Criminal Law

DUI stands for Driving Under the Influence – it could be the influence of drugs or alcohol and is considered a major offense in the state of Florida. This law states that an offender of the law, under the age of 21 should have their blood sample tested for alcohol content up to 0.2% while persons above 21 should be tested for alcohol content of 0.8% before being considered as defaulters.

There have been a large number of personal injury cases in Brevard County and Florida as a state due to driving under the influence (DIU). This reason alone has made the state of Florida unfriendly towards any DIU cases. One of the best law firms for personal injury cases in Florida, John Vernon Moore Law Office provides an effective defense to victims when these accidents happen.

In a situation where a police officer pulls an individual over and asks to take a blood, breath or urine test, if an alcohol level of .08 or above is discovered in the individual’s blood or breath, then he/she is charged for breaking the law and made to face the penalty for DUI being to pay a certain fee depending on how much they have been convicted for DUI.

The penalty for first time DUI conviction in Florida include:

1. A fine between $250 – $500
2. A community service of 50 hours
3. Imprisonment of no more than 9 months
4. License revocation of a period of a minimum period of 180 days
5. DUI school of 12 hours
6. Probation of no more than 1 year

The state of Florida separates crime into felonies and misdemeanors making it complicated for the defendant and prompting the need for attorneys in Florida to tailor their defenses and claims accordingly. While the latter is a less serious crime punishable by one-year imprisonment in county jail, felonies, on the other hand, are “serious crimes” in the state in Florida punishable by imprisonment in a state prison or even death. Crimes that fall under the category of felony include rape, murder, kidnapping, sexual abuse, aggravated robbery, and the likes.

Though legal counsel in Florida makes concerted efforts to nail offenders with fitting punishments to forestall future offenders, crime is inevitable, and this makes it necessary to know where to turn to in the event of citizens needing legal litigation in the state. Felonies in Florida are classified into first degree, second degree and felonies of the third degree.

These crimes concern the possession of hard drugs, carrying a gun without a permit, assault and battery, theft of an unoccupied vehicle, resisting an officer by violence and DUI.

Felonies of the first degree in Florida are very severe and punishable by a 30 years imprisonment sentence and a fine payment worth $10,000. Felonies of the second degree in Florida are also severe and punishable by a 15 years imprisonment sentence and a fine payment worth $10,000. Third-degree felony in Florida is less severe and punishable by a 5 years imprisonment sentence and the payment of a fine worth $5,000.

Probation can also be granted to an offender depending on the situation. On a few occasions, probation may take the place of a prison term, but that doesn’t imply that probation is periods of freedom for offenders.

After being granted probation, an offender isn’t free in any sense as he/she is still made to meet certain requirements and stipulations as dictated by the court.