Case Study

A DUI case study posted by Florida DUI Lawyer:

A Case Study on DUI Policy: Palm Beach County Florida
Andrew Parks, your resource for a Florida DUI Lawyer, continued:

The Florida Department of Transportation uses PBTs for enforcement of the commercial vehicle operator 0.04 law. PBTs can be used in other counties to prove probable cause. Palm Beach County has no rules governing admissibility of PBT results. PBTs are used by the Sheriff's Department regular patrol officers only for the enforcement of 0.02 law for minors. Parents' concern over "criminal records" for children led to the requirement for a PBT. They did not want to have young persons arrested and taken to the "BAT cave" (the breath alcohol testing facility in the county jail) for testing. Prosecutors did not want PBTs administered in regular DUI cases because they were concerned that police officers would not conduct further investigations and would only have PBT results that are not admissible in court. If the PBT is used, then the evidentiary BAT cannot be given. Evidentiary BATs cannot be used for non-criminal testing and the 0.02 laws for minors are treated that way. Thus, PBTs are only used for greater than 0.02 law violations when an actual DUI case is considered unlikely and in commercial vehicle operator 0.04 enforcement. PBTs are used for per se violations only when there are overlapping criminal DUI violations.
Florida law requires a DUI arrestee be held in jail for eight hours, or until the BAC is less than 0.05; individuals are usually held rather than tested.

Read more of this case study posted by a Florida DUI Lawyer.