Fighting DUI Charges

Orlando DUI Lawyer — Defending Drivers Across Orange County

The Two Cases Every Orlando DUI Creates

• This is the single most important thing to understand about a DUI in Orange County:one arrest triggers two entirely separate cases, on two different clocks.
• The criminal case—Filed by the State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit and heard in Orange County Court. This is where jail, fines, probation, DUI school, and a criminal record are decided.
• The administrative case—A civil action against your driver's license through the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV). It moves fast and independently of the criminal case.
• The 10-day rule—You have only 10 days from the date of arrest to request a formal review hearing to challenge the administrative suspension. Miss that deadline and the suspension takes effect automatically, no matter what happens with your criminal charge. This is why calling a lawyer within days — not weeks — of an Orlando DUI arrest is so important.

Florida DUI Penalties

• Florida DUI penalties escalate quickly with prior offenses and aggravating facts:
• First offense—Up to 6 months in the Orange County Jail, fines of $500–$1,000, license suspension, DUI school, probation, and a 10-day vehicle impound. Fines rise to $1,000–$2,000 with a BAC of .15 or higher or a minor in the vehicle, and jail exposure increases to 9 months.
• Second offense—Higher fines, longer suspension, ignition interlock, and possible mandatory jail. A second DUI within 5 years carries a mandatory minimum of 10 days in jail.
• Third offense—A third within 10 years is a third-degree felony, with substantial prison exposure and a multi-year license revocation.
• DUI with serious injury or death—Charged as a felony (DUI causing serious bodily injury, or DUI manslaughter), carrying years in state prison and prosecuted in the Ninth Circuit's Circuit Court.

The 10-Day Rule and Your Florida License

How We Challenge DUI Charges in Orlando

• The traffic stop—Officers need reasonable suspicion to stop you and probable cause to arrest. An unlawful stop on I-4, the 408, OBT, or a downtown side street can lead to suppression of everything that followed.
• Breath testing—Intoxilyzer machines must be maintained, calibrated, and operated by a certified operator. Errors, mouth alcohol, GERD, and other medical conditions can produce falsely high readings.
• Field sobriety exercises—These are subjective and affected by nerves, footwear, weight, injuries, and uneven roadside surfaces — not just alcohol. Their scoring is far more discretionary than the State admits.
• Rising blood alcohol—Alcohol absorbed after you stopped driving can make a later station test read higher than your actual level behind the wheel.
• Refusal issues—If you refused the breath test, we assess whether the implied-consent warnings were proper and how to limit the consequences.

Orange County DUI Diversion & Alternatives to Conviction

Where Orlando DUI Stops Happen

• DUI enforcement in Orange County concentrates where traffic and nightlife do. We regularly defend arrests from:
• I-4—The region's busiest corridor and a frequent site of late-night stops and crashes.
• Orange Blossom Trail (US 441), Colonial Drive (SR 50), and the 408 / 417 expressways—heavily patrolled arterials.
• International Drive & the tourist corridor—where visitors leaving restaurants, bars, and conventions are frequently stopped.
• Downtown Orlando—the Wall Street and Church Street bar districts, where saturation patrols and DUI checkpoints are common on weekends.
• Wherever your stop happened, the same questions apply:was the stop lawful, and is the evidence reliable? Call (407) 801-0101 and we will review it.

Our Downtown Orlando Office