DUI and Your Drivers’ License
It’s a little-known fact that the state of Florida can suspend your drivers’ license based solely on a DUI arrest. In fact, pre-arrest suspensions are very common, especially in chemical test refusal cases. Florida is an implied consent state. So, if a driver refuses to provide a chemical sample, for the state, a driver’s license suspension is simply a matter of filing paperwork.
Pre-arrest suspensions are also common in chemical test failure cases. Like post-conviction suspensions, these suspensions are almost automatic. However, unlike post-conviction license suspension matters, a Tampa criminal defense lawyer can contest pre-conviction drivers’ license suspensions. More on that below. An attorney also eases the impact of post-conviction drivers’ license suspensions. More on that below as well.
Pre-Conviction Suspensions
If officers had probable cause to demand a sample, a refusal or failure could mean an automatic drivers’ license suspension. If the defendant drives with a suspended license, the state will add additional criminal charges.
Incidentally, although drivers’ license suspension is automatic, unless a Tampa criminal defense lawyer fights it, drivers’ license reinstatement is not automatic. The license remains invalid until the driver fulfills conditions like paying a reinstatement fee and providing proof of insurance. Affordable auto insurance is very difficult to find with a DUI arrest or conviction on one’s record.
Technically, a refusal or failure triggers the ALR (administrative license revocation) process. As mentioned, probable cause for the chemical test demand is usually the key issue in an ALR hearing.
Unfortunately for defendants, probable cause is a relatively low standard. An officer’s opinion, unsupported or not, that the defendant failed field sobriety tests (FSTs) usually constitutes probable cause.
If FST evidence is unavailable, perhaps because the defendant refused to perform them, the state must rely on shaky circumstantial evidence, like bloodshot eyes and unsteady balance, to establish probable cause. When the evidence is weak, the administrative law judge who presides at the hearing usually at least reduces the suspension period or probates most of it.
At an ALR hearing, even a loss is a win. A Tampa criminal defense lawyer cross-examines the arresting officer on the record. Later inconsistent statements, even regarding small details, could torpedo the officer’s credibility.
Post-Conviction Suspensions
Negotiations with the probation officer and/or legal motions to alter the terms and/or length of probation ease the pain of a long-term post-conviction drivers’ license suspension.
In terms of the conditions of probation, almost everything is negotiable, including drivers’ license suspension provisions. Additionally, an attorney often obtains an occupational drivers’ license in these situations. This document usually allows people to drive for limited purposes, such as to and from work and to and from the grocery store.
Probation modification or termination is an even better option. Florida law gives judges broad discretion to alter the terms and conditions of probation at any time. In fact, if the defendant has a good record, many judges place many defendants on unsupervised probation.
Typically, after the defendant serves about a third of the term, early discharge from probation is an option. If that happens, the conditions of probation, such as drivers’ license restriction, disappear.
Connect With a Detail-Oriented Hillsborough County Attorney
A criminal charge is not the same thing as a criminal conviction. For a confidential consultation with an experienced criminal defense lawyer in Tampa, contact the OA Law Firm. After-hours and jail visits are available.
