to dropped or reduced charges. But for hundreds or even thousands more, they can't know whether the tests in their previous case would have changed if this information was known ahead of time.

Judges seemed skeptical of using the information, in part because the lab work wasn't done. Some DUI defense lawyers, the newspaper reported, argued that there was nothing scientific about the study and it doesn't address the problems.

Continue reading "Report: FDLE Employees Paid to Get Drunk to Test Fort Lauderdale DUI Breathalyzer" »

Attorneys in Naples recently went to court over Florida's DUI law, with lawyers arguing that the law is unconstitutional and state prosecutors arguing in opposition, The News-Press reports.

A judge ruled the law is constitutional, despite argument that the law should be disregarded because DUI defendants and their lawyers don't have access to how breath-test machines work. This issue has been debated for years now and DUI defense lawyers in Fort Lauderdale and elsewhere have been gaining ground.

In Florida, law enforcement officers use only one type of breath testing machine -- the Intoxilyzer 8000. And as our lawyers have pointed out many times, these machines have flaws, either in manufacturing or in whether police officers keep them in good working condition. Therefore, some people charged with DUI in Fort Lauderdale may have been at a disadvantage in their court cases, which is a violation of rights.

In several of Florida's west coast communities, prosecutors have dropped more than 100 DUI charges because the machines simply weren't working correctly. In measuring lung capacity, the machines reported drivers blew more air into the machines than humanly possible. Yet, Florida law enforcement has stood behind the machines.

But DUI defense lawyers throughout the state have made some progress in recent years. In arguing the machines make for unconstitutional cases against drivers, judges have begun granted them access to the code and inner workings of the breathalyzers.

This is important because in all criminal cases, a defendant has a right to have access to all information that the state intends to use against him or her. In a murder case, a defendant can see what steps were taken to test ballistics of a gun or DNA found at the scene, for instance. He or she can question the examiners, see reports and discover how the testing was done.

Each defendant has the right to this access. But that hasn't been so in DUI cases in Fort Lauderdale and throughout the state. Defendants for years haven't known what goes into making these breath testing machines that are so popular and that are used in virtually every DUI case.

If the state statute requires the prosecutor to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that a person was driving a vehicle under the influence and his or her blood-alcohol level was 0.08 or higher, it can be tough to prove without a breath test result.

That's why this has become such a heated topic. The Kentucky-based manufacturer of the Intoxilyzer has been slow to comply with judges' orders to turn over how the machines work for fear that they will end up in competitors' hands and their trade secrets could hit the public view.

In the case out of Naples, the judge ordered that this defendant's attorney alone could gain access to the inner-workings of the machines, but he is banned from sharing it with others. The judge ordered the company to turn over the information.

This, eventually, will lead to every attorney in the state who represents DUI defendants asking for this order and the information about how this machine works will be common knowledge before long. Other judges have created similar orders.

And while the law hasn't been ruled unconstitutional, the rights of DUI defendants in Florida are slowly being restored. This is good news.

Continue reading "Constitutionality of DUI Law in Fort Lauderdale Upheld After Court Challenge " »

Attorneys throughout Southwest Florida have been hammering the state's breath testing machines, with one state attorney's office tossing out breath test results in 100 DUI cases.

It's about time prosecutors started taking note since the Florida Department of Law Enforcement continues to stand by what is likely a faulty machine.

As Fort Lauderdale DUI defense lawyers have argued for years, breath tests not only produce faulty results based on manufacturing defects, but also based on police officer error. These machines are made to be calibrated over a certain period of time, and often they aren't. And as several newspapers have reported, DUI defendants in West Palm Beach and statewide have had cases dismissed because of it.

In Sarasota, as the Herald-Tribune reports, prosecutors have already tossed out breath testing results from 100 DUI cases and are reviewing others. These actions come after concerns were brought up about the validity of the Intoxilyzer 8000, the only breath-testing machine certified for law enforcement use in Florida.

