Unfortunately, my son got caught up with the wrong group of kids over the last summer. It was not until the police officers brought him home that I learned of what he and his new group of friends were up to. I knew at that moment that I was going to need a lawyer to help me help him through the situation. My lawyer was so helpful in many ways. By the time we worked our way through the legal process, my son was able to walk away without any charges that could threaten his future. Visit my site to learn what can be done for a troubled teen to get him or her back on the right track.
If you have been arrested for a DUI and are awaiting trial, then you should learn everything that you can about how the process works. Specifically, you should understand what the laws are in your state and what you should expect in the unfortunate event that you are convicted. To help you educate yourself, here are some of the laws and consequences that you should know about if you are dealing with a possible DUI conviction in Florida:
How much time can you spend in jail for a DUI?
The amount of time that you will spend in jail (if any) will highly depend on how many DUI convictions you have had in the past.
If this is your first offense, then there is simply a maximum cap of 6 months. This allows the judge to give you 0 months in theory, which means that you might not spend a single day in jail.
For your second offense, the minimum raises to 9 months. Again, there is no minimum by default, but if you get a second DUI shortly after getting your first, then a minimum sentence (10 days) is added into the equation.
Further convictions follow the same pattern, with a third DUI having a maximum sentence of 12 months and a fourth DUI having a maximum sentence of 5 years. Again, minimums are also added if your DUIs were less than a few years apart.
How much money can you be fined for a DUI?
Like most states, Florida has fines that increase as your number of past convictions increases. Your first offense will only be punished by a fine between $500 and $1,000, but that can go up if you are a minor or if you drank much more than the legal limit. In either case (with the elevated BAC threshold being .15), the range rises to $1,000-$2,000.
Conveniently, any subsequent offenses have the same fine range ($1,000-$2,000). This means that you could get the same fine for a fifth DUI as you would get for a second DUI, although that isn't necessarily how it works in reality. Since there is such a wide range, the courts are given a lot of discretion in how you should be punished. If you are only being convicted for a second time, then the judge might be much more lenient and willing to fine you at the low end of the spectrum. However, if you are a repeat offender that shows no signs of slowing down, then you should probably expect to get hit with the full $4,000.
It should also be noted that for any offenses after the first, a BAC above .15 will result in a minimum fine of $4,000. Contact an attorney like one from Miller Law LLC for more information.
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