Florida DUI Defense Lawyer – Over 40 Years of Proven Strategies to Protect Your Future

If you are facing DUI charges in Florida, it isn’t like getting a parking ticket. DUI charges can affect several different aspects of your life, even your career. Your driver’s license is at risk, and so is your freedom and your future.

The Kessler Law Firm has over 4 decades of courtroom experience representing clients of all types. If you are seeking a Florida DUI defense lawyer, we can represent you whether this is your first offense or you are facing serious or complex felony charges.

As a Board Certified Criminal Trial Specialist, Attorney Kessler has decades of experience developing proven strategies to advocate for his clients fiercely. In addition to focusing his practice on criminal trials, Michael is also skilled in DUI science. The results from DUI testing can be faulty, like breathalyzer machines, blood tests, and urine test results. Additionally, the prosecution’s case may also have additional weaknesses that can be exposed. No matter the complexity of your case, we will build the strongest defense possible and advocate for your rights and freedom.

What We Defend

DUI (Driving While Impaired)

If you are accused of driving under the influence (DUI), the influence can be alcohol, controlled substances, or even prescription medications. In Florida, individuals can be charged with DUI if they were impaired while driving or their blood or breath alcohol level was above the legal limit.

Florida is also one of many states with a 10-day rule. If you are charged with DUI, you have only 10 days to respond, or your driver’s license is automatically suspended. When you respond to the DMV, you have a few options to move forward. This includes opting for an administrative hearing to determine whether the suspension was legally valid, or waiving the hearing and accepting a Restricted Driving Permit, which may  restrict your freedom of movement or at least your freedom to drive.

An experienced Florida DUI defense resource like the Kessler Law Firm can confidentially review the facts of your case, build your defense, and help you make an informed decision.

DUBAL (Driving with Unlawful Breath or Blood Alcohol Level)

In Florida, the legal limit for blood alcohol and breath alcohol levels (BAL) is 0.8 for most adults. If you’re under 21, BAL over 0.2 can result in DUI charges. While these tests can be flawed, you can still be accused of DUBAL, which puts your license and future at risk.

Reckless driving 

Any person who drives any vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving.  Fleeing a law enforcement officer in a motor vehicle is reckless driving per se.

Anyone convicted of reckless driving shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of not more than 90 days or by fine of not less than $25 or more than $500, or by both the fine and imprisonment, for a first conviction. On a second or subsequent conviction, by imprisonment for not more than 6 months or by a fine of not less than $50 or more than $1,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

If the reckless driving involves damage to someone else’s property or injury to another person, the maximum penalty becomes a fine of up to $1,000 and/or up to one year in the county jail.

If the injury meets the legal definition of “serious bodily injury,” the charge could be upgraded to a felony, exposing the driver to up to five years in state prison and a loss of many valuable civil rights.

Refusal to submit to chemical testing

In Florida, in most cases, a driver is legal obligated to submit to a chemical test of their breath, blood or urine, if and only if they have been lawfully arrested for DUI.   In other words, Florida has no pre-arrest breath testing.   If a Florida driver is properly asked by a trooper, deputy or police officer to give a breath sample, the driver must comply if he or she is under arrest for DUI.  This means the driver is getting taken to jail for the DUI, whether they blow or not. 

Refusal to submit to a breath test can result in a second, separate criminal charge, as well as an administrative driver’s license suspension.

DUI SCIENCE

DUI prosecutions involve both real and fake science.  Does your lawyer understand both, and can he or she tell the difference?

In addition to being a Board Certified criminal trial lawyer, Attorney Michael Kessler is a nationally recognized DUI defense expert.   Unlike many lawyers who are “done studying and learning” when they finish law school, Attorney Kessler has devoted his career pursuing knowledge and expertise in areas of forensic science because he plays to win.

Chemical testing, including breath, blood and urine testing, should involve real forensic science.  By and large, roadside so-called field sobriety exercises and DRE (drug recognition evaluations) most often do not.   

Chemical analysis is at the heart of the real science In DUI cases.   These tests are intended to measure the amount of alcohol (or drugs, including prescription medications) in a person’s body at the time the sample is collected.   Extrapolation is then often required to estimate what was in the body at the time of driving.  Of course, the method of collection, and the manner of analysis or testing varies greatly, and significantly.  Issues such as collection and preservation practices, calibration and contamination are also in play.

