Tampa DUI Lawyer Blog

Field sobriety tests, or roadside tests, are administered by law enforcement officials who believe a driver is likely under the influence of alcohol or otherwise have reason to gauge a driver's sobriety. For example, a local police officer or sheriff's deputy might pull you over for a traffic infraction a little after 2:00 a.m., after the bars in town have closed up shop, and ask you if you've been drinking. You respond, "Just a couple of beers, Officer." Based on that statement, your traffic violation, your location, and possibly other factors - such as the scent of alcohol on your breath, slurred speech, or your glassy eyes - he may ask you to step out of the vehicle to determine whether you are too impaired to drive.

One of the most frequently used field sobriety tests is the "walk and turn." The law enforcement officer will ask you to walk down a line and back, heel-to-toe, while counting your steps out loud. He can observe your balance, as well as your ability to multi-task. Forgetting to count after the first few numbers while you struggle to maintain balance can be an indication that you are impaired.

Another frequently used, and perhaps more difficult, roadside test is the "one leg stand." Although there are variations, the police officer will typically ask you to stand on one foot - whichever one you like - while counting to 30. This also serves as a gauge of your balance.

Officers may also shine a light onto your face while asking you to keep your eyes on a moving object, usually the officer's finger. Alcohol can impair certain reflexive actions within the eye and this test examines your ability to follow the moving objects smoothly and without moving your head.

Unfortunately, field sobriety tests are imperfect at best, and not everyone can stand on one foot for 30 seconds or so, even under the best circumstances. Police officers may also be inclined to believe drivers performed inadequately when they are not intoxicated - studies show that "false positives" are common when officers evaluate people who are sober test subjects.

If you have been arrested for DUI in Florida, contact the Tampa DUI lawyers at Musca Law to begin your DUI defense.

To be convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in Florida, you must be in "actual physical control" of a vehicle. The term has been construed surprisingly broadly by the courts. For example, sleeping in the driver's seat of a motor vehicle has been deemed to be actual physical control, both when the vehicle was on a public street and on private property, like a driveway. Similarly, you can be in actual physical control even if the keys are not in the ignition. In both of these cases, you are not required to have any intention of driving while you remain impaired.

This issue came to public attention again in a recent well-publicized Minnesota case. The state of Minnesota has similar DUI laws to those in Florida, although they are not identical and are open to construction by the courts of that state. Police officers discovered Daryl Fleck sleeping or passed out in his vehicle close to midnight in the parking lot at his apartment complex. Fleck's car keys had been placed on the console. Police arrested him after determining that he had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.18 percent, far above the state's "legal limit" of 0.08 percent, the level at which intoxication is presumed.

Fleck was convicted and appealed his case on the basis that he was not in physical control of the vehicle and that sleeping drunkenly in his own car at his home should not constitute driving under the influence. The court affirmed the conviction, finding that "Fleck's keys were readily available to him, and there is no evidence ... that his purpose for being in the vehicle was inconsistent with driving."

If you have been arrested or charged with driving under the influence, contact the Tampa DUI defense attorneys at Musca Law today. With decades of experience handling DUI and other criminal matters, you can trust the experience of our DUI lawyers. 



 

Hardee County is a rural community with many open roads lacking street lights. When Sherriff Deputies noticed a vehicle driving at irregular speeds, slowing down and speeding up, as well as weaving between lanes, they suspected the driver was intoxicated. They followed the Bradenton resident for two miles along the darken highway before pulling him over. 

Police claim the driver was unsteady when he got out of his vehicle and his speech was slurred. They offered the driver the opportunity to perform field sobriety testing. According to the police report, the driver's abilities were impaired and he was placed under arrest. The driver refused to take a breath test and was charged with:  Driving Under the Influence, Fla. Statute 316.193, Refusal to Submit to a Breath Test, and was issued a citation for Possession of an Open Container.

Law enforcement officers around the country file close to 2 million drunk driving cases each year. DUI charges can have serious consequences and this driver retained the highly skilled DUI defense team at Musca Law. Our Tampa DUI attorneys investigate the evidence thoroughly and defend our clients with fierce determination.

By taking an aggressive stance for our client, we pushed forward negotiating with the State Attorney assigned to his case. In light of the challenge we presented, we successfully convinced the State they would be unable to secure a conviction. The State amended the DUI charge to Reckless Driving, dismissed the Refusal to Submit charge, and our client received a Withhold of Adjudication on the Open Container violation. Experience Counts!

