A Typical DUI Scenario

R.T. was coming home from a downtown Orlando bar where he had been celebrating a promotion at work.  After drinking some beers, he got into his car to drive home to his house in Central Florida.  R.T. was driving on I-4 and was about to get onto the 408 interchange when he saw flashing emergency lights and heard a loud siren behind him.  An Orange County deputy pulled R.T. over to the right lane.  The deputy walked over to R.T.’s car and asked him for his driver’s license, registration and insurance information; the deputy told R.T. that he pulled him over for failing to maintain a single lane, failing to use a turn signal and speeding.  When R.T. did not immediately find his insurance information in his glove box, the police officer started to ask R. T. how much he had to drink and where he was coming from.  Already late at night and nervous because the cop was being a little aggressive, R.T. did not want to answer the questions. 

The deputy then ordered R.T. out of the car without telling him any reason.  The deputy then asked R.T. to perform a series of tests called field sobriety tests, including the one-leg stand test, finger to nose, H-horizontal gaze nistagmus test and the Rhomberg alphabet test.  R.T. tried to explain that he had balance issues because of a bad back, but the deputy told R.T. that because he suspected R.T. was drunk, he would arrest R.T. for driving under the influence if he refused to take the field sobriety tests.  On the side of the busy highway, late at night with cars buzzing by, R.T. performed the HGN, walked the line, put his finger to his nose and tried to keep his one leg up to the best of his abilities.  R.T. believed he performed pretty well on all of the tests, even the one leg stand where he was required to keep his leg up for thirty seconds.  R.T. clearly remembered he only put his leg down twice but was able to keep it up and count to thirty seconds as requested. 

Unfortunately, the Orange County deputy did not agree and asked R.T. to turn around and face the other way.  “You’re under the arrest for driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage.”  The deputy then handcuffed R.T., took his driver’s license and forcefully put him in the back of a police car.  The deputy did not read R.T. any Miranda rights and never gave him a chance to explain himself.  The deputy then transported R.T. to the Orange County Breath Test Center, where he asked the defendant on video to take a breath test on the Intoxilyzer 8000 machine.  The deputy had R.T. sit on a chair in front of a camera and told R.T. that if he refused to take the breath test, he would lose his driver’s license for a period of up to one year.  As R.T. had just been arrested for DUI and accused of driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage; R.T. was unsure of what to do and asked the deputy for a lawyer.  The deputy calmly responded that R.T. did not have the right to an attorney.

Upset and confused, R.T. decided to take the breath test.  The breath operator employed by the police turned on the machine and asked R.T. to blow into the Intoxilyzer 8000 by utilizing a tube.  R.T. blew the best he could but it was not good enough for the police officer.  “Keep blowing, keep blowing, keep blowing, keep blowing,” the breath operator yelled.  R.T. finally gave two breath samples.  Unfortunately over one hour after the arrest, R.T. blew a .15 and a .14, which is over the legal limit of .08 in the state of Florida.