Updates to Florida DUI Laws and Penalties: It May Be Unlawful to Suspend Your Driver’s License Just for Refusing a Breathalyzer Test

In June of 2011, the Florida Supreme Court voted 4 to 3 that someone’s driver’s license cannot be suspended for refusing to take a breathalyzer test if the DUI arrest is unlawful, a success for drivers’ rights. The case took place in Miami but affects the entire state of Florida, including Seminole, Kissimmee, Osceola, and Orange County DUI cases, returning this right to all drivers in the state.

What does this change in the law mean for you? If the police make a ‘bad arrest’ in your case, you may still keep your driver’s license. You may not realize that a DUI arrest and a driver’s license suspension are separate issues, but they both can occur as a result of a Florida DUI arrest. In some cases, drunk driving lawyers are able to get your driver’s license reinstated even though you have a pending DUI case.

The case that the Florida Supreme Court ruled in was Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles v. William Hernandez and George McLaughlin. It involved two cases where appellate courts made opposite ruling on the same issue. The Florida Supreme Court ruled that the implied consent law in Orange County and throughout the state allows for license suspensions only for valid arrests.

In the majority opinion, it was written that “to remove that consideration from the hearing officer’s review would allow illegal suspensions without any possibility of a meaningful process to challenge the legality of the suspension.” They also stated that it would violate a motorist’s constitutional due process rights.

Justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis, and James Perry fully agreed with the majority opinion, and Justice Peggy Quince concurred only with the final result. Chief Justice Charles Canady wrote in the dissent that the majority has expanded hearing officers’ authority beyond the scope of their legal powers. He also stated that drivers are responsible for knowing the law.

“They are therefore on notice of the limited grounds for challenging an administrative suspension and that the lawfulness of a suspension will be upheld without regard to whether the suspension was incident to a lawful arrest,” he wrote.

The implied consent law means that anyone who drives in the state of Florida has to consent to testing or else he or she will have her license automatically suspended. The first refusal results in a one year driver’s license suspension, and each subsequent refusal results in an 18 month driver’s license suspension. Previously, when someone refused a test, this would occur whether or not the arrest was valid.

Now, if you refuse to submit to a breathalyzer test, your driver’s license is automatically suspended, but within 10 days of the arrest, you can request a driver’s license administrative suspension hearing from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and a hearing officer will determine whether your arrest was lawful or not.

In the case of baseball player Michael Cabrera, for instance, he was arrested in Fort Pierce, Florida, when police officers saw him drinking alcohol in his vehicle. However, at the time, the car was broken down. It was completely inoperable. Officers didn’t see him drive it there, and so they couldn’t prove that he was “operating or in actual physical control” of the car with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above, as required by law. In his case, he was able to get his driver’s license back despite having pending DUI charges. These are actually separate issues.

In cases like this, where the police officers did not have a reason to pull someone over, which means they did not have “probable cause,” and that person refused a breathalyzer test, the state of Florida is no longer allowed to suspend their driver’s license.

What does this mean for your case? The best way to understand the implications for your impending Florida DUI criminal charges is to talk to a qualified Florida DUI lawyer that handles cases in you the county in which you were arrested. They can walk you through the new legal requirements and prepare a defensive strategy to fight for your rights in court. They can also help you take steps to protect your license in Orange, Seminole, Kissimmee, Osceola, and other Florida counties.