Florida DUI Defense: Trying for Reduced or Suspended Sentences

In cases of DUI, it is not always as simple of whether you were legally impaired at the time or not. It is not always about whether you were driving in fact. There are times when you could be charged with “driving under the influence” that does not technically qualify as driving at all. In these instances, the benefit of having a good attorney is crystal clear. While you might have been tempted to just chuck in the towel and plead guilty because you are so confused and lost - there are defenses that can be used to get the charges amended and in some cases, dropped altogether.

In court, it is up to the prosecuting attorney to prove his case and the defense attorney to shoot holes in that case. The Florida DUI defense attorney who you hire may be able to get you a reduced or suspended sentence for this crime so that you do not have to spend months in jail or pay hundreds of dollars in fines. Again, you could be offered an amended, lesser charge instead of the DUI. There are punishments for DUI that are technically considered to be mandatory, so it is important to avoid having that be the final charge you are found guilty of.

A Florida DUI defense lawyer may argue that sending you to jail for six months (for a first offense) or longer would create a financial burden on the family and that it would better serve the community and the state of Florida to allow you to continue to work and be a productive member of that society. Some or all of the jail time may be suspended meaning that you will have to be crime-free for the duration of your probationary period or have that sentence returned in addition to any punishments for new charges that you may face. In addition, there are other defenses that might work even better with certain judges, things that the average working stiff would not have even thought about

Another thing that the Florida DUI defense lawyer might work towards is getting your fine reduced or suspended entirely. The fine for a first time offender can be between $250 and $500; the lawyer may argue for fine to be suspended entirely or for the lowest amount possible especially if you have never been arrested before.

The Florida DUI defense lawyer will use your cooperation and your remorse as other tools to work to reducing or suspending your sentence, so it is your own best interest to always make sure that you do as you are asked, be respectful and polite and always try to be as honest as possible. However, never give up your Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination by volunteering information that is not asked for or by answering questions until your lawyer gets there. Once your rights are read to you, buddy, you clam up for your own good.

A word of warning here: the police care zip about your rights. The very last thing they want to do is to read your Miranda rights to you. They will wait until the very last second that they legally can, claiming that they have not arrested you, even though you are sitting there cuffed and stuffed in their cruiser on the way to their jail. Unless you are in “custody” or “subject to custodial interrogation” you will not have the rights read to you. It is still in your best interest to avoid blurting things out and keep track of how many questions that you are asked while in what amounts to legal limbo- the cops say you are not in custody, but you say you are not as free as you were before they put the bracelets on you. Let your lawyer figure this out.