DUI Trouble

What is the name of your state? FL
I was pulled over for a DUI recently, I do not consume alcohol very often because of my disabilities and medications (I know that the two can damage my liver I have blood work done 2 or 3 times a year) but a few days ago a good friend whom I have not seen in years invited me to dinner. I met her at the restaurant and we ate talked for a few hours I had 5light beers. I did not take my medication that afternoon because I knew I would be driving.
To make a long story short on the way home I got pulled over. The officer said he could smell alcohol on me and proceeded to ask me to preform several field sobriety tests which I did not object to. I did inform him I have several physical limitations due to neck, spine, hip and shoulder injuries and several other medical conditions.
The officer proceeded to instruct me as to what tests he wanted me to preform. I again told him before beginning that I am handicapped, I know they saw my handicapped parking placard, my cane and my letter from my doctor since they went through my purse and truck.
I failed the tests, He handcuffed me in front of my body after he tried to put my arms behind my back and realized that because of my disabilities that I was in pain and my arms would not rotate that way.
I was taken to the station and blew a .133 and a .131
I realize I was over the limit, now is the tough part. I have not worked in 3 years since my accident (non-driving, non-alcohol related) I have a meager income I live on, have applied for SSD.
What I did was wrong! I do not have enough money for an attorney but do not qualify for a public defender.
I was charged with DUI sub-section 316.193 I intend to notify the DMV within 10 day for a permit to drive but I am also wondering if I can go to the Courts and try to work out a deal with them?
I am over 40 have never been arrested or convicted of anything. I realize what I did was wrong, I did not feel intoxicated upon leaving the Establishment but I do take some pretty strong medications.
There are some inaccuracies in the report but with a BAC of .131 I feel I have already lost. A permit to drive if allowed would be no hardship since I do not work and hardly go any where anyways, mostly to the doctors, store and to lunch once a week with my parents if I am up to it.
Is there anyway for me to approach the courts and try to plead this out?

BigMistakeFl

You will be offered minimum first offense DUI penalties. You will not get jail time, and you already spent 8 hours in jail after your arrest. You'll get fines, probation, 6 month license suspension, and community service. You should register right away for the DUI course and evaluation and the MADD Victim Impact Panel. These fill quickly, and you'll want to get started on your penalties. Register at the Probation office.

I too did not qualify for public defense and couldn't afford a lawyer. So I did what I had to and found a way to hire a lawyer anyway. Your lawyer can request a DMV hearing to question the probable cause for the stop. This will get you a one month temporary license until that hearing, whichever comes first. This only delays your actual suspension. With a 6 month suspension in Florida, you can apply for a hardship license after one month.

I was pulled over for weaving ... I had just done a legal u-turn, it was dark and I hardly ever drive after dark, there again doing a u-turn with my shoulders is no easy task. I will look into the the mentioned courses, with my disabilities I am not sure what type of community service, i would be able to do... one reason I do not work. I have a disability rating from all 3 of my doctors/surgeon. I will more then likely pay an attorney the 500.00 for the DMV to do the review, has to be submitted within 10 days of the offense.
I would really need to obtain the hardship license since I am dependent upon myself.
Do you know where I would sign up for these courses?
Thank you for your input.

DUI Courses

Hi, I just did these courses in Orlando after 2 weeks of my DUI arrest.

If this is your first time offense, you probably would need to do the DUI Level 1 course which can be done at Safety Council on Primerose Dr

The MADD program information should be available at MADD.org, the course was administered for me at the FL highway patrol center on Semoran Blvd.

One thing I can appreciate about DUI level 1 course is that I really learnt things that I didn't know earlier.

Good luck !!

BigMistakeFl

You can sign up for the courses and evaluation at the probation office in your county.

If you cannot do the community service, you can "buy" the hours instead. Keep in mind that your probation officer can be an ally. They are very open to new suggestions for community service. I found a place that records newspapers, magazines and books for the blind. I just helped them with the recordings and proofing and typing, stuff like that. The probation office immediately added it to their list. It was easy and I enjoyed doing something worthwhile.

Check your local newspaper for volunteer opportunities. You'll find something you can do, and it doesnt' have to be picking up trash on the highway.

Oh my goodness Orlando that is a long drive for me and round trip is worse

I do have a free consult with an attorney Monday. Did either of you do the informal or formal review for the DMV or did you allow your DL to expire after 10 days, then apply for a hardship license?

