What to expect after getting a dui in Florida

Let me begin this article by explaining how and why I am now somewhat of an expert on this subject. On Nov. 28th, 2010, two days after my 41st birthday, I was at a Christmas festival with my mother in the downtown area of where I live. Over the course of the night (6pm-12am) I proceeded to drink six glasses of wine and a Belgium beer. I then got behind the wheel of my car and drove home. As I was turning into my sub-division I ran my vehicle through (not into-but through) a brick wall. The crash was so loud it woke my entire family up (including my two children) who were sleeping four houses down from the scene of the accident. I was so intoxicated that at the time I thought I had ran into a bush and was somewhat confused as to why the entire front half of my car was smashed in. At this point you are probably thinking something along the lines of "What a dumb ass" and rightly so. To be honest anyone who drinks and drives is a bit of an idiot considering the consequences he/she will endure when a $30 cab ride was all it would have taken to avoid the situation. Anyway..... if you do find yourself in this situation here is what you have to look forward to over the next year of your life.

Once the police are on the scene you will be questioned, handcuffed, and taken down to the station. They will then ask you to take a breathalyzer test which I now know is highly inadvisable. In my opinion if you have had over two drinks refuse this test. In my case I was trying to be cooperative and ended blowing a .2 which put me in a whole new ball game as far as punishment goes. Once they have determined you are eligible for arrest you will be put into the "drunk tank" where you will sit for about three hours with anyone else arrested that night. During this time they will also take your mugshot which immediately goes onto the internet. You will most likely be asked to change into prison garb at this time, be handcuffed, and taken to general population. Also at this time you will be allowed to make a phone call which should be to anyone that can and will post bail for you- around $200 to $500 (it is usually 10% of what the actual bail is). At some point during this time you will appear before a judge who will set your bail and future court date. You will also be asked if you want to have a public defender which I recommend saying no to. If you do sign up for this and later change your mind you are charged $50. Eventually you will be allowed to leave- in my case 6pm that evening.

This is the point when some of the shock will be wearing off and the magnitude of your situation will begin setting in. Feelings of remorse, guilt, humiliation, and fear will start taking over. In my opinion, if finances allow it, hire a lawyer immediately. This is going to cost around $4500 and may or may not help you in the end but the mental support a lawyer will give you is extremely beneficial to get you through what will probably be one of the most stressful times of your life. Shop around as many lawyers will work with you on payment plans- mine accepted $2000 up front and then deducted $1000 from my total because he was not able to have my charge reduced. Any form of support at this time will be welcome because you will soon find out that very few people are going to have any sympathy for you- and many will be judging you extremely harshly. You will quickly learn who your true friends are.

At this point your license will have been taken away (10 days after your dui) and you will have a hearing with the DMV who decides if you are able to get it back before your court date or if you will have to apply for a "hardship" license. If you have a lawyer he/she will go to this for you. If you blew and you were above the legal limit it is highly unlikely you will be given your driving privileges back at this time. There is a 30 day sit out period where you will not be able to drive at all. During this time you will want to enroll in the 8 hour driving class which is $250. The DMV will require proof of enrollment before they grant you a hardship. After your 30 days you will call the DMV and set up a formal "hearing". Because Florida is has so many Dui cases right now this is done over the phone. The people are very nice and the phone hearing last about 5 minutes after which you will be able to go down to the DMV and obtain a hardship license. This is going to cost you another $244. The problem with this phase of your dui is that no one is going to tell you exactly where you can and cannot drive. Your are absolutely allowed to drive to work and church. Anything else (ie the grocery store) is up to the discretion of an officer that pulls you over. This is just one of the many frustrations you will encounter while trying to get through your dui. According to my lawyer you are absolutely allowed to go to the grocery store but must always be sure to have the receipt with the time and date. He did say however that certain police officers did not consider this as something that effects your "livelihood" and would make you appear in court. While most judges will dismiss this , you will still end up paying court costs as well as going through the hassle of another court date. My advice is to drive as little as possible. You will inevitably notice that you are pulled over much more these days because your tag shows that you were arrested for a dui.

