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Can an Officer Ask for Breath or Urine Test Prior to the Arrest?

What happens if the officer asks for a breath or urine test prior to the arrest? If the suspect is 21 years of age or older, then requesting a breath or urine test before the arrest is a clear violation of Florida’s implied consent law. The request itself, the refusal to submit, or the test […]

May 19, 2016

Tampa DUI Checkpoint on Friday the 13th

The Tampa Police Department conducted a DUI checkpoint on Friday, May 13, 2016. The press release, issued by Janelle McGregor, TPD Spokesperson, went out the same day. The press release disclosed that the Tampa Police Department DUI unit would conduct a DUI checkpoint on Friday, May 13 to Saturday, May 14. The officers with […]

May 15, 2016

DUI Victim Impact Panel in Tampa

This article was last updated on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. How to Enroll in the MADD Victim Impact Panel Currently, the MADD Victim Impact Panel (VIP) is being conducted in a virtual format and costs $65. Even after the COVID crisis, the local courts have decided to allow for the virtual format because of its […]

April 1, 2016

Missouri vs. McNeely’s Impact in Florida – F.S. Section 316.1933 is Unconstitutional

In a recent trial court level decision, State vs. Liles, 21 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 883a (FLWSUPP 2019LILE), a Circuit Court Judge in Florida found that Section 316.1933 is unconstitutional because of the holding in Missour v. McNeely, 133 S.Ct. 1552 (2013). Since Section 316.1933 was enacted, law enforcement officers have used it to force warrantless blood […]

March 1, 2016

Fuzzy Math Fuels Myth that Florida’s DUI Refusal Rate at 82%

Update June 13, 2019: In 2014, NHTSA research incorrectly found that as of 2011, Florida had the nation’s highest refusal rate at eighty-two percent. See Esther S. Namuswe, Heidi L. Coleman & Amy Berning, Breath Test Refusal Rates in the United States–2011 Update Report No. DOT HS 811 881, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 1, […]

January 23, 2016

New Bill With Criminal Penalties for a First Refusal: 2016 SB 1244 Amending FS 316.1939

In order to discourage individuals from refusing to submit to a chemical test during a DUI investigation, the Florida legislature created a separate crime for a second refusal. The Florida legislature reasoned that without the legislation, people might be encouraged to refuse a breath test after an arrest in order to avoid a DUI conviction. […]

January 2, 2016

How to Guide for the DHSMV DUI Formal Review Hearing in Florida

Update: The procedures for the Formal Review Hearing change over time, so we updated this guide recently. The most drastic changes occurred after March 9, 2020, when Governor Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order 20-52, declaring a State of Emergency for COVID-19. As a result, all formal review hearings are being conducted telephonically. This “how to […]

October 15, 2015

Florida’s FDLE Alcohol Testing Program – Don’t Follow the 11D-8 Rules? Rewrite the Rule. Repeat.

“Only sometimes when we pick and choose among the rules we discover later that we have set aside something precious in the process.” – Helen Simonson, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand Matthew Malhiot recently wrote an article discussing how the Florida Alcohol Testing Program (ATP) violated Chapter 11D-8 F.A.C. rules when it failed to conduct department […]

September 23, 2015

Problems with the Intoxilyzer 8000 and Inspections with Unapproved Solutions

In State v. Larking, 23 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 271b (August 10, 2015), the Honorable Margaret R. Taylor, Judge in Tampa, Hillsborough County, granted a motion filed by Eilam Isaak, Isaak Law, PLLC, Tampa. The issue in the case was whether the breath test results should be suppressed when the machine was inspected with unapproved […]

August 17, 2015

What Happens at a Hardship Hearing with the Florida Bureau of Administrative Review in Tampa, FL?

UPDATE: These hearings now occur telephonically, but the rest of the information here explaining the process is accurate. I recently attended a hardship hearing at the Florida Bureau of Administrative Review office in Tampa, FL, in Hillsborough County. These hardship hearings can occur after an administrative suspension for a first DUI that might last for […]

August 11, 2015