101 Ways to Avoid an Orlando DUI Conviction! Part 6 of 10.

DUI arrests and DUI convictions can have serious consequences, both immediate and in the future.  When people speak with me, they are most often looking for advice on how to avoid a DUI arrest or how to avoid a DUI arrest turning into a DUI conviction.  101 Ways to Avoid a Drunk Driving Conviction by William C. Head, Esq. and Reese I. Joye, Jr., Esq. is a great resource to both questions and will be featured in a 10 part blog series here on the FL DUI Group Blog. The sixth part features ways 51-60 to avoid an Orlando DUI conviction.

51. If you are stopped at a roadblock, have your license and other documents in hand and offer these to the officer. Your pocket recorder will capture the conversation. Never admit to having consumed alcohol. Don’t perform field sobriety tests, and (in most states) don’t blow into a portable breath testing device without first speaking to an attorney, unless the officer advises you that your license will be revoked for refusing to do so. Card No. 1 of Appendix K covers what needs to be told the officer about your willingness to cooperate on tests at the scene of the “stop”.

52. If you are involved in an accident after having had something to drink, don’t talk to anyone at the scene about it. Don’t take any FSTs. If anyone was injured or killed, refuse all tests unless your attorney advises you to submit.

53. Regardless of the cause for the “stop” NEVER admit prior alcohol consumption. Don’t blurt out anything to the officer in an attempt to explain the circumstances, or it will be used against you later in court.

54. If an officer insists that you must perform field sobriety tests or blow into a portable breath testing device, only do so IF the officer advises you that your license will be revoked for failure to comply. Due to the fact that this is NOT TRUE in most states, ask the officer to write in his field notes that you are agreeing to do these tests under protest.

55. When you are required to submit to the official state test for BAC, ALWAYS insist on your own independent BAC tests. Some states require you to obtain your tests on your own initiative, and will tell you nothing about your rights to seek another test. Other states will advise you of this right, and will even transport you to a facility for giving a sample, if you are going to be kept in custody.

56. If the police deprive you of your freedom of movement and then elicit answers to incriminating questions from you without first giving your Miranda warnings, your attorney may be able to suppress any admissions made by you while in custody.

57. A commonly-used field sobriety test, the horizontal gaze nystagmus test has a multitude of other possible medical causes other than intoxication, and your attorney can present these to the jury to discount the officer’s statement that you failed this test due to intoxication (assuming that you haven’t simply refused to perform all field sobriety tests).

58. Before taking the official state-administered BAC tests, ask if state law permits you to speak with an attorney. Many states permit a limited right for you to do so, and you should always exercise this right. Card No. 2 of Appendix K covers this situation, and asserts your rights for you.

59. Try to record the conversations between you and the police officers because the officer’s missing or defective warnings can cause test results to be excluded from evidence. Without the tape, the jury will believe the officer’s testimony over yours.

60. If requested to take the “officials state BAC tests, your delaying tactics or insistence on speaking with an attorney (if you have been told that no right to counsel exists in that state) can constitute a refusal, causing an implied consent license revocation.

Excerpted from the book, 101 Ways to Avoid a Drunk Driving Conviction by William C. Head, Esq. and Reese I. Joye, Jr., Esq.

Copyright 1991 by William C. Head and Reese I. Joye, Jr. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit, except with written permission, but may be freely distributed electronically provided that the entire file, including this notice, remains intact.