During this time your lawyer will be doing the "investigation" for your case. This is where he goes over your arrest with a fine tooth comb, looking for even the slightest mistake. In my case there was unfortunately nothing to be found. I have heard however of many people getting off because of officers not having their breathalyzer certification up to date, or the machines having glitches etc. This process takes a little over a month and you will be sent a report of what was found. Once this is completed you and your lawyer will meet to go over your case and what he thinks is the best course of action. Its important to be realistic and realize your lawyer may be trying to paint a rosier picture than what actually is. If you blew over a .15 and the police department had all their ducks in order it is very unlikely you are going to get off on a reckless driving. Your lawyer will most likely make a plan to meet with the prosecutors to have them agree to drop your charges to .15 or below. If you blew a .2 or above there is no hope that this will happen unless there were serious mistakes on the police departments end.

If you have enrolled in the dui school (which I highly recommend getting out of the way) your first step will be an evaluation. This is basically to determine if you will be ordered to have counseling. While it is tempting to lie on this evaluation, do not put too much effort into it because it is almost guaranteed that you will be ordered to go to at least three months of therapy. As for the 8 hour class you must attend, I personally found it very informative and rewarding although others I talked to felt it was painfully boring. Whatever your feelings about it- you have to take it so get it over with as soon as possible. One warning is that you will be drug and alcohol testing during class so be very careful- you will be thrown out of class and have to pay the fee all over again. While this sounds like common sense- 2 people in my class were sent home because of drinking so it must not be that obvious.

Your lawyer will have a meeting with the prosecutors to determine if you will plea or go to trial. This is where having a lawyer that is rooted in the community and has alot of connections could be very beneficial. If your lawyer is dealing with people he/she is friends with outside of work your chances of a good plea deal are much higher. This was not the case in my situation and was given no breaks despite never having a ticket in my life prior to this DUI. Also, take the time to find out who your judge is as there is huge variety of opinions on drunk drivers in the courts. My judge considered DUI offenders up there with animal and child abusers so I was walking a very thin line. Had I gone to trial I most likely would have had to serve jail time because she felt she needed to make examples of people like me- thus it was in my best interest to accept a plea deal.

I would advise you not to put off your court date for two reasons. One- the judges seem to find people who clog up the courts with rescheduling etc bothersome and will have less leniency on you in the long run. Two- your sentence starts the day of your hearing, not the day of your DUI, so it is best to get it over with and get on with your life. Now although the court hearing is brief and really not a huge deal, I found it somewhat traumatic and mentally draining. Something about standing in front of a court room full of people and a judge saying "guilty your honor" and then hearing a long list of punishments is hard on your self esteem. That being said, its also the beginning of the end so its a huge milestone in your DUI. At the end of day here is the punishment I received and what you can expect for a first time DUI with a high blood alcohol level of .15 or above-

1. three months of counseling-$135 a month
2. 12 mandatory AA meetings
3. required to call in Sun.- Thurs to see if I'm to report for a random alcohol test the next morning. You will be assigned a color and if your color is called you must go the next day for a urine test and pay $15. My color comes up at least once a week but I think this is unusual because many ppl report only having to do this twice a month
4. installment of an interlock breathalyzer on my car for 6 months. This is $160 to install which includes the first month fee and then $72.50 per month
5. Required to have FR 44 insurance for 3 years- $244 a month.
6. Required to have my car immobilized for 10 days-$100
7. 50 hours of community service ( I did mine at Goodwill which clocks every single second- I have heard that parks and recreation are much more lax)
8. $1000 fine
9. $834 in court cost
10. meet with probation officer monthly $70 first time- $55 every time after
11. take a 2 hour victims awareness class $40
12. no alcohol for 6 months to 1 year
13. license revoked immediately after court- applying for new hardship-$100

Now one of the most frustrating parts of all this is that you are going to be required to start doing alot of this immediately- for example calling in and appearing for alcohol testing as well as meeting your probation officer- but you are not allowed to drive. This is one of those things that "is what it is"- the court has absolutely no concern for your convenience- its your problem. My advice is accept it and figure if out- its a waste of energy to complain because they aren't going to make an acception for you- every single person with a DUI is in your situation. At first I was really angry over the injustice of this but it didn't change a thing and I simply had to find someone willing to drive me around. Planning ahead can go a long way in reducing your stress while your on probation.