According to the newspaper, analysis done on the device showed that some drivers, who have a maximum lung capacity of five liters, blew as much as 10, 11 or 12 liters of air into the machine. These are impossible results, yet they were being used in court as if the defendant were guilty.

And the newspaper reports that many of these machines were producing incorrect results without any oversight. Machines were used unquestioned by police or prosecutors for years without proper calibration checks. In July, FDLE fixed the machines, but didn't indicate how long the machines were faulty or how far off the calculations were. So it's unclear how many cases were affected.

In Naples, attorneys are taking it a step further. They are prepared to argue before a judge that the state's DUI law is unconstitutional because clients aren't allowed to have access to information about breath machines that are a major component of DUI investigations and convictions.

Attorneys have argued for years that without the source code -- the blueprint for how breath machines work -- defendants' rights are being violated. Without access to information in their cases, Florida's defendants are at a huge disadvantage against the state.

Defendants are required to have all information being used against them in their case. That means police reports, lab work, DNA testing, fingerprinting, witness statements and anything else that the state intends to use against them.

In DUI cases, a breath test result is easily the biggest piece of evidence that supports the charges. It is clear that the legal blood alcohol content level limit in Florida is .08. When a breath test shows .09, it is easy for a jury to convict.

But what defendants haven't had is the proof that these machines -- which are used by every agency in the state -- are actually working. And without better standards, their rights are being shredded.

Let's hope South Florida prosecutors take note of the proactive work that Sarasota prosecutors are doing in reviewing these cases to ensure that defendants' rights are being upheld.

Continue reading "Fort Lauderdale Breath Testing Under Fire By DUI Defense Lawyers" »

Schools in Louisiana have adopted policies that allow school administrators -- after being trained by local law enforcement -- to give breath tests to students before school functions, including dances and proms, in an effort to curb DUI.

Every American, including children, has the Fourth Amendment right not to be subjected to illegal search and seizure. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to be treated like a criminal when there is no probable cause that he or she has committed a crime.

This also doesn't take into consideration that breath testing such as those in Fort Lauderdale DUI cases has been proven time and time again to be faulty. The breath testing machines have manufacturing defects just like any other piece of complex equipment, and have been known to put out false readings for a variety of reasons and factors.

West Palm Beach DUI defense attorneys assume that most teens going to a dance will be using mouthwash or another product in the chance they end up stealing a kiss that night. Nothing wrong with that, right? But in Louisiana, officials could end up sending the youngsters home to a parent, or worse yet possibly attempting to charge them for a crime they didn't commit.

Calcasieu Parish school officials passed a policy in 2008 that allows administrators to administer breathalyzer tests to students. Under the policy, sheriff's officials -- with a grant from the state -- provide the breathalyzer equipment and necessary training.

Students are required to have a signed consent form from a parent. In most cases, the form must be signed before the student is allowed to purchase a ticket to a school dance or other event. When students arrive at the dance, they are required to undergo a breathalyzer test, which must read 0.00. If a student's test comes in at anything above 0.00, his or her parent is called to pick them up.

As is common knowledge, however, alcohol-based mouthwash, gum, mints, cough syrup and medication can send out incorrect readings. Even the machine itself could be faulty. A person who isn't legally drunk can end up getting carted away to jail if an officer relies on this faulty equipment.

Sadly, it happens with regularity, even here after West Palm Beach DUI investigations. That's why Broward DUI lawyers and others are fighting to obtain the code that makes up the Intoxilyzer, the breath machine used by all Florida law enforcement officers. While a judge has already ruled in defense attorneys' favor, the Kentucky company that produces the machines has fought the ruling.

Attorneys believe that by having the code, they can explain why so many DUI defendants throughout Florida have suffered because of poorly manufactured devices that show incorrect readings. It's a situation Louisiana school officials should be monitoring before they take away peoples' rights.