Breath Alcohol Testing

Breath alcohol testing is perhaps the most commonly utilized analysis in DUI cases throughout the United States and Canada.   While there are many breath alcohol analyzing machines, manufactured by a variety of companies, Florida only uses the Intoxylizer 8000 manufactured by CMI. An arrested person blows into the machine, which must be administered by a law enforcement officer with specialized training. The machine is supposed to be able to detect and report the amount of alcohol in a person’s breath. 

A number of problems have been noted with this machine — in its design, methodology and of course the infinite variations among human beings. There are a number of factors relating to the machine, the police officer administrating it and other things that may be going on in and around the subject blowing through it, which may all contribute to an unreliable, inaccurate reading.  

Attorney Michael Kessler possesses the expertise required to mount a successful defense in cases involving breath testing.

Blood Testing

Blood alcohol analyses are considered the most reliable and accurate way to measure the amount of alcohol in the blood. Blood analysis is a complicated process; errors may occur everywhere: from the person drawing your blood … to the person preserving it and delivering it to the lab … to the person storing and protecting the samples at the lab … to the person setting up the machine for testing, and the machine itself. 

Attorney Kessler has more than four decades of criminal law experience, along with dedicated expertise in blood alcohol analysis for error detection.  He possesses the 

expertise required to mount a successful defense in cases involving urine testing.

Urine Testing

Urine testing is rarely used in DUI cases involving alcohol alone. It is most commonly used when the other chemical tests indicate no alcohol or below the DUI threshold, and the police suspect the presence of controlled substances or prescription medicine. 

This kind of testing presents many of the same problems as blood testing. With both of these kinds of testing, there may also be issues relating to the substances identified in the blood or urine. The machines may identify bi-products of the body’s elimination of alcohol or other substances, but not an active ingredient causing the impairment. Florida law has no per se or set illegal level for controlled substances or prescription medications — only for alcohol.

Finally, because urine tests are frequently problematic, they are frequently challenged in court.

DUIs and Property Damage or Bodily Injury

DUI charges can also include property damage or injuries to other people, such as pedestrians, other drivers, or passengers. If you are accused of DUI and also cause property damage or injuries, you may be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor, which carries a fine of up to $1,000 or up to one year in prison.

Charges including serious bodily injury to a person other than the accused driver is a third-degree felony. Florida defines serious bodily injury as an injury to any person, other than the driver, resulting in a physical condition that creates a substantial risk of death, serious personal disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.

DUI Manslaughter and Vehicular Homicide

If a person dies as a result of DUI, you may be charged with manslaughter or vehicular homicide. The difference between manslaughter and vehicular homicide is that manslaughter occurs as a result of negligence, such as ignoring speed limits, but without the intent to harm another person. However, courts do look at whether you breached the duty of care expected while driving and if that breach caused the person’s death. In Florida, DUI manslaughter is a second-degree felony, which gets upgraded to first degree if you leave the scene without rendering first aid or calling for help.

Vehicular homicide occurs when a person dies as a result of your driving, and the driving was reckless or grossly negligent, with a disregard for others’ safety. Since negligence in this context can include DUI, prosecutors may charge the accused with DUI vehicular homicide instead of DUI manslaughter. Similar to DUI manslaughter in Florida, DUI vehicular homicide is a second-degree felony in Florida. It becomes a first-degree if you leave the scene of the crash.

Why Choose Kessler Law Firm for DUI Defense?

With over four decades of experience as a Florida DUI defense lawyer, the Kessler Law Firm provides comprehensive and personalized representation if you are accused of DUI and related crimes.

Michael will persistently protect your rights and diligently search for weaknesses in the prosecution. Less-experienced criminal defense attorneys may lack the institutional knowledge of local courts and procedures along the Treasure Coast, as well as the deep scientific understanding of the flaws in blood, breath, and urine testing.

The Kessler Law Firm has a proven track record of several decades of successful defense of DUI- and alcohol-related criminal charges that demonstrate our dedication to aggressively advocating for your freedom and life.