Police arrested three men for driving under the influence of alcohol in Brooksville, Florida, north of Tampa. All three of the suspects were arrested on Friday evening within a period of about two hours.

The first came from a 911 call by a concerned wife. The caller told police that she and her husband, John Spencer, had an argument and that he had been drinking. Eventually, he got in his car and left their home as a result of the argument, but she was worried about his level of intoxication.

Around the same time, Brooksville police received another call, this time from the employees at Health South. The caller reported that an "extremely intoxicated" person was aggressively trying to gain entry into the building. The deputy who had been on the lookout for the first suspect turned around to respond to the immediate threat at Health South, but located Spencer, who is 54, on his way to Health South. The deputy recognized Spencer from prior encounters with the man.

The deputy attempted to pull over Spencer, who initially appeared cooperative. Spencer did not pull his vehicle over, however; instead, he attempted to flee from the deputy. The suspect led the deputy on a high-speed chase in Brooksville, reportedly reaching speeds of over 100 miles per hour. The deputy quit the chase soon thereafter based on the danger to the public of the speeds and the busy area of town Spencer was approaching in his vehicle. Police officers then went to Spencer's home. He was already there and was arrested for DUI and fleeing to elude law enforcement officials.

About an hour after the incident with Spencer, officers arrested two other men for driving under the influence. The first was William North, 54, who failed field sobriety tests at the scene of an accident and later received breath tests results showing his BAC to be 0.251 and 0.254. Kyle Hawkins, 23, was arrested for DUI and other offenses after a traffic stop at about the same time. Hawkins declined to participate in roadside tests, but his breathalyzer reading was 0.259. The Tampa DUI lawyers remind drivers that Florida law presumes intoxication at 0.08 percent.

A video of a dangerous high-speed chase:

Jon Noble Keiser, 58, has been charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence in Hillsborough County. Keiser is the senior pastor at the Lutheran Church of Our Savior, located in Tampa. He was pulled over after 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 18, when an officer equipped with a radar gun determined that Keiser was driving at 13 miles per hour over the posted speed limit on Linebaugh Avenue.

The police officer who pulled Keiser over detected the smell of alcohol and became suspicious that Keiser was impaired. The pastor refused to submit to a breath alcohol test, commonly known as a breathalyzer. Upon evaluating Kaiser's condition, including the appearance of red and watery eyes and inadequate balance, he was arrested for the misdemeanor DUI charge. The church has refused to comment on the criminal charge. Keiser was released after posting a $500 bond.

In Florida, driving under the influence is an enhanceable crime, meaning that the penalties become more severe each time you do are convicted. For instance, a first-time DUI conviction is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail under Florida law. Your second DUI conviction within five years is punishable by 10 days to one year in jail. The third DUI in a ten-year period is a felony and can result in a prison term of up to five years. This does not take into account situations in which there is an aggravating factor, such as having a child in the car at the time of the DUI arrest or driving with a very high blood alcohol content. In all cases, DUI is additionally punishable by DUI school, fines, court costs, the impoundment of your vehicle, and the loss of your driving privileges. Consult the Tampa DUI attorneys at Musca Law regarding the specific details of your case.

An example of roadside field sobriety tests, followed by a fleeing suspect:

When Sarasota Sheriff Deputies responded to a report of a possible battery at a restaurant on Tamiami Trail, a young woman claimed an unidentified man had touched her inappropriately. She told the police the white male seemed heavily intoxicated and extremely disorientated. Although she felt offended, she did not want to press charges.

In the parking lot of the restaurant, police observed a man fitting the description entering a black Nissan. The man was attempting to back out of his parking spot. He allegedly put his car in forward instead of reverse, hitting the car in front of him. Deputies made contact with the suspect and detected a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, and felt his speech was slurred. The officers offered the driver Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFTS). These tests are simple physical and cognitive tests the driver must perform to determine sobriety.

The driver's performance reportedly did not meet the standards of the tests and the police felt he was impaired. An inventory of the vehicle was conducted and police found a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun in the center console, along with empty bottles of vodka and rum in the back seat. The driver was arrested and transported to the Sarasota County Jail where he was given a breath test. He was charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI), Fla. Statute 316.193(1)(b).

