Reader’s Question:

I have a DUI conviction here in Deltona, Florida and I wanna be able to travel to Canada. Will I be able to enter that country, what about other countries? Please tell me the best thing that I should do so that I can travel abroad.

Kaye

Deltona, FL

If you have a DUI conviction in Deltona, Florida, you are facing problems if you want to travel outside the United States. You could face special fees or be refused admission in Canada if you’ve been convicted for DUI. If it has been less than five years since the termination of your sentence, you should apply and be granted a Temporary Resident Permit before you will be granted entry to Canada. If five years has already passed, you could apply for a Minister’s Approval of Rehabilitation. If and when that is granted, your inadmissibility status as a result of your DUI conviction could be permanently removed.

The best thing for you to do now is to contact a Canadian Visa Office or a lawyer for further information regarding the application process for permission to enter Canada. Even if the laws of most countries concerning criminal convictions and eligibility for admission are not as strict as Canada, you must always take time to research such laws when making plans to travel outside of the United States.

Tags: drunk driving laws, DUI, DUI conviction, DUI lawyer

Reader’s Question:

We are finding police mistakes so that we can use it as a defense in my DUI case in Boynton Beach, Florida. What are the things that police officers should do or say during a DUI arrest?

Jayda

Boynton Beach, FL

Police officers are required to follow certain procedures during the course of a DUI investigation. Failure of the police to do so could lead to the dismissal of your DUI case in Boynton Beach, Florida. What we usually refer to as “loophole” or “technicality” with your DUI defense is actually a way of using the constitution to protect your rights. An experienced DUI lawyer has spent years in developing techniques that are designed to dismantle the toughest DUI cases.

There are certain things that police officers do or say that could dramatically impact the outcome of your DUI case. First off is with regard to the DUI stop wherein the police officer should have a probable cause to pull you over. The officer should also observe you for 20 minutes prior to administering the breath test. Another police mistake that can be used as a possible defense in your DUI case is if the officer failed to tell you that your driver’s license would automatically be suspended if you refused a breath test. The officer should have also conducted the field sobriety tests on a surface that was flat, dry and well-lit. All of these and more, if proven by your DUI lawyer, could be very significant in your DUI defense.

Tags: breath test, DUI, DUI arrest, DUI lawyer, field sobriety tests

Reader’s Question:

I want to know how many days do I have to pay my ticket and attend a traffic school for my DWI conviction in Florida?

Kylie

Lakeland, FL

In Florida State you have 30 days to pay the ticket and contact the Clerk of Courts in the county where you received your citation for a DWI offense. You must either pay the fees, request for an extension or inform them that you are going to court to fight your case. I recommend that you take the traffic school first before paying the fines that will permit you to pay your traffic ticket (less 18% discount) and provide a copy of your traffic school certificate of completion to the court as a completed package.

However, the State of Florida does permit you to pay the ticket first (less 18% discount) and then you will get an additional 30 to 60 days to go to a traffic school, depending on which county you received your citation. I strongly encourage you to check with the Clerk of Courts in that county to find out the time you are permitted after paying your ticket.

After you pay your ticket you have 60 days in some counties and 90 days in other counties to complete your course and submit your certificate of completion. For verification of compliance, check with the Clerks office in that county. After you receive your certificate of completion of the traffic school course, you must show proof of completion to the Clerk of Court’s office in the county in which you received your citation. Remember, if you choose to take a traffic school class and take the 18% fine reduction, you must attend a traffic school and complete the class before your due date.

Reader’s Question:

My brother resides in Tallahassee, Florida. He was arrested for a DWI offense and was required to attend a traffic school. How do I know if an online traffic school is approved and recognized by his court?

Stella

Tallahassee, FL

Thanks for asking Stella. In Florida State, traffic school courses are approved by Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles commonly referred to as DHSMV. You may receive paperwork from the court identifying recognized online traffic schools for your DWI arrest. If you would know, one of the first things the system will tell you when you begin to register in any online traffic school is whether it is approved or not by your court. If the internet traffic school is listed on the paperwork you received from your court, then you can proceed on your registration.

Because online traffic school is such a new experience, some traffic courts have not yet authorized or even recognized the online equivalent to the regular classroom course. However, most traffic courts allow internet courses, so the chances that your court will approve on-line courses are very good. Also, if your traffic court currently authorizes home study-Internet courses for traffic school attendance, there is a good chance they will authorize online attendance. So to make sure you have to ask them.

There are actually many traffic school online course providers that are offering DHSMV approved traffic ticket dismissal courses. You just have to be keen on searching online and make sure that they have been approved by your court.

When a person is charged with the offense of driving under the influence of alcohol, it’s important for them to understand that it is a very serious offense. It can cause you to lose your license, and it can affect your future job prospects. It can get in the way of many things, and worst of all, it will likely follow you for years, not only as part of your criminal record but in your insurance rates as well.

