DMV Hearings Attorney in Orlando & Lake County
The most important thing to know in terms of immediate action when you are charged with a DUI is that you have 10 days to request a formal administrative hearing. If you do not request your hearing within the 10 days allotted by law, you will lose your right to have the matter heard and automatically have your license suspended. DO NOT WAIVE YOUR RIGHTS! Consult with our offices and our Orlando DUI and DMV Hearings Attorneys immediately to find out how to properly request a DMV hearing. Even if you are shopping for criminal lawyers, contact our office for some free advice that may help your decision.
After being arrested and charged with Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, (DUI) in Florida, there are two totally separate entities looking to impose a punishment against you: the Criminal Justice System AND the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV). These two entities are mutually exclusive and the results in each area do not affect one another. EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: You only have 10 days to request a formal DMV administrative hearing, otherwise your Florida driver’s license will be automatically suspended. The DMV hearing will focus on the various police and chemical test reports and will be presided over by an employee of the Department of Motor Vehicles, not a Judge.
There are a number of issues that will be raised during the DMV hearing to help an administrative hearing officer decide whether or not your license should be suspended:
- Were you driving or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle?
- Were you legally stopped by an officer?
- Were you legally arrested by the officer?
- Did you take a blood or breath test and was it done properly under the law?
- Did you have a blood or breath alcohol level above the legal limit?
It is ALWAYS important to request a DMV hearing within the ten (10) days of your arrest, even if you have not yet hired an attorney. If you do not request a DMV formal review hearing within the requisite ten (10) days, you forfeit your right to have one. A DMV formal review hearing often serves as a form of discovery for your attorney and gives your attorney an opportunity to question a police officer about his/her experience, expertise, and actions that led to your arrest. At a DMV hearing, your attorney can subpoena the arresting officer, and backup officer, as well as the breath test operator to inquire about the events leading to your arrest. Even if you believe you are guilty, having an attorney attend a DMV hearing may expose weaknesses or problems in the State’s case against you. If you need an Orlando DMV Hearing attorney to handle your case in Orange County, Osceola County, Seminole County, Lake County, Polk County, Volusia County, Sumter County, or in any surrounding Orlando area, contact our office today.