Unlawful Police Stops

Florida DUI Attorneys

The initial police stop is an important part of any Florida DUI case. In order to pull you over, law enforcement must have observed some type of behavior that would give rise to probable cause of a traffic infraction or reasonable suspicion of a crime. An exception to this requirement is a DUI checkpoint. Nonetheless, if an officer stops a vehicle without the above described requirement the case should ultimately be dismissed. The reason for the dismissal is because all of the observations that the officer may have made during the DUI investigation, including the breath test, were subsequent to the stop. If the stop is unlawful, then the rest of the investigation is poisoned. Therefore, none of the evidence can be used against you in court. The procedure to exclude evidence is called a motion to suppress. The motion to suppress is filed with the court in advance of the trial date. Click the "recent court wins" section on the website in order to view motions to suppress that were succesfully argued by Parks & Braxton in court.

The experienced legal team at Parks and Braxton is here to help you with your case. If you were arrested for DUI after what you think may have been an unlawful police stop, a Florida DUI lawyer at our firm can thoroughly investigate your case and determine whether your rights were violated in any way. The misconduct by the police can be used to your advantage both at your DMV hearing and in criminal court.

Following are some potential issues that an attorney can present in regard to your initial police stop:

• Were you actually displaying driving behavior that indicated impairment?
• Did the officer observe this behavior?
• Was other traffic affected by the erratic behavior as required by law?
• Did you violate a traffic or other law?
• Did a civilian call in your driving behavior? If so, did the officer write the civilian witnesses name to confirm in court the erratic driving.
• Did the officer therefore never witness erratic driving or a violated traffic law?
• Were you driving as any reasonable driver would, given the current road and weather conditions?
• Were you parked?

DUI Defense Lawyers in Florida

A detailed investigation and aggressive legal representation can lead to a positive case outcome - even in the most complex and seemingly hopeless of DUI cases. Parks & Braxton has successfully represented drivers throughout Florida who have been victimized by unlawful police stops, and we are ready to see how we can help YOU.