Continue reading "Students Forced Into Breath Tests At School Dances Seems Like Civil Rights Violation in Florida" »

Attorneys statewide, including Fort Lauderdale DUI Lawyers, have been trying to obtain access to the Intoxilyzer 8000 software source code.

CMI Inc, of Owensboro, Ky, has fought the attorneys' efforts, fearing access to the code would exploit the inaccuracies and unreliability of the product that law enforcement relies on to secure convictions against those facing DUI charges in Miami and elsewhere.

Attorneys have been fighting for most of the last decade to obtain this information. The first attempts came while the Intoxilyzer 5000 was in use and continued after 2002, when the 5000 was withdrawn and the 8000 came into use.

Despite issuing subpoenas to the company, it claims the source code is proprietary property and some Florida courts accepted it. But a breakthrough happened recently in Sarasota, where an attorney obtained a subpoena forcing the company to turn over the source code. After several losing appeals, the company has been forced to comply, though it hasn't been quick to do it.

The source code is the actual programmed instructions that guide the breathlyzer machine in its various functions. So, in order to know exactly how the device works, examination of the code is necessary. It is crucial that attorneys have access to the information in order to adequately present problems that may exist.

While the company may argue that it is information that could hurt business if the secret got out, Fort Lauderdale DUI Lawyer Carlos Canet believes it is critical to examine on behalf of DUI clients. His firm has brought the source code challenge to courts in Broward County on behalf of many DUI clients. A hearing is scheduled seeking to suppress breath test results based on problems with the Intoxilyzer source code in a South Florida DUI case. It's just one more step he takes in aggressively fighting for the rights of clients facing drunk driving charges in Broward County and the surrounding area.

There have been many cases throughout the country where prosecutors have considered dropping charges against DUI defendants because of problems with these devices. In some cases, manufacturing defects cause problems, such as registering a high blood-alcohol content level in cases where the driver hasn't had that much to drink. In other cases, police have failed to properly maintain the devices and they aren't properly calibrated, leading to similar problems.

At the root of the problem are the devices and the criminal justice system's reliance on them in the first place. These devices don't measure a person's blood-alcohol content level, but only provide an estimation. And studies have shown that many factors can influence the device's output, such as weather conditions, what a person has to eat and the gases that travel in a person's breath, as well as other conditions.

Our firm will continue to fight these devices and their admission into criminal cases throughout South Florida. Without fighting these devices, DUI defendants don't get a fair trial, a basic right that all Americans have. And our firm is dedicated to aggressively and diligently representing clients charged with crime.

Continue reading "Broward DUI Lawyer Fighting To Crack Intoxilyzer Code in DUI Cases" »

The Ocala Star-Banner reports about a University of Florida study which found that using hand sanitizer with alcohol can cause incorrect breathalyzer readouts, just another example of the problems with these DUI devices used by law enforcement.

As previously reported in the Broward DUI Lawyer Blog, breathalyzers are coming under fire across the nation for their inaccuracies. In Santa Clara and Palo Alto, California, prosecutors are reviewing thousands of DUI cases because of a manufacturing error in breathalyzers. In Philadelphia and Vermont, concerns over Breathalyzer machines that haven't been properly calibrated are allowing DUI suspects to go free.

Fort Lauderdale DUI Lawyers have challenged Breathalyzer results for as long as they have been introduced in DUI cases. We believe challenging this form of evidence is essential to a DUI defense in Miami.

The UF study examined 11 subjects as they used hand sanitizer every five minutes during a 10-hour period for three days. None of the subjects had a history of alcohol use and were tested at the beginning of each day.

At the end of the three-day period, eight of the subjects produced readouts that indicated a high use of alcohol though none had consumed alcohol other than what they used to clean their hands.

This is just another example of where Breathalyzers are faulty and should be challenged in defense of a DUI charge. Imagine nurses and doctors and other professionals who constantly use hand sanitizer at work. What if an officer suspects the driver has been drinking based on their impressions and all of a sudden, the driver could be arrested and booked into jail.