Now the punishment I received must be completed in a year but if I am done with everything after 6 months I can be done with my probation. My sentence was fairly typical although I have had heard of worse- 2 years required driving with an interlock ignition, $2000 fine, and 150 hours of community service- all for first time DUI offenders. On the other hand if you blew below the .15 you most likely will not have to have the interlock device or have to call in nightly. As for the punishments- they are all punitive. You will quickly realize DUI's are all about money- very little is rehabilitative. The group therapy is a joke- our money is collected, we take roll, we read an article out of the paper, then we go home. The inter-lock device is a bit of a nightmare but I am learning to deal with it. It has alot of quirks, its a pain in the ass, and its not reliable. That being said-if you have to have one on your car I would advise you to learn to use it and simply drive only when necessary. My probation officer does nothing but collect my money and say "I don't know" to any question I ask. Community service really isn't too bad- my suggestion is to see what is out there and go with an organization that supports something you believe in, for example the Humane Society- it doesn't have to be picking up trash on the side of the road. Alot of people actually end up finding employment from their community service hours so don't just write it off as something else to be dreaded. One thing no one explained to me was that your license revocation ends before your probation does. In August I will be able to drive freely again despite the fact that I will have one more month of the interlock on my car as well as having to do my other probation requirements. Also the time you are required to have the interlock on your car actually starts at the time you get your hardship license ( which you cannot get without the interlock)- not the date when the device is installed. My original plan was to have to device installed and simply not drive for 6 months. Unfortunately this isn't how it works. To get started on your sentence its going to cost you around $500 so be prepared. Its important for your own piece of mind to get started asap so that you feel like you are making progress towards completing this nightmare. I personally knocked my community service out first because it was free to do and I felt a huge relief when I was done. I then had the interlock installed and got my hardship so that I could have a definite date that I knew it would be over (6 months from the date I got my hardship license). Next, I figure I will knock out having my car impounded for 10 days- I'm still not sure what purpose this punishment serves except to have you spend more money. One last warning- you will need to shop around immediately for your FR 44 insurance because the DMV will charge you an additional $150 to get your hardship license if you do not get this within about a month. Look around because there is a huge variance on prices out there. Some insurance companies will quote you $2500 up front every 6 months while others will charge you around $200 a month without having to pay a huge upfront cost.

In the end, if I can at least make this awful experience a little easier for anyone reading this I will be happy. From my experience this biggest tool you will need is a good perspective. For me I had to start seeing my arrest as a blessing in disguise. I could have killed someone or myself for that matter and as I know I will never do this again- I know I will never have to live with that. I personally have stopped drinking which has created its own benefits in my life. This combined with the fact that I am actually getting through everything without a nervous breakdown (yet) has made me a much stronger and resourceful person. I rarely judge people anymore as I have been so harshly judged during this whole process. You will get through this but it takes diligence and the right attitude. Learn from it- make sure you have a plan going forward when you are in situations that involve alcohol and driving. I met plenty of people along the way who were arrested for sleeping drunk in their cars simply because they had the keys on them.I also met alot of people who were on their second and third dui- the return rate for offenders is somewhere around 40%. This is partly due to the fact you will find yourself profiled by police from here on out and have a much higher chance of getting pulled over after a first DUI. Realize that as bad as your situation is it could always be worse. Learn to say "it is what it is" and move on. I wasted alot of energy getting angry over the fact that the laws were set up solely to punish and make money off drunk drivers- as opposed to rehabilitate them to prevent future occurrences. I eventually realized that unless I wanted to get involved with trying to fight them I needed to just accept what I had to do and get on with my life. As horrible and hopeless as it seems you will get through it as countless others have. Your job now is to make sure it never happens again. Sometimes the worst things in life are actually the best things in life- it just depends on how you look at them.

ps- If you feel compelled to leave a nasty comment on what a horrible person I am and how I deserve to burn in hell for driving drunk- please save your energy. I have felt every angle of remorse, guilt and shame over this possible. I am fully aware of what I did and accept full responsibility for my actions.