Any person who gets a Florida driver license consents to
submit to a breath, blood or urine test if requested by an officer who has
probable cause to believe that they are driving under the influence of alcohol
or a controlled or chemical substance. The police officer gets to decide which
test they want you to perform.
In Florida, a refusal will result in an immediate suspension
of your driving privileges for one year. The DUI ticket will be a temporary license
for 10 days and you will have only this same 10 day period to request an appeal
of this suspension with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
The state will attempt to use the refusal to submit as
evidence of guilt against you at trial, but there are ways to combat this. For
example, some police officers charge a "refusal" if the arrestee is
unable to provide the sample, not intentionally refusing, just physically
unable. The law requires that a driver submit to the test to the best of his
ability.
Often police will confuse the arrestee with the reading of
Miranda warnings prior to the breath test request. While an arrestee is not
entitled to an attorney before submitting to a breath test, if they are advised
that they have a right to not answer any questions and have a lawyer present,
that creates confusion and may be grounds to suppress the evidence of refusal.
Sometimes, arrestees will initially refuse yet change their
minds a short time later. Police officers will lose patience with this type of
situation and will most often write it up as a "refusal". In fact,
provided there was no impediment to providing the test, no unreasonable amount
of time lapsed and the defendant was constantly being observed, courts have held the
arrestee "cured" the refusal.
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