Port St. Lucie DUI Lawyer

Providing Legal Defense for Driving While Impaired Charges

A DUI charge in Florida is not a simple matter that can be quickly, easily and cheaply resolved in traffic court like a speeding or parking ticket.  Getting arrested for DUI is very serious and can change your life in an instant, even if you were not in a crash.  If the police arrest you for DUI, they will take you to jail, regardless of whether you have agreed to submit to a breath test, or refused.

Depending on the severity and timing of the accusation, you could face steep fines, immobilization of your vehicle, license suspension, and jail, Not only can you lose your freedom of movement, but you might even face professional consequences.

For over 40 years, experienced Florida DUI lawyer Michael Kessler has fiercely advocated for his clients’ future, life and freedom. As a board-certified criminal trial lawyer with a deep understanding of DUI science, Michael will review, analyze and challenge the evidence and seek out weaknesses in the prosecution to fight for your rights and future.

Every case is unique and requires individually tailored defense strategies. The last thing you want is a one-trick pony who only knows one way to fight a DUI. While your case won’t be exactly like another client’s, there are several scenarios we defend regularly.

First-Time DUI Arrest

While we can’t guarantee your case will be dismissed, we will advocate on your behalf to help you avoid harsh penalties and protect your record.

Drivers with Prior DUI Convictions. 

We can help you even if this is not your first DUI arrest. The stakes are higher, and a strong defense is even more important.  Jail and lengthy driver’s license suspensions are a serious threat here.  A good DUI lawyer will check any prior to distinguish just a prior DUI arrest from an actual conviction.  In some cases, even a prior DUI conviction could get set aside, restoring you to “first offender” status..

DUIs with Accidents or Injuries

DUI charges that include property damage, injuries, or serious bodily injuries carry extra penalties and punishments. We will work to reduce these charges based on the unique facts and circumstances of your case.

DUIs Involving Prescription or Illegal Drugs

DUI charges involving substances rely on DUI science, like chemical tests, to prove what your condition was at the time of driving. The Kessler Law Firm’s deep knowledge of DUI science helps us hold prosecutors and crime labs, as we will hold both accountable for flawed testing and weak evidence, facilitating negotiations for reduced charges or dismissals.

DUIs with Minors in the Vehicle

DUI charges often become more complicated if you have passengers, even if they were unharmed while you were driving. This may be especially so if the passengers include minor children, as there are severe enhancements or complications on DUI charges if minors are in the vehicle. We will defend against these enhancements when fighting for your rights.

Challenging Traffic Stops

When law enforcement stops you on the road, you must pull over. However, the police may have stopped you for an invalid reason and lacked reasonable suspicion to test you. Inflicting biases, meeting quotas, and other invalid reasons can result in the police charging you with DUI. Challenging the reason that you were stopped in the first place can be a crucial element in some cases’ defense strategies.

If we can establish that the officer lacked the legal authority to stop you or, once stopped, detain you for a DUI investigation, the evidence gathered by the police may be deemed to have been illegally obtained, or “fruit of the poisonous tree,” and might not be allowed as evidence against you.  Iin some cases, this leads to an immediate dismissal of the DUI charge. The high rate of false positives makes questioning field sobriety tests an important part of building your defense.]

Questioning Field Sobriety Tests

So-called field sobriety tests, or exercises, are supposed to be standardized, and a gift from the Federal government.  They are notoriously subjective anyway, and often incorrectly administered and scored or judged by the police officer.  Further, these “SFST’s” do not come close to testing or evaluating the factors that Florida law includes in its definition of the crime of DUI.

Michael Kessler has taken the exact same field sobriety exercise training course as have the police, and he has copies of their training manuals.   He knows these exercises, and the proper procedures, or best practices, inside and out, and better than most officers.

He has won numerous trials by cross-examining the police, guiding them to admit that NONE of the driver’s “normal faculties” were impaired, regardless of the silly roadside field sobriety exercises.

Disputing Chemical Tests

Chemical tests such as breath, blood, and urine procedures are scientific, and thus more reliable than field sobriety tests. However, they are also open to challenge. Breath, blood and urine tests or analyses each bring their own set of challenges.  If the claimed results are to be disputed, a lawyer must have a deep understanding of forensic science, training in the methods used in collecting, preserving and analyzing samples, and the ability and know-how to demonstrate flaws in a courtroom.

Michael Kessler has studied the science of breath testing, and owns his own Intoxilyzer 8000, the instrument used by all Florida law enforcement agencies for breath-alcohol testing.

Michael Kessler has studied gas chromatography in a real laboratory, under the direction of Harold McNair, the “Father of Gas Chromatography” and Lee Polite, Dr. McNair’s former graduate assistant and the owner of the lab.

Protecting Your License

Florida imposes an immediate driver’s license suspension on anyone arrested for DUI who receives a bad (too high) reading on a breath test, or refuses to blow at all.   However, the suspension may be challenged and tossed out, but steps must be taken within the first ten days following the arrest.  Qualified and eligible drivers can obtain a temporary driving permit to stay on the road while the challenge is pending