Sunrise DUI Lawyer | Shield Firm

Event traffic around Sawgrass Mills and the arena

Sunrise draws shoppers to Sawgrass Mills and crowds to a major sports and concert arena, and event nights put heavy traffic on the Sawgrass Expressway, Sunrise Boulevard, Flamingo Road and I-75. The Sunrise Police Department commonly makes DUI stops on these roads, including after events end.

Heavy traffic changes how driving looks. Stop and go congestion, sudden lane changes near exits and unfamiliar roads can all draw an officer's attention, and the officer's description of the driving is usually the first piece of evidence in the case.

If you came for a game and live somewhere else

Events in Sunrise draw people from other cities, other counties and other states. A DUI is prosecuted in the county where the arrest happened, not where the driver lives, so an arrest in Sunrise is a Broward County case. A Florida suspension can be reported to a driver's home state.

Broward hears criminal cases at the Broward County Courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale and at regional courthouses in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood and Plantation, all part of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit.

Breath test questions after a Sunrise arrest

After an arrest, the breath test is given on the Intoxilyzer 8000, a machine regulated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). Before the test, a 20 minute observation period is required. The breath records and the officer's paperwork come to the defense in discovery.

A result at or above 0.08 is one way to show DUI, but not the only one. Florida also allows a DUI case based on impairment of normal faculties, so a reading under 0.08 does not by itself end a case, and a reading over it is still open to review.

Your license, your court date and the firm

The license suspension is handled by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV), separately from court. There are 10 days from the arrest to request a formal review hearing. If that request is not made, the suspension takes effect.

The firm takes Sunrise cases but has no office in Broward County; its offices are in Orlando and Satellite Beach. Calls are answered 24 hours a day, which helps when an arrest happens late on an event night.

Sunrise at a glance

County: Broward County
Court: The Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale (Broward also runs regional courthouses in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood and Plantation)
Circuit: Florida's Seventeenth Judicial Circuit
The firm has no office in Broward County; its offices are in Orlando and Satellite Beach. See our offices.

Other Broward County cities

General information only, not legal advice. Every case depends on its own facts, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Sunrise DUI questions

In Broward County. A DUI is prosecuted where the arrest happened, not where the driver lives, so the case belongs to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. Hearings may be set at the Broward County Courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale or at one of the regional courthouses in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood or Plantation.

Yes. Florida allows a DUI charge based on impairment of normal faculties, not only on a breath or blood alcohol level of 0.08 or higher. In that kind of case, the officer's observations, the field sobriety exercises and any video carry more weight, and each can be examined. How strong that evidence is depends on the facts.

The defense compares the breath records, reports and video it receives in discovery with what FDLE rules require for the Intoxilyzer 8000, including the 20 minute observation period before testing. Gaps in the timeline or the paperwork can raise questions. Whether there is a real issue depends on what those records actually show.

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