Will I be palced on probation?

I guess I can call a probation officer Monday to find out about the courses also.

BigMistakeFl

I did the formal review with the DMV, as my lawyer recommended it. That accomplished two things. The good thing it did was give my lawyer and me all the copies of the prosecution's evidence against me. But yeah, this is called "discovery" and my lawyer could have gotten it with some work, so doing the DMV hearing made his life easier. The second thing it did for me was that it granted me a temporary license. That was something I needed, but the downside was it only delayed the onset of the hard suspension. The hard suspension is how long your license is suspended before you can apply for the hardship license. Without refusal, that hard suspension is one month; if you refused testing, it's three months. If you move for the DMV hearing, you delay the start date for that hard suspension.

If the prosecution prevails, you will almost certainly get probation. Mine was reduced in court to six months from one year. Here's a big clue: Get on your probation officer's good side. They have power over many things in this state, includgin whether or not to install the vehicle boot. Mine also liked me enough that she released me from the balance of my probation when I took work out of town. She collected the fees from me, wrote me a wonderful letter which permitted me to drive and work out of my county, and pretty much let me off the hook for the probation period.

Thanks for the help, I may have more questions, I forget things easily and get confused. I do not know if my medical issues contributed to elevated BAC but i guess that does not matter it was what it was. I guess I should also consult my doctor on that.

Certainly talk to a doctor, but I believe that the only medical condition that would lead to an elevated BAC is one that had you taking NyQuil or something similar (since some common cold medications do contain alcohol). Even if that's the case, it doesn't really matter since you're responsible for your overall BAC, not what you took to get there.

That said, there are host of medical conditions along with a ton of legal and illegal drugs that can mimic the impairment of alcohol, but they won't raise your BAC. Some medications (along with food for that matter), can screw with your metabolism and affect the time period it takes for alcohol to get into your blood stream, and sometimes this gives people a false sense of confidence when it comes time to leave the bar or wherever, but it does not spontaneously create or get rid of alcohol, just changes the rate at which it impairs you.

Well I met with an attorney today I paid them $500.00 to handle the DMV part of my offense. While talking about my court date the attorney more less agreed with me that since I did have a BAC over the legal limit he is 90% sure that him going with me will not make a difference.
I do not have the money to hire him plus pay fines and pay for the DUI school.

I am wondering since I wish to represent myself I am more then willing to tell the judge that I was wrong to drive (honestly taking the type of medication in the doses I do not feel I was anymore impaired then when I do take my medications, I would have not gotten behind the wheel) but at the same time the police narrative was incorrect and I wish to set the record straight in that aspect.

1. The cop reported I had taken my pain medication at 5 pm that day. I took it at 9am. (I knew I was meeting a friend later in the day and on days I do venture out I try to refrain if possible from taking my medication.)
2. The cop also stated I was taking Valium, the last time I took Valium was when it was prescribed after my husbands death in Jan. of 1994 and even then I was only on it for 3 or 4 days.
3. The cop also reported me having difficulties in preforming the field sobriety test (failed) at no time did I refuse to do them but did inform the officer (before each test) that I was disabled, (when he told me what to do I was thinking yea right, I tried but was in pain and told him so) which they knew and omitted from their report. If I could walk normal I would not have a cane and disabled parking placard. To put it in a nutshell I feel the officer used my disabilities against me to make it sound as if I was more intoxicated then I was.

Will I be able to speak on my own behalf?

Any suggestions?

Could I go to the courts before my hearing and see what they are offering?

My family thinks I should fight the DUI
How do I find a good attorney and should I go to DUI school now or wait for the out come?

FL2CT said....

"One thing I can appreciate about DUI level 1 course is that I really learnt things that I didn't know earlier.

** Isn't that the truth? hehe! I hoped you learned what goes on behind the alcohol scenes as I did in alcohol school. I had the good fortune of having a counselor that spilled the beans.

AvianeJ said:

My family thinks I should fight the DUI
How do I find a good attorney and should I go to DUI school now or wait for the out come?

Click to expand...

Based on what is your family saying you should fight the DUI? You had a BAC of over 1 and 1/2 times the legal limit. You were legally drunk. You were over the per se limit. So what is your family saying should get you out of it?