It may seem a little far-fetched, but breathalyzers have had problems for years. It's been documented that having acid reflux can cause your breath to create a high breathalyzer input. Smoking, belching and air temperature are all factors, not to mention the training of the officer using the machine. Because the machines calculate blood-alcohol level by a person's breath, they are inherently faulty.

An aggressive Broward County DUI attorney will challenge the results of these machines in your case. Don't let the evidence pile up against you. As they say, a good offense is a strong defense and Fort Lauderdale DUI Lawyers will provide that.

Continue reading "Florida Study Finds That Hand Sanitizers Can Affect Breathalyzer Tests" »

A Manatee County woman was arrested in 2008 and charged with her 11th DUI, but prosecutors recently dropped charges against her in an effort to avoid exposing problems with a faulty breathalyzer, CBS News reports.

When drivers pick up a large number of DUI arrests, the penalties in Florida can be staggering. A strong DUI defense in Miami is necessary in the fight to reduce prison time, long driver's license suspensions or revocations and thousands in fines and fees levied by the court.

In the case in Bradenton, the woman was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and while being taken to jail was given a breath test in an Intoxilyzer 8000. According to the news article, the woman blew a .119, which is over the state's legal blood alcohol limit of .08.

But in the midst of preparing for trial, an expert witness discovered that the device sometimes would take two breath samples, but only report one result. The machines also often reported two blood alcohol levels without any breath volume, the story states. When the manufacturer wouldn't let the defense inspect how the machine operates, the judge refused to let the results into evidence.

Faulty breathalyzers aren't breaking news. Prosecutors across the country are being forced to review or drop thousands of drunk driving cases because the devices aren't reliable. In California, thousands of DUI cases are being reviewed because of a defect in several cities. In Philadelphia recently, more than 1,500 defendants will get new trials because of faulty breathalyzers used by police.

In recent years, Florida lawmakers have stiffened the penalties for habitual traffic offenders. Anyone convicted of multiple drunk driving offenses can be punished with years of prison. And the law allows judges to sentence to additional incarceration if the driver's blood alcohol level is high or if there are prior convictions.

A seasoned Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney will know how to fight for your rights and be there to help protect them. Choose wisely.

Continue reading "Bad Breathalyzer Results in Florida DUI Case Could Aid Defendants" »

Authorities in California are reviewing hundreds of DUI arrests made by San Jose police because of a defect in the manufacturing of the devices, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

Fort Lauderdale DUI defense attorneys have been fighting breathalyzer and other DUI-related issues for decades. Breathalyzers and other drunken driving testing and devices used by law enforcement are often faulty or officers themselves aren't trained in using them, leading to the possibility of a Beating a DUI charge in Fort Lauderdale.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said recently it would review the cases of 865 DUI suspects because San Jose police officers use the Alco-Sensor V breathalyzer as part of their field sobriety testing of drivers they believe to be intoxicated. Although the devices aren't usually used as evidence in court, the problems could lead to hundreds of acquittals.

According to the article, the devices may have shown incorrect readings because of a manufacturer's error that can cause condensation to build up in the tube. This means that many people who weren't intoxicated were arrested based on faulty test results. It could also mean there are hundreds of people who have already entered guilty pleas and served punishment for a crime they may not be guilty of committing.

This story shows the importance of consulting with an aggressive Broward DUI attorney before agreeing to a guilty plea or a resolution that may be unnecessary, depending on the facts of the case. The DUI penalties in Florida can be steep and a strong defense, including aggressive cross examination of witnesses, pre-trial motions and other avenues within the law can be beneficial to your defense.

DUI in Broward County is a serious crime that not only can carry with it an embarrassing stigma, but also can affect your future if your rights aren't properly conserved. A DUI arrest can cause you to have to pay fees and fines as well as possibly incarceration. Don't try to defend yourself.