The driver of the car, a 31 year old US Army soldier, brought his case to the experienced Tampa DUI attorneys at Musca Law. Finding a skilled DUI attorney is essential to fighting charges in an arrest. After carefully investigating our client's situation, we found fault in the administration of the breath test. The machine used to perform the test, an Intoxilizer 8000, gave multiple false readings, resulting in the need to administer the test three times. A total of eight breath samples were collected before any two samples were produced within the "control tolerable".

The results produced by the Intoxilizer were clearly unreliable. Our Tampa DUI defense attorneys motioned to suppress the breath test and the results. The Motion enhanced our defense strategy, taking away from the State the key elements required in order to prosecute the case. After firm negotiations with the State Attorney, a Nolle Prosequi was issued, dismissing the case against our client.  

For a young person, a DUI arrest can be devastating, say the Tampa DUI lawyers at Musca Law. In addition to feeling like a fish out of water throughout the entire process, a young person is likely to face significant collateral harm from the arrest.

Tampa DUI defense attorney John Musca says that one is the sense of family disapproval, and perhaps isolation. Law-abiding parents may express tremendous disappointment in their teenaged or young adult child who is arrested for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The parents may feel angry at their child or embarrassed that others will believe their parenting was inadequate. Either way, the young person arrested for DUI is likely to take the brunt of the ill will.

Friends and family may also be concerned that the DUI is a manifestation of a drinking problem. Sometimes, young people are charged with driving under the influence on a single occasion, but do not make that error again. The common use of substance abuse treatment in the sentencing process contributes to the stigma and the commonly held belief only alcoholics get DUIs. While a pattern of substance abuse, including one or more DUIs, is indicative of a problem, a DUI can also be a one-time mistake.

Tampa DUI Lawyers note that the consequences for a young person are vast. For instance, a DUI conviction can cause problems for college applicants. Colleges and universities have taken an increasingly hard-line approach to applicants with any kind of criminal record. Now, many decline to admit such applicants at all.

Florida DUI laws can be especially tough in this respect, due to the Baby DUI law. Under Florida law, a person under the age of 21 - the legal drinking age - can be arrested and convicted for driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol content of only 0.02 percent. This is a quarter of the level at which intoxication is presumed in an adult driver.

If you or a young person you know has been arrested for DUI in Florida, contact the Tampa DUI attorneys at Musca Law. We provide comprehensive criminal defense services to help you get your life back on track.

A good anti-drunk driving video for college students, created at the Arizona State University Film School:

The Tampa DUI lawyers at Musca Law find that the public is curious about the accuracy of "pocket breathalyzers," small devices that fit in your purse or pocket for a night on the town. These devices claim to measure your breath alcohol content, giving you a reading that will tell you if you are sober enough to drive home legally. In Florida and every other state, the "legal limit" of alcohol in a driver's bloodstream is 0.08 percent. Nonetheless, drivers should be aware that they can be arrested and convicted of driving under the influence if they have been taking drugs or even if they are impaired after drinking, although they blow a reading lower than 0.08. Because every person processes alcohol differently, it is important not to get behind the wheel if you feel too impaired to drive, even if you believe your BAC is below 0.08 percent.

The pocket breathalyzers take several forms. For example, one developer has come up with the iBreath, an add-on for the iPhone that claims to give accurate BAC readings for just $50. Similarly, other companies have developed small stand-alone machines. Below is a video of a news station testing out a small handheld breath test device in conjunction with a local law enforcement agency:



Using a traditional law enforcement breath test machine to evaluate the effectiveness of the pocket breathalyzer, the police and the news station found the pocket version to be extremely inaccurate. In fact, one of the testers blew 0.00 on the pocket machine, while showing a significant reading on the law enforcement breath test machine. Although the Tampa Dui Attorney at Musca Law believe that there are serious questions regarding the reliability of the Intoxilyzer breath test devices used in Florida, the fact remains that the pocket version tested in the video appears to be extremely inaccurate. Be careful drinking and check out a blood alcohol content calculator to give you a rough estimate of where you stand after a few drinks.

If you have been arrested for driving under the influence in Florida, contact Tampa DUI attorney John Musca. The Tampa DUI defense team at Musca Law has decades of experiences defending against DUI and other criminal charges.

