Many people may go decades without ever being arrested for drunk driving. If it happens to you, there might be some confusion about what comes next. The criminal defense lawyers at The Umansky Law Firm are available to represent you and potentially get the charges reduced or dropped.
DUI stops and checkpoints are commonly seen in downtown Orlando. With there being so many bars, lots of traffic, and young crowds, it is a prime spot for DUI checkpoints.
We see a lot of DUI cases on the outskirts of downtown Orlando, off Hughey Avenue, around South Downtown. These areas have several bars and a high consumption of alcohol. The goal with law enforcement is to catch people who are coming from the bars before they get out into the residential areas where they can hurt someone.
Unfortunately, because of the number of traffic fatalities in the area involving the driver being under the suspicion of DUI, there is a lot of pressure on Orlando law enforcement officers to keep the roads safe, and to do what they can to prevent drunk people from getting on the road and hurting someone.
Orlando is unique because of their diversion program. In a lot of the other areas in Central Florida, they will have certain first-time offender options that do not result in the charges being completely dismissed. In Orlando, there is the option for a lot of first-time offenders to get their charges completely dismissed.
Orlando has certain standards for sobriety testing like the National Highway Transit Safety Administration (NITSA), which developed the nationwide standard field sobriety exercises that everyone uses across the country, and our law enforcement officers stick to those standards consistently. It contains three standard field sobriety exercises: the HGN, the walk and turn, and the one leg stand.
Another thing that is unique locally with law enforcement is many or most of them record their DUI investigations on video, which helps the prosecutors and defense attorneys get a clearer picture of what really happened, as opposed to just trusting what is in the police report.
Pretrial release is when someone is bonded out or released from jail, but they have yet to be convicted or sentenced. They are required to check in with someone and be randomly tested for drugs and alcohol to ensure that, while their case is pending, they are not driving without a license or consuming alcohol.
The first thing a lawyer can do is help navigate the DMV process immediately. The number one question we get by clients right away is, “How can I get back on the road?” They might have to work the next day or take care of their children, or other important tasks. We can quickly, easily, and immediately navigate the DMV portion of the arrest and trying to restore their license.
Next, we can review every single part of the investigation. Was there a legal basis to stop the person’s vehicle? Was there a legal basis to arrest this person? We go through the evidence piece by piece to see if anything that can be challenged to save the person from having a DUI conviction.
When all the evidence has been reviewed, the best way for an attorney to help you is to negotiate the best possible resolution, usually a prosecutor’s plea deal, and present it to you with a realistic picture of how a jury trial will play out. You then need to make the best decision for yourself, given all the options in front of you.
The best benefit of working with a local DUI lawyer from our Orlando office is knowing that we have experience with the prosecutor and the judge assigned to your case. Orlando is unique because of these diversion programs, and there are opportunities for first time offenders. If someone is not working with a local lawyer, they could be missing out on certain opportunities that their prosecutor, or their judge, may be more inclined to rule in a certain way on legal issues or plea offer opportunities.
You have the right to an attorney when you are arrested, and you should not handle your defense without help. Working with a DUI lawyer in Orlando means you get a professional who knows the ins and outs of the law, and may be able to leverage their knowledge of judges and prosecutors to assist your case. Call now for a free, private consultation.
The Umansky Law Firm Criminal Defense & Injury Attorneys