Continue reading "Faulty Breathalyzers Affect Miami DUI Cases" »

Federal funding is being channeled to a program designed to make alcohol-detection devices available as a new car option within the next ten years, according to The New York Times. While some are for the new technology, others claim it's a government invasion and has no business being in our cars.

"Individuals driving with a BAC of .08 may have only had one or two drinks and can be convicted for drunken driving," said Sarah Longwell, the spokeswoman for ABI. "There is a huge difference between an offender who has gotten in a car and is slightly above the legal limit and a driver who has had 10 drinks."

Our Fort Lauderdale DUI attorneys urge you to practice safe driving habits regardless of the situation. We understand that drivers may be falsely accused of driving under the influence for a number of reasons. And, as authorities continue to push for tougher DUI penalties, the number of drivers arrested in marginal or questionable DUI cases continues to rise.

Politicians are only too happy to pass tougher measures -- and, of course, there is never a shortage of rhetoric.

"We've worked on behavior modification for the last 30 years, but we're still killing almost 11,000 Americans a year," says Laura Dean-Mooney, national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

Government officials are now trying to interfere with the driving habits of all drivers. These proposed devices would be set up in vehicles to stop a driver from starting the vehicle if they test above the legal limit of intoxication. Unlike ignition interlock devices, which are temporarily installed in the vehicles of some offenders, this technology would be a permanent feature designed to detect blood-alcohol level by measuring the air inside the vehicle or via a thumbprint. Thus far, officials are describing the effort as "optional" equipment in new cars.

The legislation is aiming to redirect nearly $60 million in highway safety money to a government-industry research project to develop a prototype of the alcohol-detection device for cars. The five-year project is sponsored by Sens. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn.

"What we're doing is developing technology that won't interfere with sober drivers, will require virtually no maintenance or upkeep and will have such precision that it only stops a driver when their blood alcohol content is .08 BAC or higher, which is the illegal limit for drunk driving in every state," said Shane Karr, vice president for Federal Government Affairs at the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

Continue reading "Alcohol-Detection Devices One Step Closer to Reality as Next Consequence for DUI Offenders in Fort Lauderdale" »

For nearly 30 years, veteran Fort Lauderdale DUI Defense Attorney Carlos Canet has advised motorist stopped on suspicion of drunk driving to refuse to take a breathalyzer examination.

Yes, you will automatically lose your driver's license. Florida drunk driving law provides for a one-year driver's license suspension for a first refusal and an 18-month suspension for second or subsequent offenses. But you will lose your driver's license anyway if you are convicted of drunk driving.

By refusing the breath test (and field sobriety testing) you will be denying the state two key pieces of evidence that will be used against you at trial. Avoiding a DUI conviction, even if refusing a breath test allows for the loss of your driver's license, has many benefits. Other sanctions that typically result from a DUI conviction include the possibility of jail time, hefty fines, alcohol treatment and probation sanctions and/or restrictions. Your car insurance premiums will also double or triple, costing you thousands in additional insurance costs for years to come.

The state's implied consent law is what permits it to suspend your driver's license for refusing a breath test. Under implied consent, you agree to take the tests, if asked, when you are issued your driver's license.

In the event of an accident causing serious or fatal injuries, you can be made to take a blood test-- even if an officer must physically force you to do so. And even if you refuse.

The only time you should voluntarily submit to such testing is if you are not feeling any effects of alcohol at the time of the request. If you are feeling any effects, no matter how minimal, DO NOT BLOW.

Continue reading "Fort Lauderdale DUI stops: To blow or not to blow " »

Time Magazine recently questioned whether the blood-alcohol level of .08, used as the drunk driving threshold in all 50 states, is too liberal and should be further reduced.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports it has only been in the last 5 years that all 50 states have adopted the .08 driving limit. Previously, the legal limit was .01. It had been as high as .15 in some states.

The United States joins Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom as countries with a .08 limit. However, many, many nations have a legal limit of .05, including Australia, parts of Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Israel and much of South America.

