Can I Get My Criminal Record Expunged?

Your driver’s license will be suspended every time you are arrested for DUI (with some limited exceptions). The length of the suspension varies depending on how many prior DUIs you have and on prior refusals to take a breath, blood, or urine test. If you waived your right to a formal review hearing, there is no period during which you are unable to drive, but the length of time you will have to drive on a hardship license is the same as if you had a formal review hearing and lost. The suspension periods are:

First DUI Offense

• 6 months (first 30 days no driving at all) if you took the requested test; or
• 12 months (first 90 days no driving at all) if you refused to take the test.

HOWEVER, on a first offense only, if you waived your right to a formal review hearing, there will be no hard suspension and you will be eligible to drive with a hardship license the entire suspension)

Second DUI Offense

• 12 months (30 day no driving at all) if you took the requested test;
• 12 months (90 day no driving at all) if you refused with no prior refusal; or
• 18 months no driving at all if you refused with a prior refusal.

Third or Subsequent DUI Offense

• 12 months no driving at all if you took the requested test;
• 12 months no driving at all if you refused with no prior refusal; or
• 18 months no driving at all if you refused with a prior refusal.

Discuss your case with the expert DUI defense attorneys at Katz & Phillips, P.A. today to help save your driving privilege and protect your rights in the courtroom. (321) 425-8961.

Again, there is no simple answer that fits all cases. In many cases the state will offer a deal in which the DUI charge is reduced. In those cases, the terms of the deal may make it a deal that makes sense to accept.

However, you should NEVER consider accepting a plea deal without discussing your case with an attorney. At the very least, your attorney should review all the evidence in the case against you with you before you make a decision.

An expert DUI defense attorney like those at Katz & Phillips, P.A. will almost certainly find something that can help you in the arrest reports and videos. Even if the charges will not go away completely, there are many different reductions to the charge of DUI that can be fought for.

Further in many Florida counties there are DUI diversion programs. Entry into these programs is within the discretion of the State Attorney and is never guaranteed. Having a Board Certified DUI lawyer by your side may make the difference between being accepted into a diversion program or being rejected.

It’s Your Life, You Decide!

When any plea offer is made, even if the only offer is that you must plea guilty as charged and accept the maximum penalties allowed by law, ethically an attorney must let you know about the offer and find out if you want to accept it.
At Katz & Phillips, P.A., we do not leave you alone to make this life altering decision. We will sit down with you and discuss what evidence the state had against you at the beginning of the case when you first came to see us, and what evidence they have left after the suppression hearings we held for you.

Next, we will discuss the likelihood of success at trial with the evidence the state has left. We will give you our honest opinion about your chances of winning at trial and most importantly, based on our years of experience with the judge on your case, we will let you know what we expect the judge to do if you lose at trial.

We will also discuss with you the benefits of the deal you have been offered and answer any questions you may have. It is then your decision whether or not we go to trial. In some cases, the right answer for you and your family is to accept the deal. In many it is to go to trial. We do not try to push you one way or the other but will offer our honest opinion.

DUI is the most complex area of misdemeanor law and is more complex than most felony cases. Further, much of DUI prosecution is based on the subjective opinions of Law Enforcement officers are are taught to see a DUI, every time they smell alcohol on someone’s breath or see a car move within its lane. Further, much of the evidence presented in a DUI case is based on roadside agility maneuvers that do more to test a person’s coordination and natural athletic ability than they do to test for impairment. Even the best Field Sobriety Tests individually have false results between 30 – 40% of the time according to law enforcement’s own training manuals and studies.

Additionally, the results of mysterious machines are not reliable. If the breath test machines were accurate, reliable, and worked the way the manufacturers claim, there would be no reason to deny defendant’s and defense attorneys access to the machines for testing.

Breath test manufacturers have fought for years to deny access and avoid scrutiny. Thousands of breath test results have been declared inadmissible due to the manufacturer’s unwillingness to share the secrets of their mythical machines.

With all the uncertainty around the various types of evidence used in DUI cases, there exists lots of potential opportunities for a skilled and knowledgeable DUI defense attorney to help you convince a jury that there is reasonable doubt regarding whether you were actually impaired.

Each and every case gets its own defense at Katz & Phillips, P.A. tailored to the facts of the case and the admissible evidence.

Finally, it is important to know the Judges. It many areas of Florida, the judges simply will not give a first-time offender anything, but the minimum mandatory sentence required by law even if they lose at trial.

If your case is in front of a judge who has been a judge for 20 years and has never given a single defendant more than the minimum penalties for DUI after a trial and the prosecutor is offering a plea deal to the minimum mandatory penalties, why would you accept that instead of taking a shot at winning the trial and having the Judge give you the same penalties if you lost?

Call the Expert DUI Attorneys at Katz & Phillips, P.A. today and learn why you should fight your DUI charges. Sit down with us and discuss your particular facts and the defenses available to you today.

If you refuse to take the test requested of you by a law enforcement officer after you have been arrested, that refusal has multiple consequences.
The first time you refuse testing, the state can use that refusal against you in court. Typically, in their closing argument, the state will argue to the jury that you refused to take the test because you knew you would blow over the legal limit. This argument is called consciousness of guilt.

There are many ways that an Board Certified DUI Defense attorney can counter that argument.

If you refuse testing and have previously refused to take a breath, blood, or urine test you are actually committing a separate crime. The crime of refusal is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in jail and up to a $1000 fine.

If you have been arrested for DUI, whether you took a breath blood or urine test or refused, call the Board-Certified DUI Defense Experts at Katz & Phillips, P.A. now and get us fighting on your side. We look forward to speaking with you and helping you fight these DUI charges.

The more serious the charge, the harsher the penalties. For every level a DUI is reduced, the penalties and consequences lessen. Further, although DUI carries with it many mandatory penalties and consequences, reduced charges such as reckless driving do not. Though there is no guarantee, in many cases, Felony DUIs can be reduced to misdemeanor charges, allowing the person charged to retain their rights and not be a convicted felon. Enhanced DUI charges may be able to be resolved as simple unenhanced charges. DUIs of all levels can be negotiated to much less harsh charges if your attorney can put holes in the states case. Any DUI charge can result in a lesser offense, or In dismissal or a not-guilty verdict if the facts of the case are right. Although no lawyer or law firm can guarantee a result, entering a plea as charged is often unnecessary in a DUI case.

Speak to the Board Certified DUI attorneys of Katz & Phillips, P.A. about the benefits of a reduced charge offer and put our experience to work for you.

There are two alternative methods the state can use to prove a DUI. The first only applies if you agreed to take the breath test (or blood test) and provided a valid result. If the state can show that your breath or blood alcohol test resulted in a concentration of .08 or greater, then they can achieve a guilty verdict.

Even if you took the breath test and blew over a .08 all hope is not lost. Call today to find out how we can help you.

Alternatively, the state can use the testimony of the officer or other witnesses regarding your driving pattern, physical abilities, and overall appearance and actions to attempt to prove to a jury that you were under the influence of alcohol or specific drugs to the extent that your normal faculties were impaired.

Under Florida law, normal faculties include, but are not limited to the ability to:

• See
• Hear
• Walk
• Talk
• Judge distances
• Drive an automobile
• Make judgements
• Act in emergencies and
• In general, to normally perform the many mental and physical acts of our daily lives.

Certain enhanced DUI charges require proof of additional elements. For instance, if you are charged with driving with a minor child in the car, the state would have to provide the jury with evidence that there was a minor child in the car with you.

If you were charged with a felony DUI with serious bodily injuries, it would be the state’s burden to prove the person injured had more than minor injuries.