Reader’s Question:

The law really confuses me and even if I know that it’s far from happening, I still feel the urge to ask this question. If I will be arrested for DUI in Palm Beach, Florida, do I have the right to a lawyer before I decide whether or not to take a breath or blood test?

Earl

Palm Beach, FL

Florida DUI laws do not give anyone the right to speak with a lawyer prior to making the decision of whether or not to take the field sobriety tests, the breath test or blood test. Florida DUI laws also do not prohibit an officer from allowing a person to call a lawyer prior to making the decision on whether to take any field sobriety tests or the breath or blood test. Moreover, the law does not require anyone to perform any field sobriety tests or to take a breath or blood test.

If you will be contacting a DUI lawyer in Palm Beach, Florida prior to taking a breath or blood test, you will be exercising good and normal judgment. If you are already under arrest, you are entitled to contact a lawyer at this point. The officer might tell you that you don’t have the right to contact a lawyer at that time and the decision to take a blood or breath test is up to you. This is but a normal response from an officer but jurors might not like this because most people believe that anyone is entitled to a lawyer once he/she is arrested. If the officer tells you that the Courts have ruled that they don’t have to allow you to contact a lawyer, it doesn’t seem that they are being fair.

Tags: blood alcohol test, breath test, DUI, DUI arrest, DUI lawyer