In Japan, the legal limit is just .03 and in China, Sweden and Norway, it is .02. And in Russia and Saudi Arabia, it is essentially .00, with an arrest warranted for any driver showing any signs of intoxication. Consequently, Time Magazine reports that driving home from a bar in Sweden is nearly unheard of.

A BAC of .08 requires a 180-pound male to consume about six beers in two hours, according to various estimates. However, each person is different. A driver's metabolism, what type of alcohol he or she is consuming, and a host of other factors all play a role.

Our Fort Lauderdale DUI Lawyers do not think lowering the threshold for DUI will have a practical impact on the safety of motorists. In 2009, state law enforcement officers arrested 63,089 motorists for DUI, according to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. That is nearly 50 percent more than the 42,167 arrested in 2003.

The problem is not that law enforcement are not making enough arrests. And a lower threshold will likely only lead to more marginal arrests and poor cases. Only about half of those charged with DUI in Florida -- 36,872 of 63,019 in 2009 -- are found guilty in any given year.

But with that said, we also think there is a better than average chance that the level will be further reduced in the future. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration blames one-third of the nation's traffic deaths on drunk driving -- 11,773 last year. And few will stand to protest such a move by politicians, who are always eager for public approval.

From a practical standpoint, it just makes it all the more critical to keep your driving record clean by fighting a drunk driving charge. If and when the thresholds are lowered in the future, it will be even easier to be stopped and cited again. And the state's tiered penalties for DUI make for a greater likelihood of jail time or other substantial penalties for a repeat violation.

Continue reading "Lower DUI limits possible for future drunk driving offenders in Fort Lauderdale" »

A Boston defense contractor is testing a next generation ignition interlock device that the federal government hopes could someday become as standard in new vehicles as seat belts and airbags, the Boston Globe reported.

An experienced Fort Lauderdale DUI defense lawyer understands the many reasons such a system will not succeed -- not the least of which are the gross privacy violations inherent in forcing every motorists to submit to a breath test each time they climb behind the wheel.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is spending $10 million on the study and believes the technology could save as many as 9,000 of the 11,000 motorists who are killed each year as a result of accidents involving alcohol. An early version of the system is undergoing testing under a 5-year contract with a Waltham defense contractor. Those tests are scheduled to come to an end in 2013.

Congress is considering appropriating another $10 million even as critics voice concerns over privacy and the cost and maintenance involved.

More rudimentary systems exist in the form of ignition interlock devices, which require some DUI offenders to pass a breath test before their car will start. The new system would reportedly test a driver's blood-alcohol level with the push of a button. Designers hope to create a system that will work without a driver's active involvement.

One hurdle is cost. Another is size -- the test models are the size of a shoe box or larger.

Reliability could also be an issue -- defective devices could seriously inconvenience sober motorists and could even cause a safety issue.

Continue reading "A breathalyzer in every car? South Florida DUI Attorneys think not" »

A dozen attorneys representing 16 clients packed a Daytona Beach courtroom recently to argue whether the Volusia County sheriff's deputy in charge of certifying alcohol breath testing machines has received the proper training, the Dayton Beach News Journal reported.

Our Fort Lauderdale DUI defense strategy frequently challenges the results of field sobriety and breathalyzer examinations on numerous grounds, including the training of the test administrator and the certification of the machine. In this case, dozens of DUI cases hinge on whether the officer in charge of certifying machines received the proper training after retiring for five years and then returning to the department.

Attorneys are arguing that the deputy did not retake a basic course upon rejoining the department in 2008. Because of the number of cases involved, the 90-minute hearing was held in front of a six-judge panel.

The officer is charged with certifying the sheriff's breath-test machines, which must be documented for accuracy. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement oversees the certification and training throughout the state.

As we reported earlier this summer on our Broward DUI Lawyer Blog, Florida DUI defense attorneys have forced a court order that requires the maker of the breathalyzer machine to reveal the computer code upon which it relies. Thus far the company has cited trade secrets in refusing to do so.

