Hudson Law Office 7780 Westmoreland Drive (at U.S. 41) Sarasota, FL 34243 (941) 358-5400
422 Fleming Street Key West, FL 33040 (305) 292-8384
In most cases, the initial stop that leads to a DUI arrest is based on a traffic infraction, such as crossing the lane line, speeding, or failing to stop at a stop sign. If the officer smells alcohol during the stop, then they will likely make their decision to arrest based on that observation and nothing more. That’s illegal, but it is common practice. However, most officers will make inquiries, such as by asking the driver, “How much alcohol have you had tonight?” They phrase the question this way because they assume that the driver has been drinking; this however, is not always a correct assumption. For example, a person who smells of alcohol could have only had a non-alcoholic beverage, since the smell associated with alcohol is not ethanol itself, but the “congeners” which are the byproducts of the fermentation process. For this reason, the QUOTE-UNQUOTE odor of alcohol does not always indicate the consumption of an alcoholic beverage. The correct answer to any question about how much you’ve had to drink or where you are coming from is simply, “On advice of counsel, I would rather not answer questions.” You can provide your name, and drivers license, registration and insurance. That’s enough. The officer will likely ask you to step out of the car so they can observe how well you are able to balance and how coordinated you seem to be. If the officer sees that you have to hold the side of the car to steady yourself as you stand up, then the officer will consider that to be a sign of intoxication. The truth is that regardless of whether you are intoxicated, it's nearly impossible to get out of a low car without using it to stand up. It should also be known that if an officer asks a driver to step out of their car and take field sobriety tests, then they've already decided to make an arrest.
