No Refusal DUI Doesn't Fly Under Florida Law

Across the country, a large advertising campaign has recently started announcing that any driving refusing a chemical test will be compelled by force to submit to a test. Law enforcement has coined the term "No Refusal DUI Weekends." The purpose of this advertising campaign is to intimidate the public into believing that if an individual refuses to submit to a breath test, the officer can and will forcefully draw blood from the defendant. Although the ads run in Florida, what the advertising fails to state is that, under Florida Law, this is not true.

Pursuant to Florida DUI Law, a law enforcement officer may only request a blood draw under narrowly defined circumstances. A law enforcement officer may forcefully draw blood only if the following criteria are met. 1) the suspect refuses a chemical test; 2) the suspect has been in an accident involving a fatailty or serious bodily injury & 3) there is probable cause to believe that the suspect is impaired and caused the accident. If these criteria are met, the officer does not need a warrant to draw blood. If the criteria are met, the officer is permitted to forcefully draw blood under the exigent circumstances doctrine.

Michael A. Dye and Daniel Rosenberg, two Broward County DUI lawyers issued the following joint statement. "There is no provision under Florida Law that permits an officer to request a search warrant and forcefully draw blood under any circumstances. The airing of these commercials and the endorsement of these ads by law enforcement is simply an effort to intimidate individuals from exercising their constitutional rigthts.  If an officer on the scene of a DUI call stated to a driver that he would obtain a warrant to forcefully withdraw blood and the driver subsequently submitted to a breath test, those results would be thrown out by every judge in this state.  Law enforcements use of propoganda through mass media to misinform citizens of their rights and to intimidate citizens from excercising their God given constitutional rights is repulsive."

The Law Offices of Daniel Rosenberg, P.A. and the Law Offices of Michael A. Dye, P.A. are a criminal defense law firms located in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida. Daniel Rosenberg & Michael Dye are criminal defense lawyers and a dui lawyers with significant experience handling complex DUI Cases. For more information, please visit http://DRosenbergLaw.com or http://AlcoholAndDrugLaw.com.