Law enforcement departments throughout the country rely on a variety of evidential breath tests approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to determine if a DUI suspect has been driving under the influence and is over the legal limit of 0.08%. In Florida, the device approved by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement…
For years since the Intoxilyzer 8000 was approved by Florida Department of Law Enforcement to test DUI suspects in 2002, defense attorneys have toiled with the unreliable results the machines produce. There are a myriad of issues surrounding the breathalyzer test, and the tip of the iceberg was discovered soon after its inauguration. The first…
There are three standard tests that the state can utilize to determine if a DUI suspect has been drinking and driving: the urine test, blood test, and breath test. These are called chemical tests because, unlike field sobriety tests, they take a sample of something that comes from the suspect’s body to test for the…
It is well known within the criminal defense sphere that Florida’s Intoxilyzer 8000, the approved breath test throughout the entire state for evidentiary use, often produces faulty results. Readings that are inaccurate and place a suspect’s BAC level much higher than reality can have devastating effects on the outcome of a case. The most common…
When you’re young, you don’t always think long-term about the decisions you make, and many make poor choices in their late teens and early twenties. One of the most common arrests for somebody in this age group is for using a false identification – or fake ID – in conjunction with attempting to purchase alcohol…
Previous posts have addressed a few of the main issues surrounding the Intoxilyzer 8000, one of the most serious being the presence of residual mouth alcohol when taking a breath test. Residual mouth alcohol is any alcohol that remains in the mouth or the esophagus at the time the breath test is taken. Security measures…
The Intoxilyzer 8000 is the breathalyzer machine approved for evidentiary use by the State of Florida. It is a highly advanced but fallible piece of equipment. The machine tests breath alcohol concentration using infrared spectroscopy. Light passes through the breath sample of the DUI suspect. Any alcohol molecules in the suspect’s breath absorb radiation from…
A DUI arrest is usually made at a traffic stop after a police officer has had reasonable suspicion to pull a driver over. A simple traffic violation, swerving within lanes, or frequently hitting the brakes is all an officer needs to have reasonable suspicion. Once the officer stops the motorist, he must have probable cause…
When one is convicted of a crime, it is the judge’s responsibility to determine an appropriate punishment. The Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution states that “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Several factors play into what kind of sentence one can receive when one…
Drug laws in Florida are among the strictest in the country. Simple drug possession implies that a defendant had no intent to manufacture or distribute a drug at the time of his or her arrest. Each drug is categorized under the law as a “controlled substance,” for which there are various levels. Even prescription drugs…