Therefore, it is necessary for you to come to terms with just how necessary getting a DUI attorney in Fort Lauderdale FL is. All of the books and websites with descriptions of DUI law will never add up to the experience and knowledge that you can take part in from just a half hour with a good DUI attorney. An attorney can bring your case and DUI law together, and show you how they interact.

A DUI attorney in Fort Lauderdale FL can do more than that, too. They can also take care of making calls, mailing paperwork, and little things like that. More than anything else, though, a lawyer can take a realistic look at your case and know what results are possible, and then accomplish those results in your defense in court.

Your Orlando FL DUI lawyer needs your cooperation when getting your case ready to present in a court of law, and so you have to relay all of the information you have to them. One of the most relevant pieces of information to your case is your behavior when you were pulled over and received your DUI charge. This comprises the amount of evidence they have proving that you were drunk, and sometimes it is weak and other times it is strong. Here are some forms this evidence comes in.

• Your speech changes, such as when you slur it or when you switch your words around and end up speaking nonsense.
• Your driving is wild, such as when you go in one lane and out the other, drive with your lights off, go over or under the speed limit, or just act weird in general.
• You appear as if you are drunk or have been drinking, such as if your clothes smell like alcohol, your eyes are red, and you are otherwise messed up looking.
• When the police officer asks you to perform a simple task, such as walk in a straight line or sing your alphabet, you don’t do it right.
• When asked how much you have had to drink, you answer with a number that doesn’t make you sound good.
• You are given a test for BAC, such as a blood test, and your level comes out over the legal limit.

Not everybody has the chance to get the services of a DUI lawyer in St Petersburg Florida for their case, but if you have even the slightest chance you should try. However, there are different levels of effort you can put, and while on one hand you may be in jail for a long time simply because you couldn’t get a lawyer to represent you, there are other times when you may come out of it just fine.

• You’re in trouble if you don’t hire a DUI lawyer in St Petersburg Florida if…

You were charged with a DUI after serious accident; it’s even more important to get a lawyer if the accident included someone being injured or dying. Severe fines and consequences come the more charges you get, so if this is your third DUI charge (or past that even), then you’re in this category. If being unable to drive means being unable to perform the duties of your job.

• You might be in trouble if you don’t hire a DUI lawyer in St Petersburg Florida if…

Second time to be convicted for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 100% times the regular DUI BAC level. A minor involved.

• You might not be in trouble if…

Having a DUI on your record will make it harder for you to get a job or a degree or certification. You need bonding for your work. You need someone to explain this to you.

Perhaps you have heard of the fee agreement that you are supposed to receive from each Jacksonville Florida DWI attorney you consult with, but haven’t quite come to an understanding of what it is. Get accustomed with the information that follows so that when you go to your consultation, you will have the best understanding of your fee agreement.

First of all, let’s go over what your fee agreement should have in it: it needs to describe what kind of services your Jacksonville Florida DWI attorney will do for you, and also what you need to do yourself. You’ll also need details of variable charges, interest rates, and a broken down list of the charges which comprise your total fee.

Here are a couple of questions to put forward when you consult with a Jacksonville Forida DWI attorney:

• What is your method of billing? Do I pay you by the hour, or do you have a fixed rate? Will I be able to pay monthly? What amount will I pay each month?
• What kind of charges in here are subject to change? What would change them? How can I control this?
• What is the least I will have to pay for you to handle my case? What is the most?

We’ve gone ove pricing, fee agreements, and even considered the possibility that you may not be able to hire a Pembroke Pines Florida DUI lawyer at all. However, in the last case, it’s not quite so clear as I had previously made it out to be. Whether or not you can hire a lawyer to represent you is not always a case of having enough money or not having enough money. Sometimes, it varies.

If you don’t have the money to pay a lawyer, then in some instances, like if you are facing a felony or misdemeanor (occasionaly) charge, you might be given the option of having a public defender represent your case.

While it may be true that public defenders, being just another arm of the government, don’t have an excellent reputation, it’s a toss up of whether or not that is well deserved. The real truth is that public defenders are often former private lawyers or even lawyers who have a private practice on the side, and so they often have equal or even more experience than your average expensive private lawyer.

As you draw up your fee agreement with your Tallahassee FL DUI attorney, one of the most important features of this document will be the manner that your lawyer will be charging you in. Even when you look at all the little details and add everything up, the method of charging will have the biggest effect on your final number. Take a look at two of the most common methods that lawyers use to charge their clients and consider which one is best for you.

• Hourly rates.

Hourly rates work best for short and simple cases. If this is your first time getting charged with DUI, for example, and there is nothing serious to complicate your case which would cause your Tallahassee FL DUI attorney to have to gather research and witnesses and so on, then it’s possible that an hourly rate would be the best method for you to pay your lawyer. Throw one cog in the wheel, though, and the prices hear could rise by a lot.

• Fixed fee.

A fixed fee means one of two things: in many cases, a lawyer will split the fee into two, with one fixed fee for researching, interviewing, consulting, and so on, and another fixed fee for just the defense. Some lawyers, though, do it differently, in that they charge a single fixed fee across the board for all of their services.