Orlando DWI Lawyers

Laws You Should Understand

There are a few, different reasons why you might have been charged with DWI and it is not always because of a breath test that you did. Here are some reasons why you might’ve been arrested:

• The officer had reason to believe that you were under the influence of alcohol
• The officer had reason to believe you were under the influence of drugs
• You took a breath or blood test that showed you had a 0.08% or higher BAC

These charges happen for two very different reasons. One of them might be scientific reasons, such as a breath or a blood test, and the other one is suspicion of being drunk. In order for you to be charged based on scientific reasons, you would have either a breath sample or a blood sample for them to be able to see what your blood alcohol level was. If it is over .08%, then you would be over the legal limit of blood alcohol content.

Regardless of how and why you were charged, we want to hear from you right away to see what you can get out of this case and how we can help you end up with the best possible and results. We are here for you. Our Orlando DWI lawyers have plenty of experience handling cases in which the people have been charged for both reasons and we’d like to extend our services to you, too.

Understanding BAC Tests

In essence, when you get your license, you are agreeing to subject yourself to field sobriety tests that are designed to show an officer whether or not you were under the influence. Driving is seen as a privilege and not a right, and the law says that your privileges can be taken away when you violate other people’s safety. You have essentially given your consent to have your blood or breath sample be taken. You are likely going to be asked to give a BAC test shortly after you have been arrested.

In most cases, an arresting officer is going to ask you for a breath test on the scene of your arrest to make sure that your BAC is either above or below the levels and that will tell them what they have to do for you. They are legally allowed to gather a blood sample from you as well.

At this point, if you are not submitting a sample for a blood or a breath test, then not only are you likely to end up having a charge for DWI but now you have to face further consequences and charges for refusal of a blood alcohol level test. This can make it harder for us to get you better results in the end and we always advise that people give a blood test and let us handle the case later. We still hope you reach out, however, even if you refuse to do that.

We understand that in the moment you might be fearful that submitting to a blood alcohol test would result in you getting immediately charged with DWI. For example, if you had a drink before you left wherever you were coming from and you know that there’s no way to be drunk but you’re afraid that the test will tell you otherwise, then we understand that you might have feared taking the test and ending up getting punished. If there was a flaw with a breath test, our Orlando DWI lawyers are always going to investigate if the officers have proper working breathalyzers.

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Penalties if Convicted

If this is your first offense of DWI in the state of Florida and you refused to give a blood or breath test for your BAC, you will face up to six months of confinement. This would be contingent on your blood alcohol content being below 0.15% and you not having been involved in an accident. If your blood alcohol content was higher than .15% you could face up to nine months in jail and that penalty is the same if you had a minor in the car with you. If you were involved in a car crash, then you could face up to a year in jail.

If this would be your second conviction of DWI within five years of having been convicted the first time, then you will face a minimum of 10 days in jail after you are convicted. The judge can decide whether or not you will have to go to a rehab program in replacement of going to jail.

If your second conviction happens past five years from your first one and you refused to give a blood or breath test and later was found at your BAC was under 0.15% and you were not involved in an accident, then you will receive at maximum nine months in jail.

Furthermore, if this is your second DWI arrest more than five years after your first one and you either had a BAC of 0.15% or higher or you had a minor in your car, then the maximum jail sentence is a year.

If this is your third arrest for DWI within 10 years of your two other convictions, then you could be facing a minimum jail sentence of 30 days. If it’s been more than 10 years after your first two DWI convictions, then the maximum is 12 months of jail.

Furthermore, if this is your fourth DWI, it does not matter how long ago the other convictions happened. This will be a felony offense. You could face Florida state prison for up to five years and you’ll forever be a felon.

How a Conviction Impacts Your License

If you are up against penalties for a DWI, not only does it include the penalties of the criminal charge that it would be if you were convicted but you also have to face what the DMV is going to do if you have a conviction. Driving while drunk is a serious crime and the law treats it very seriously because it is dangerous and deadly and they don’t want you to do it again. This kind of violation will affect your record and you likely will have points on your license if you get convicted of this DWI.

If you would like to avoid having points placed on your license that eventually could lead to your license being suspended or revoked, we hope that you make an effort to reach out to our Orlando DWI lawyers right away so that your privilege of driving is protected and you don’t have to face consequences from the DMV if you get convicted.

Again, not only would you have to face penalties like so many points on your license that you have it suspended but you could also end up not being able to drive anyway because you’ll be in jail or you won’t be able to afford gas because you’ll have heavy penalties. The sooner you reach out to us, the better. We want to be able to provide you with support that will help you avoid having points on your license.

Call Our Orlando DWI Lawyers Today

If you have been charged with a DWI and you are up against serious penalties, we want to hear from you as soon as you can possibly reach out. We are here to set up a consultation for you right away and get you the assistance you need. We understand that this conviction if it were to happen could ruin your life in many ways. We don’t want one mistake to ruin your life forever. Please call our Orlando DWI lawyers today to get started on getting better results in your DWI case.