DUI Category Archives — Page 7 of 17 — Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney Blog Published by Fort Lauderdale, Florida Criminal Lawyer

May 25, 2017

South Florida Battery Arrest Can Have Lifelong Consequences

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Assault and battery arrests in Florida may arise from a quickly-evolving altercation, but have the potential for long-term impact on one’s life.

These cases may be charged by prosecutors as either misdemeanors or felonies. F.S. 784.03 outlines felony battery in Florida as occurring when a person intentionally and actually touches or strikes someone against their will or intentionally causes bodily harm to another person. One can also be charged with a felony if they have a prior battery conviction. As a third-degree felony, it carries a maximum five-year prison term. First-degree misdemeanors, meanwhile, carry a maximum one-year in jail.

One high profile battery arrest in South Florida recently involved an actor in the hit movie, “Straight Outta Compton.” It was the big budget biopic that was about the early life and career of the members of the legendary rap group NWA. The film was about the lives of Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Suge Knight, Easy-E, and others.
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May 21, 2017

Woman Arrested After Allegedly Being Drunk at Victim Impact Panel

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Most people are familiar with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). The organization’s main stated goal is to reduce the number of drunk driving fatalities in the U.S. In addition to their many advertising campaigns like you might see reflected on billboards as you drive on I-95 in Fort Lauderdale, they also have many educational programs.

One of these programs, called the Victim Impact Panel (VIP), is generally only attended by people ordered to do so in connection with a DUI plea or following trial. According to a recent news article from The Moultrie Observer, a woman was arrested at one of the VIP meetings for allegedly showing up drunk and causing a public disturbance. Continue reading

May 18, 2017

Florida Woman Accused of DUI with Child in Car

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

From time to time, drivers in the Fort Lauderdale area will get arrested on suspicion of DUI when they have a child in the car. Whether it’s a teenager or a small child, the charges imposed will likely be the same.

Whenever this happens, the prosecutor tries to make it seem like the driver is the worst parent in the world. They may even threaten to charge the driver with additional charges related to child endangerment or neglect. But those accused in these situations need to bear in mind that neglect charges are typically predicated on the underlying DUI charge, which requires proof of intoxication or impairment. This is an assertion we can work to challenge. Continue reading

May 14, 2017

Florida Arrest for DUI Child Endangerment: Woman 4x Legal Limit

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Authorities made a South Florida arrest for DUI and child endangerment in Boynton Beach after allegedly discovering a woman drunk behind the wheel of a car in a parking lot with four children jumping in and out of the sunroof.

According to The Sun Sentinel, the engine of the vehicle was running. It was about 7:30 p.m. and the vehicle was parked in a Publix grocery store parking lot. In the front passenger seat, police say, was a half-empty jug of sangria. The 34-year-old woman in the driver’s seat allegedly had a blood-alcohol concentration of .358, which is more than four times the legal amount of 0.08. This was after she agreed to undergo a blood alcohol test.

Police reported they were called to the parking lot after several witnesses said they had tried to chase the young children out of harm’s way, as they were running around the parking lot and were almost struck by vehicles entering and leaving. One witness called dispatchers and said they had seen the driver drinking in the car from a large jug of wine. Continue reading

May 6, 2017

Former Florida Parks Director Arrested for DUI, Property Damage, Hit-and-Run

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

The former director of the Florida State Parks was recently arrested for DUI with property damage and hit-and-run, according to the Tallahassee Democrat, which explained the arrest occurred after defendant was stopped by troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol.

According to reports, the former official, who also previously worked for the state Department of Environmental Protection, had left the scene of a crash after briefly speaking to the other driver. Troopers were called to the scene by that other driver around 7 p.m. on a Saturday. The driver reported he was traveling south when a Mercedes Benz, later identified by police as being driven by the former official, traveling in the same direction veered into his lane and struck his driver’s side mirror in passing.

The defendant reportedly pulled over, talked to the other driver for a minute, then rolled up her window and abruptly drove away. Dispatchers then started receiving other calls about a vehicle matching that description in the same area running other motorists off the road Continue reading

April 28, 2017

Florida Spring Breakers, Tourists, Grapple With Hangover of Vacation Arrest

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Throngs of spring breakers and tourists start to flood Florida coasts beginning in March, with spring break hitting its peak around the middle of the month. However, those who came for a week may find they are dealing with our court system for much longer.

The Sun-Sentinel reported spring breakers kept local law enforcement agencies busy, with offenses ranging from slapping the rear quarter of a police horse and underage drinking.

Fort Lauderdale police issued a warning to both locals and visitors in advance of spring break, insisting there would be a “zero tolerance” policy of enforcing state laws and local ordinances. In many cases, that meant arresting spring breakers, who now may face the expensive possibility of having to return to Florida to face the music in court. Continue reading

April 19, 2017

DUI Ignition Interlock Bill Passes Florida House Committee

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Florida House committee lawmakers have put the state one step closer to compelling more first-time DUI offenders to install ignition interlock devices.

On the surface, this may seem like bad news for DUI offenders. After all, ignition interlock devices are expensive, cumbersome and embarrassing. However, there could be one major upside for first-time offenders if the bill is passed statewide in its current form.

According to News4Jax, the bill would revise and replace provisions of the current ignition interlock law, as addressed in F.S. 316.193 and F.S. 322.271 and F.S. 316.1937. Current law only makes it mandatory for a first-time DUI offender in Florida to have ignition interlock devices installed if his or her blood-alcohol concentration was at 0.15 percent or higher or if a minor was in the vehicle at the time of the offense. Beyond that, the devices are mandatory in cases where an individual has previous DUI convictions. Continue reading

March 6, 2017

Breathometer Maker Faces Sobering Truth: It Doesn’t Work

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Makers of a device called the “Breathometer” promised that their product could help drinkers determine when they’d had too much to drive.

The product concept was first pitched on the television show, “Shark Tank,” and it involved an app-supported smartphone device that would help consumers make smarter decisions about whether to refrain from driving after consuming alcohol. By breathing into the app device attached to their phone, users would be able to tell whether they were over the legal limit of 0.08 alcohol concentration.

However, the Federal Trade Commission recently slammed the company, ultimately negotiating a settlement, amid charges the device didn’t actually work as promised. Specifically where the FTC was concerned, the company lacked the scientific evidence to support the claims made in advertising. Continue reading

February 17, 2017

Florida Lawmakers Seek THC Blood Limits for Marijuana DUI

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Florida’s law against driving under the influence, F.S. 316.193, covers the offense of operating a vehicle while intoxicated not just by alcohol, but by any chemical substance that impairs the person’s normal faculties. This includes marijuana. However, now that the drug has become legal for medicinal purposes in the Sunshine State, some lawmakers say this statute does not go far enough.

Now, House Bill 237, the Driving Under the Influence of Drugs Act, proposes that DUI arrests can be made and convictions secured if evidence is presented the driver had 5 nanograms or more of THC per milliliter of blood. If the law is passed, it would go into effect this October.

However, there has been significant push back from the scientific community on this because blood testing for THC, which is a fat-soluble compound, is known to be an inaccurate means of testing impairment. That’s because the substances stays in one’s body long after consumption, unlike alcohol, which dissipates quickly. What that means is if you find a certain amount of alcohol in one’s blood or breath or urine, that alcohol was consumed fairly recently and one can opine with reasonable certainty about the degree of intoxication. But that isn’t true with marijuana. In fact, all a test like this will tell you is that the person is a marijuana user. A high level of THC in the blood stream is not necessarily indicative of impairment. It may only indicate the person is a regular user. So if a person consumes a little of the drug every evening for a month and is pulled over one morning – completely sober – he or she could well have a THC level above that 5-nanogram limit. Continue reading

January 6, 2017

NHTSA Pushes for Alcohol Detection Locks on All Cars to Curb DUI

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently announced it would be prioritizing a reduction of drunk driving deaths this year. One of the ways agency officials will seek to do this is by exploring mandatory driver alcohol detection systems, better known as “breathalyzers” or “interlock ignition.” These devices have been around for a while, but are usually only required by a judge following a drunk driving conviction.

In Florida, F.S. 316.193 requires interlock ignition devices be installed on vehicles of certain persons convicted of DUI. The court has the option to require installation for a first-time conviction on a DUI charge, but it isn’t mandatory unless the driver had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.15 or higher, in which case it must be installed for at least six months. For a second conviction, it has to be installed for at least one year, or two years if the BAC was 0.15 or higher. For a third conviction, ignition interlocks are required for at least two years. For four or more convictions of DUI, where the individual is only given a hardship license, the ignition interlock has to stay on the car for at least five years.

The NHTSA recently reported that of 35,100 motor vehicle deaths in 2015, 10,300 of those (29 percent) involved a driver who was impaired by alcohol with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or greater. Some states had higher percentages than others. In Florida, 27 percent of fatal accidents involved a driver whose blood-alcohol concentration was 0.08 or higher. Thirty-two percent involved a driver whose blood-alcohol concentration was 0.01 or higher. Although the legal limit for alcohol concentration is 0.08, anything above 0.00 could potentially be grounds for the court to find a driver was “impaired.” Continue reading