Tampa criminal defense attorneys are always asked by their clients about how to defend their case. At Hackworth Law, we utilize a three phase approach to the defense of Tampa Bay DUI arrests. This approach involves looking at the timeline of how a DUI arrest occurs ensuring we protect our client’s right at each phase.
First, we always challenge and investigate the actual stop of the vehicle. The easiest way to think of this is what specifically brought law enforcement’s attention to your vehicle. For example, if the allegation is that a DUI suspect was speeding, and there is no proof of speed or calibration of the detection equipment from law enforcement, this raises red flags and is generally the most efficient way to challenge the stop. Another well known area to challenge stops occurs when individuals are alleged to have had a cracked windshield or other safety equipment that made their vehicle unsafe to travel. We have extensive experience challenging these sort of stops based on these vague allegations from law enforcement to justify a DUI arrest.
Next, the second area to challenge a DUI arrest occurs with the actual search of the person once the vehicle has been stopped by law enforcement. This phase involves challenging whether the officer had the required levels of probable cause and/or reasonable suspicion to go forward with asking the driver to conduct field sobriety exercises or FSE as they are more commonly known. This is a very, very important area to investigate because many times, law enforcement are quick to rush to judgment to get individuals to conduct FSEs based on a misguided hunch or belief. As you can imagine, this occurs more often than not late at night and in areas where there are a lot of bars and restaurants that are open late, like South Howard Avenue in Tampa and Ybor City.
Lastly, and arguably most importantly, it is critical to evaluate, investigate and consider the circumstances around the actual blow, urine test and/or blood test in a DUI arrest. For example, Florida law through the Implied Consent statute provides specific, tight regulations on when law enforcement can ask for a specific approved chemical test. Unfortunately, many times law enforcement agencies are quick to rush for blood tests and this is an area that we have to investigate and potentially challenge through your Tampa DUI arrest. If you’d like to read more about implied consent, please check it out further on our Tampa DUI attorney blog. We also provided a link to the specific Implied Consent Statute. In short, implied consent provides the legal standards necessary to ask someone to conduct a breath alcohol test or other chemical test approved by the Florida Legislature. Ultimately, this is a ripe area to challenge DUIs.
If you or someone you know has questions concerning their Tampa DUI arrest, contact the Tampa DUI attorneys of Hackworth Law for a free case consultation. We have handled thousands of cases involving these issues and have had great success in representing our clients by ensuring their rights are protected. If you’d like to contact one of our Tampa DUI attorneys immediately, please use the “contact us now” tab in the upper right hand corner of our website. We appreciate you taking the time to check out our Tampa DUI attorney blog and look forward to hearing from you in the future.