Continue reading "Failure to properly certify breathalzer machines in South Florida could be grounds for dismissal of drunk driving charges" »

Fort Lauderdale DUI Lawyer Carlos Canet and our entire staff wish you a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July weekend. Be careful, and know that traffic is expected to be heavy and authorities will be out in force conducting sobriety checkpoints and stopping motorists for suspicion of drunk driving.

The Sun-Sentinel reports that six percent more motorists are expected to be on the road this weekend than during Fourth of July a year ago.

And law enforcement roadblocks -- or sobriety checkpoints as they like to call them -- will be a fan favorite this weekend. There is more than a little irony in the fact that law enforcement will be celebrating Independence Day by setting up road blocks that skirt a citizen's rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.

The News Herald recently published an opinion chastising the Florida Highway Patrol for repeatedly publishing the same locations for possible checkpoints -- sometimes with more than two dozen locations listed -- which does little more than mock the law requiring law enforcement to provide advanced notification of when and where such roadblocks will occur.

Anyone stopped and charged with drunk driving at a sobriety checkpoint in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach or the surrounding area, should contact our office to discuss your rights. Law enforcement must adhere to strict standards for such arrests to be valid. And a Fort Lauderdale DUI Attorney can frequently work to have the charges reduced or dismissed.

Field sobriety tests and breathalyzer examinations are another area of Florida DUI law that calls for the careful scrutiny of a qualified attorney. Motorists often mistakenly believe that field sobriety tests are used by an officer to determine whether or not a motorist is intoxicated -- and that a successful performance will result in the motorist avoiding arrest. This is rarely, if ever, the case. Field sobriety tests are a tool used by a law enforcement officer to collect evidence of your guilt. The results are nothing more than the opinion of an officer whose job it is to collect evidence ... of your guilt!

And, as we reported on our Broward DUI Lawyer Blog, the company that manufactures the breathalyzer machine used in Florida is defying a court order to turn over the computer code used in the machine to defense attorneys who have requested it. The result is that many Florida DUI cases that rely heavily upon the breathalyzer results are being successfully defended.

Continue reading "Fort Lauderdale DUI lawyer wishes each of you a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July" »

The maker of a popular breathalyzer machine is apparently defying a court ruling that permits defendants to examine the evidence against them, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports.

The 2nd District Court of Appeals ruled last week that the company must honor subpoenas by defendants seeking the computer code inside the Intoxilyzer 8000. Judges in Sarasota and Manatee counties had ruled that defendants have a right to examine evidence against them.

Fort Lauderdale DUI Defense Lawyer Carlos Canet has been at the forefront of challenging the validity of breath test results as well as the training of officers involved in conducting field sobriety and breathalyzer examinations. Thousands of defendants are convicted of Florida DUI each year based on the results of breath tests -- or worse yet, the results of field sobriety tests, which amount to nothing more than an opinion that you are intoxicated by an officer whose job it is to collect evidence of your guilt.

However, the manufacturer of the machines, CMI Inc., of Kentucky, claims the code is a trade secret and has thus far refused to comply with the subpoenas. Meanwhile, the paper reports that prosecutors have had to dismiss or reduce charges in cases where the breath test results were the most compelling evidence against a defendant.

The court ruling means the company must disclose the code or continue the fight. Meanwhile, experienced DUI lawyers will continue to seek to have the results excluded from trials. The company has said it has not decided how to proceed but will not disclose valuable secrets that are central to its business.

The machine is the only breath test approved for use in Florida. Appealing to the Florida Supreme Court is one option. The company may also seek to disclose the code to the courts under an agreement that will protect it from disclosure. It's hard to see how that would work -- every DUI defense lawyer in the state would have the right to receive the information in building defenses for clients.

Continue reading "Appeals court rules breathalyzer manufacturer must disclose code to courts at request of DUI defense lawyers" »