Just three days before the Christmas holiday bad luck seemed to follow a young Polk County driver. While making a left hand turn, another vehicle cut him off. He was forced to swerve sharply in order to avoid collision, his car flipped over and landed on its roof. The other vehicle left the scene of the accident. In a dazed state and unable to locate his cell phone, the driver crawled out of the badly damaged car. Fearing his car might catch on fire, he proceeded to stagger to a nearby store to call for help.  When he heard sirens and realized the police had already been notified, he made his way back to his vehicle.

The police arrived finding the overturned vehicle, with the keys still in the ignition and no driver inside. A nearby resident reported to the police that he had seen the driver crawl out of the car and leave the scene. When the police spotted the driver in his blood soaked and soiled clothes, they immediately apprehended him and placed him in handcuffs. The driver notified the police he had sustained injuries and needed medical attention. When ambulatory services arrived, the driver was mobilized on a spine board with a cervical collar securing his head. The badly damaged car had to be towed from the scene.

The police report noted the driver had "slurred speech" and "swayed while standing". The officers conducted a partial sobriety test and concluded alcohol was involved in the accident.
The driver was taken to the hospital and treated for his injuries. The injuries he sustained included: multiple abrasions, neck and abdominal pain and a closed head injury. Upon release from the hospital the driver was arrested and taken to the Polk County Jail. The driver was formally charged by the Lakeland Police with: Leaving the Scene of Crash with Property Damage, Careless Driving and Driving Under the Influence, under Florida Statute Section 316.193.  The charges resulted in his license being suspended.

When faced with the predicament of serious DUI charges, it is imperative to select experienced and aggressive DUI lawyers to defend your constitutional rights and obtain the best possible outcome. This driver made the wise choice of selecting the rock solid defense team at Musca Law. 

Our experienced Tampa DUI attorneys investigate each case thoroughly to build effective defense strategies. Police officers' subjective opinions are often countered by reasonable explanations for certain behaviors. For instance, the officers in this case observed the defendant's slurred speech and swaying while standing as signs of alcohol intoxication. The defendant suffered a closed head injury from the rollover. Symptoms of a closed head injury may include slurred speech, loss of balance and confusion. Our client claimed to have left the scene of the accident in order to find help. The officers who responded to the call assumed our client had left the scene intentionally. Based upon these and other facts in question we were able to present an aggressive challenge to the charges our client faced.

Musca Law attorneys convinced the State Attorney that there was no merit to the allegation of Leaving the Scene of the Crash and the charge was dismissed. As well, our defense strategy was successful in having the DUI charge reduced to a less serious violation of Reckless Driving.  Additionally, our Tampa DUI attorneys convinced the Hearing Officer for the Department of Motor Vehicles to lift the suspension of our client's license. We have a simple philosophy for defending our clients, we fight to win.

Every state in the country has legislation that makes it a crime to drive while you are impaired. In Florida, this means that the prosecution can either show that you were actually impaired or, alternatively, that you had a blood alcohol content of at least 0.08% percent. If your BAC is 0.08% or higher, Florida law presumes that you were intoxicated. Even if you felt fine, the Tampa DUI lawyers at Musca Law want you to know that you are automatically considered to be intoxicated once your BAC reaches that level.

But what if you are under the influence of a substance other than alcohol? Although there is no set level at which Florida law presumes intoxication from anything besides alcohol, Tampa DUI attorneys find that law enforcement officers make arrests even if alcohol does not appear to have played any role. For example, a law enforcement officer could conclude that your slurred speech and odd behavior make you unfit to drive and arrest you on suspicion of driving under the influence. A blood test could reveal the issue - illegal drugs, in some cases. 

Another possibility is that a Tampa area law enforcement official could pull over your car because you were swerving or otherwise appeared to be engaging in unsafe driving practices.  After administering a breath test and determining your blood alcohol content is 0.05%, he can still administer field sobriety tests to evaluate your impairment. If you fail, he may arrest you even though your BAC was lower than 0.08%. At your criminal trial, the prosecution will introduce evidence, such as the police officer's testimony, that your driving was erratic and that you failed the field sobriety tests. If the police collect a blood sample, as well, they may be able to determine if you were under the influence of alcohol as well as another substance.  Even if the other substance is legal, it could still have an effect on driving. Taking some allergy medicines, especially with liquor, could make you groggy and too impaired to legally drive.

If you have been arrested for driving under the influence, contact the Tampa DUI defense lawyers at Musca Law. 

A video of a field sobriety test is below: