Okay so you've been arrested for DUI. Taken down to the jail, searched for drugs and contraband, and weapons and stripped of all your valuables. Use this guide to to navigate the tricky legal waters and protect your rights.

1. 1

2. 2
Introduction
If you are reading this material, that means you are
concerned about a recent Driving Under the Influence
(DUI) charge, or you want some insight on how to pick the
right lawyer for your case. This may be a difficult time
because of your arrest. I know after 20+ years of practicing
law that people who get arrested for DUI are often anxious
and can’t stop thinking about the potential outcome.
I wrote this guide to give you the knowledge and power to
ask essential questions to your potential DUI defense
lawyer, as well as for you to have the insight to consider
what aspects of an attorney will best suit your needs for
your DUI case.
If you would like to discuss your DUI case with me, or any
attorney of my firm, please feel free to call us at 407-228-
3838. The meeting is free and we would be happy to sit
down and talk to you.
-William Umansky
“The Lawman”
Bill@thelawman.net
407-228-3838

3. 3
Chapter 1
Initial Appearance
Okay so you've been arrested for DUI.
Taken down to the jail, searched for
drugs and contraband, and weapons
and stripped of all your valuables.
You're booked into jail, fingerprinted,
photographed and now placed into a
holding cell with some scary man
standing next to you. Although it is
fairly cold in the jail,
sweat begins to pour out of your forehead, and you ask
yourself “When am I getting the hell out of here”?
Lucky for you, under Florida law you will see a judge within 24
hours. That hearing is called an Initial Appearance.
In most cases you will post a bond on your
DUI case and never see a judge at initial
appearance. However, if you can’t post bond
for some reason, this first Court appearance
is called an Initial Appearance. The timing of
your initial appearance will depend on what
time of day you were arrested. Under Florida
law, a person arrested and incarcerated for
that arrest is required to see a Judge within twenty-four
(24) hours of your arrest in order for you to be held legally
in jail. At this appearance, you will stand in front of the

4. Judge. The Judge will review the affidavit submitted by the
law enforcement officer that arrested you for DUI. This
affidavit is usually referred to as a probable cause affidavit.
The Judge will determine if there is probable cause to
believe that you committed a DUI. The finding of probable
cause by a Judge is a very low burden for the law
enforcement officer to meet. In order to find probable
cause that you committed a DUI; the Judge just has to see
some type of evidence linking you to Driving Under the
Influence type behavior.
If the Judge finds that there is probable cause that you
committed a DUI, if you are eligible, the Judge will set a
bond for you. The Judge might also set certain conditions
on the bond. In a DUI case, the Judge may order you not to
drink while your case is pending or that you not go to any
bars or places that serve alcohol until your case is over. If
the Judge sets these conditions then you must comply
with these conditions until the resolution of your case.
Your lawyer can file a Motion with another Judge
requesting to change the conditions of your bond set by
the initial appearance Judge, but until that Motion is
granted, you must comply with these conditions or risk a
bond revocation and going back to jail. These Court
appearances are short and very procedural. This is not the
time or the place to discuss the facts of your DUI case and
this is not your trial. Remember everything that you say is
recorded and can and will be used against you later. So,
stay quiet.
At your initial appearance, the Judge might ask you if you
want the services of the Public Defender’s Office. More
4

5. than likely you will have been asked to fill out a Financial
Affidavit prior to seeing the Initial Appearance Judge. If
you say yes, and you qualify (meaning your income or lack
thereof falls into an indigent status), the Judge will appoint
the Public Defender’s Office to represent you. If you later
hire a private lawyer, it is not a problem that the Public
Defender’s Office was temporarily assigned to your case.
The private lawyer that you hire for your case can file a
Motion with your Judge asking to substitute in as your
Counsel on the case. Once granted, which happens
relatively quickly, the Court will recognize and
communicate with your privately retained lawyer.
Not every person that is arrested will have an initial
appearance. Sometimes you will have a bond set for you
as soon as you enter the jail and be eligible to be bonded
out immediately. If a friend or family member posts your
bond quickly after you are arrested, then you will not get
an initial appearance. However, with DUI cases some
people have to see a Judge, because they want to make
sure you have time to sober up before you get out of jail. If
you do go to your initial appearance, you must be
courteous and nice to the Judge. They hold your fate in
setting a bond and getting out of jail.
The lawman says: Stay quiet at your
initial appearance and let the Judge set
a bond for you! And, then start to work
on getting the heck out of the big house!
5

6. 6
Chapter 2:
What is a bond?
So you saw the judge and were given a $500 bond, you
may be asking yourself what is a bond? Is the judge giving
me money? No, silly! It’s not a U.S. saving bond that you
can deposit in your bank account and it’s not a dividend
or stock you can save. It’s simply a monetary promise
that you will show up for court!
Some people that are arrested will never see a Judge for
an initial appearance. Some crimes are eligible for a bond
as soon as you are fully booked into the jail. In a DUI case,
chances are that you will set a bond. A bond is a cash
money payment to the jail. This payment must be made in
order for you to be released from the facility. The idea
behind a bond is to help insure your appearance for Court.
If you do not show up when you are supposed to or if your
lawyer does not properly waive your appearance for court,
you are in danger of forfeiting the bond initially posted in
your case. Also, there is a good possibility that a warrant
will be put out for your arrest. Most of the time when a
bond is forfeited, it is gone forever.
The amount of bond that you are required to post is
correlated with the type and degree of the charges you are
facing. Normally, most DUI charges are misdemeanors and
your bond amount will be much lower than if your charged
were felonies. However, if the Judge knows that you have
an extensive criminal history or that this is a repeat
offense, the Judge could raise your bond even on a
misdemeanor DUI offense.

7. So you saw the judge and were lucky enough to be given
a bond or the arresting officer in his or her infinite
wisdom gave you a bond amount on your charging
affidavit.
You’re ready to get out, but what should you do? You
certainly don’t want to spend another minute in lock-up
with Bubba, so what’s the next step?
The mysterious posting of the bond. There are a couple of
ways to post your bond.
7
Way #1: Cash Bond-
This is the term used when your
friends or family members are
able to get enough cash
together to cover your entire
bond amount. Using a cash bond
to post bond in most cases is
better than using a bondmen. If
your friends or family member
have the financial means to post
the entire cash bond, then it is
suggested that you use this
route.
One reason some people prefer to post a cash bond over
another type of bond is that you will get the benefit of the
entire cash bond coming back to you in one form or
another.

8. For example, if your friends or family members post a cash
bond and your case is eventually dropped, then the entire
amount of the cash bond will be returned to the person
that posted the bond on your behalf. Another possible
scenario arises when your case does not get dropped, but
you take a plea bargain to resolve your case, either to a
DUI or maybe a reduced charge. In this scenario, you will
most likely be required to pay courts costs, fines, and cost
of prosecution and costs of investigation. If you posted a
cash pond, then the Court will take the court costs, fines,
and costs out of the cash bond. If the cash bond was big
enough, and there is additional monies left over, then the
Court will return the rest of the cash bond to the person
that posted your bond. If the cash bond was not big
enough to cover all of the court costs, fines, and cost, then
you will be responsible for the difference. Either way,
posting a cash bond, seems to be the easiest way to get
the benefit of all of the money used to post your bond.
8
Way #2: Bondsmen-
A bondsman is a person that makes their living posting
bonds for people. Most of the time a bondsmen is used
when your friends or family members do not have enough
cash on hand, or cannot get enough pulled together, to
post your entire bond in cash. If this is the case, your
friends or family members will need to be able to come up
with at least 10% of your bond amount to give to the
bondsmen. Most bondsmen also require your friends or
family members to put up collateral property to insure the
remaining portion of your bond.

9. To understand why the bondsmen’s require collateral, we
must remember that the purpose of the bond is to insure
your appearance in Court. If your bond is posted through a
bondsmen, and you fail to appear for a Court date, then
they bondsmen will lose his money to the Court. The bond
will be forfeited. But, the bondsman is somewhat
protected financially if this happens because his bond is
insured by your friends and families collateral. He can take
their property to recoup his losses. So, remember, if you
fail to appear for Court your friends and family members
will lose their collateral to the bondsmen.
Because the bondsman does not want to lose his money,
he will attempt to help you get to Court. Sometimes they
will send you letters and help you keep track of your Court
dates. However, they are not lawyers, and they are very
busy, so they often forget and miss Court dates. They can
by no means be your only source to rely on to find out
when and where to be in Court. Also, a bondsman is like a
Bounty hunter if you fail to appear in Court. They have the
ability and authority to track you down and bring you to
jail or to Court if you have missed a Court date. The
bottom line is that your bondsman does not want to lose
their money, and they will go to great lengths to make
sure that does not happen.
9
The lawman says, “Hire a Bondsmen
they can make the bonding process
much easier!!!”

10. 10
Chapter 3
Driver’s License
I have to work. I have to go to school. I have to take my kids to
school/ to the doctor. I live by myself. I am freaking out. I
NEED MY DRIVER’S LICENSE.
You are not alone. Most Floridians think that they cannot
survive without a Driver’s License. However, according to the
laws of the State of Florida, driving is a privilege and not a right.
So, when you get arrested for a DUI charge your driving
“privileges” will be placed in jeopardy.
You might say, “I have not even been found guilty of DUI. How
can they take my license before I am found guilty?” The answer
is that they CAN and they WILL. Your privilege to drive is
governed by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
Vehicles and this is a completely separate agency than the
criminal courts. They abide by an entirely different set of rules.
When you are arrested for DUI and either take the breath test
and blow over the legal limit or refuse to take the breath test
your license will be immediately suspended. Now, how long this
suspension will last and whether or not you will be able to drive
while your license is suspended varies from case to case and
person to person.
First things first, you will be issued a DUI citation. You should be
handed this citation when you bond out of jail, along with other
paperwork. This citation looks like a typical traffic ticket, much
like a speeding ticket, but carries with it much greater penalties.

11. Be sure to get the citation and keep it in a safe place. It is very
important. If you are not handed a citation, you can normally go
to the agency that arrested you and request a copy. You will
need this citation, so however you must get, you need to. You
are given a copy of the citation, a copy goes to the criminal
courts, and a copy immediately goes to the DHSMV starting
your driver’s license woes.
The citation is your Temporary Driver’s License for ten (10)
calendar days. You will need to have the original citation with
you in your car and it will allow you to drive, for Business
Purposes Only, for ten days from the date of your arrest.
Business Purposes is usually work, school, medical and church.
Normally, a law enforcement officer will find that you are
involved in “business” if you are engaged in an activity that is
needed to maintain your livelihood. But, be warned and be
careful, if you get pulled over while driving with this type of
temporary permit, you will be asked to explain yourself. If they
law enforcement officer feels that you are driving outside of
what is permitted under the law, then you will be going back to
jail on another criminal charge.
During the first ten (10) days after your arrest, it is critical that
you hire a lawyer that can help guide you through the Driver’s
License preservation process. You only have this short window
to try to save your driver’s license. If you do nothing in these ten
days, or your lawyer is not able to save your driver’s license, you
will go into a period of time where you will not be able to drive
at all. It is very important that you follow these rules. If you are
caught driving on a suspended license, you will most definitely
go back to jail.
11

12. Sometimes if you are arrested on a Driving on a Suspended
License Charge, the Judge will make you stay in jail there until
your DUI case is resolved because you committed a new law
offense. Regardless, it is not good and will complicate your DUI
case. So, do whatever you can to get a hardship license within
the first ten days. Florida has a process where you can get a
Hardship voluntarily if you have never had a prior DUI
conviction and you enroll in a DUI school. The trade off is that, if
you waive your right to a hearing, you are agreeing to the
suspension. Call a DUI Attorney immediately to see whether you
should waive or have your DHSMV hearing.
Most private lawyers that handle DUI cases will handle the
criminal case, but will also help you navigate your driver’s
license issues as well. When interviewing prospective lawyers,
make sure that you are clear on what parts of your DUI case
they will handle. You want a lawyer that will help you
understand what is going on with your driver’s license and will
help you stay driving as long as possible.
The lawman says, “Don’t get caught Driving
on a Suspended License or you will be
headed back to the big house!!!”
12

13. 13
Chapter 4
Consequences of a DUI Charge
In the previous chapter we have discussed the implications of a
DUI arrest on your driver’s license and initially the loss of your
license will most likely be your biggest concern. But, as your
case progresses, there are many more consequences of a DUI
charge that will keep you up at night, such as jail, probation and
having a permanent stain on your record that you can never
escape.
DUI charges are considered “enhanceable” offenses. This means
that the more DUI charges/ arrests that you have, the harsher
the penalties can be.
For those of you that have never had a DUI charge before, you
are most likely facing probation, classes, community service,
fines and drug testing if you plead guilty to the charge before
going to trial. There are certain minimum punishments that the
prosecutor will ask for in your sentence and that the Judge must
impose under Florida law. If you plead to a DUI charge, even the
best lawyer cannot escape these minimum penalties. However,
a good lawyer will try to reduce the impact of your sentence on
your life and negotiate your punishment so that you will be
successful in completing the Court’s order. Because a DUI
charge is a criminal charge, you could face jail time. Normally,
jail time is reserved for repeat offenders. However, a prosecutor
may seek jail time on any DUI case. It is common for a
prosecutor to ask for jail time on a first time DUI if the facts are
particularly egregious.

14. Some aggravating factors could include a minor in the car at the
time of the DUI arrest, a bad car accident, or a very high breath
test level.
If this is your second, third, or fourth DUI, you will be facing
much more stringent and harsh penalties if you plead guilty to
your DUI offense including jail time, ignition interlock device,
and very long court ordered driver’s license suspensions. Each
DUI case is as different as the Defendant charged, but when
there are multiple arrests for DUI, prosecutors normally jump to
the conclusion that the person has a substance abuse problem.
Whether this is true or not, it might be a good idea to begin the
process of substance abuse treatment. Depending on the
situation, some clients choose to go into a residential treatment
facility, some will start outpatient drug/ alcohol treatment,
while others will start going to AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) or
NA (Narcotics Anonymous) meetings. If you choose to do any of
these things, keep good records. While treatment is important
for self-preservation and leading a healthy life, it will also help
your lawyer negotiate a better deal with the prosecutor on your
case.
Apart from the active requirements imposed when you plead
guilty to a DUI charge, there is one punishment that is more far
reaching than the others. If a person pleas to a DUI charge in
the State of Florida, there is a mandatory adjudication of guilt.
This means that the charge will never leave their record. There
will be no expungement or sealing of this record and it will
remain on the person’s criminal background for the entire world
to see forever.
14

15. While this might seem minimal initially, as you are scared of
going to jail, etc., but as you look into the future, this will have
greater implications on your like than any other consequence of
a DUI charge. It is important that you have a lawyer that wil l do
their very best to try to get your DUI charge dropped or reduced
to a less serious offense to try to avoid this permanent stain on
your record.
The lawman says, “Do everything you can to
make yourself look good to the prosecutor,
your lawyer will need ammunition in trying
to get your DUI case dropped or reduced to
a less serious offense!”
15

16. 16
Chapter 5
Criminal Justice Road Map
You have been arrested or charged with a DUI. You are out of
jail and facing your next court dates. You might be asking,
“What happens next? What court dates are coming up?”
The process is confusing. No Worries. We will go into detail
over the next few chapters about the process and each court
date. For now, take a look at the road map below for a general
overview of the process.

17. 17
Chapter 6
Arraignment
What a strange name!
What is it? It is the first time you get to make a formal answer
to the DUI charges filed against you.
Why can’t they call it the first court date? Why use fancy
Greek terms like arraignment?
In Florida, your Arraignment will be your first “real court
date.” Meaning, it will be the first Court date that will
move your case towards being resolved. Under Florida
law, an arraignment is required, unless waived by your
lawyer. The State of Florida, through the Court, is required
to put you on adequate notice of what charges the State
of Florida plans to bring against you. Your Arraignment is
the court date used to fulfill this requirement. In your case
the government will most likely announce that you are
being charged with DUI.
YOU MAY NOT EVEN HAVE TO SHOW!
If you hire a private law firm to
represent you, your lawyer will usually
file a written pleading (or a written
document) waiving your appearance at
your Arraignment. This is nice because
you will not have to attend this Court
date. There is no need for you to go to
this Court date in most cases, unless you

18. are advised specifically to appear on your cas e. If you
retain a lawyer, you will not have to take time off work or
school to sit in front of a judge for 4-8 hours! Your
appearance or non-appearance at this Court date will
neither help nor hinder the progress or resolution on your
case. Your lawyer will be notified on what charges that
State of Florida plans to pursue against you through notice
from the Clerk of the Court in the county where you are
charged. Normally, your lawyer will be advised of your
charges in advance of your Arraignment Court date. Your
lawyer will take the time to advise you of the charges
eliminating your need to attend your Arraignment Court
date.
SO I DON’T HAVE TO BE THERE IF I HIRE A LAYWER WHAT
REALLY HAPPENS?
Your arraignment is also used as a time that you enter a
plea to your case. A plea can either be: (1) Guilty, (2) Not
Guilty, or (3) No Contest. If you hire a lawyer on your case,
then your plea at arraignment will be not guilty. This will
be entered by a written pleading (or written document)
that we file well in advance of your Court date. This plea of
not guilty will stand until you choose to change it, your
case gets dropped, or you go to trial on your case.
The Lawman says, “Plead not guilty, or
better yet, have a lawyer do it for you!”
18

19. 19
Chapter 7
Pre-Trial Conference/ Docket Sounding/ Case Management
Pre-Trial Conference/ Docket Sounding/ Case Management
normally encompass second and sometimes third “real court
dates”. The easiest way to describe what will happen at this
court date is to refer to it as a scheduling date for the path of
your DUI case.
The county in which your charges are pending will determine
what this court date is called. Every county uses a different term
to refer to this scheduling court date. Some counties call it,
“Pre-Trial Conference,” while other counties call your second
court date a “Docket Sounding.” Regardless of the name, the
purpose is the same to set a scheduling path for your court
case.
Traditionally, this court date is for your lawyer to tell the judge
that either: (1) Your DUI case is ready to go to trial, (2) You and
the State of Florida, through the trial prosecutor assigned to
your case, have reached a negotiated resolution on your case
and you wish to enter a plea to your case, or (3) You and your
lawyer need a continuance on your case in order to more
adequately prepare your DUI case for trial or do some
additional work to get your case ready to enter a plea. At this
scheduling court date most by the book, rigid Judges only like
your lawyer to use the works, “Trial”, “Plea”, or “Motion to
Continue.” However, some Judges will get more involved in the
interworking of each case.

20. 20
Depending on what type of Judge your case happened to be
assigned to will
determine how long
this court date can
last. It could be 2
minutes, or 2 hours,
or even longer.
There are other, more
off the record, uses
for this scheduling court date. The most common is your lawyer
using this as a time to talk, face to face, with the trial prosecutor
assigned to your case. In the bigger counties, the case load is
ever growing and expanding. Because of the high case load, the
trial prosecutors are extremely over worked and overburdened.
Even in the smaller counties, in light of budget cuts, etc., the
trial prosecutors are busy. No matter how many times your
lawyer emails, calls, and tries to see the trial prosecutor
assigned to your case, the trial prosecutor simply might not
have time, or choose to be lazy and not get back to your
attorney. In these cases, the scheduling court date can be a
good time to talk face to face with the trial prosecutor assigned
to your case.
It will always be the goal of your lawyer to talk to the trial
prosecutor assigned to your case before this scheduling court
date. It is more efficient and will put your mind at ease if things
happen this way. However, sometimes plea offers are not
extended to your lawyer until this court date. Also, sometimes,
even when an offer has been extended, it cannot be tweaked to
a point where you will accept it until this court date.

21. For example, if you want to accept the plea offer, if you can buy
out your community service hours, the trial prosecutor might
have had time to call or email with the original offer, but might
not have a chance to get back with your lawyer about this
“tweak” until the scheduling court date. So, it is possible that
your lawyer will not have an answer on your requests until he or
she is actually in court on this scheduling court date.
In most circumstances, again depending on what county your
case is in, your lawyer can waive your appearance at this
second, scheduling court date. This court date requires a signed
waiver of your appearance, where your appearance at your
arraignment court date can be waived without your signature.
Because there are important decisions that are going to be
made at your arraignment court date, the Judge wants to know
that you are okay with your lawyer attending on your behalf
and speaking for your interests. If there is not a signed waiver of
your appearance at this scheduling court date in the court file
prior to the court date, then you must be present or risk the
Judge issuing a warrant for your arrest based on your failure to
appear. It is the responsibility of your lawyer to make sure that
there is a Waiver of your Appearance is in the court f ile or to
make sure that you know to be present at this court date. For
most of our clients, this waiver will be signed at your initial
consultation with our firm. But if you do not come into our
office for the consultation, it will be your responsibility to return
this to our office before this second court date or you will have
to be present.
21
In some counties, the Judge will even set a third court date
called Case Management.

22. At the Case Management conference, the Judge will accept
more plea resolutions, handle some preliminary pretrial issues
for cases going to trial, and refine and narrow down the trial
calendar for cases actually going to trial. Most judges want the
client to appear for that court date so the court knows that the
clients who want to go to trial are fully informed about what is
going on.
The lawman says, “Make sure you check your
paperwork about whether you need to appear.
Always ask your lawyer if you need to be in
court!”
22

23. 23
Chapter 8
Trial and Sentencing
Trial
A trial is the final piece of your DUI criminal case. This is
the time, if your case does not resolve before, in which the
State of Florida will be required to prove that you
committed DUI beyond and to the exclusion of every
reasonable doubt. The State of Florida will most likely
attempt to prove your guilt by bringing in witnesses with
knowledge of your case, possibly presenting physical
evidence that they think ties you to the crime, and overall
arguing to a jury that they should find you guilty of the
crimes that they have alleged.
The first part of a trial is jury
selection, or technically
called, “Voir Dire.” This is
where the attorney for the
State of Florida and your
lawyer get to stand in front
of a pool of people and ask
questions. These questions are geared to assist in picking
the fairest jury for your case.
The Judge will bring in a large group of people to narrow
down. Most of the time the Judge will ask this group of
people some general questions about the legal process,
any affiliation they have with it, any affiliation they might
have with the parties in this case, and some other general

24. questions to get a feel for the jury that is sitting in front of
them. It is the Judge’s job to determine scheduling and
make sure that all of the potential jury members will be
attentive and available to last throughout the duration of
the trial. Which Judge your case is in front of will
determine how many questions the Judge will ask? Some
Judges ask a lot of questions and some are more willing to
let the lawyers in the case inquire of the potential jury
members.
Once the Judge gets done with this introduction and his
general questions, the lawyers will get a chance to inquire
of the potential jury member. The attorney for the State of
Florida will go first and ask all of the questions that they
want of the panel. A lot of times the State’s questions are
trying to find out biases against the government or law
enforcement officers. More than likely your lawyer will
have some standard questions that they feel is important
to ask in every jury selection that they do. Some of these
questions will sort out potential biases and other
questions are designed to explain, from a defense
prospective, the terms used in the criminal trial process.
Examples of these terms are, “Beyond and to the exclusion
of every reasonable doubt”, “Right to Remain Silent and
not testify”, and the phrase, “Innocent until proven guilty.”
Specifically, in your case, you and your lawyer should
discuss other potential questions that might need to be
asked in your DUI case. This conversation should take
place before your trial, so that you will feel confident that
your lawyer will ask everything that you would like asked
during the jury selection portion of the trial.
24

25. Once all of the questions have been asked by the Judge
and the lawyers in the case, then the Judge will assist in
sorting through which jury members will actually sit and
listen to the facts of your case. During this process, the
larger potential jury panel will be dismissed from the
courtroom. You will have a time to discuss your thoughts
on the potential jurors with your lawyer. You must
remember that this is your jury. Your lawyer should
actively involve you in the process of deciding who you
want on your jury. Your lawyer should be available for
advice on the jury members, but this is ultimately your
decision. The type of case you are on trial for will
determine how many jurors will be picked for your case.
Most misdemeanor and felony cases will have six (6) jurors
and one alternate.
Once the Jury is selected, the Judge will call the entire
panel of potential jury members back into the courtroom.
Once the larger panel is back and seated, the Judge will
announce the names of the people that have been
selected to serve on your jury. The Judge will also
announce the alternate member. In most counties, the
Judge will not tell the alternate jury member that he or
she is in fact the alternate jury member until the
conclusion of the trial. However, divulging this information
to the alternate is entirely within the discretion of the
Judge. Once all members of the newly selected jury are
seated in the jury box, then the Judge will swear in the jury
to try your case.
The swearing in of the Jury is very important. Once a jury is
sworn to hear the facts of your particular case, then you
can never again be tried for these facts again. It is said
25

26. that, “Jeopardy” has attached. Unless the Defense (you)
ask for a mistrial in the middle of trial, or your case results
in a “hung” jury, then the State of Florida will have only
this one chance to prove the case against you. If they ever
attempt to bring your to trial for the same facts, you will
be in “Double Jeopardy,” and should be entitled to a
dismissal of the case as a matter of law.
After the Jury is sworn, then the Judge will proceed with
some opening instructions to the jury about listening to
and considering all of the evidence in your case. He will
also instruct the jury not to talk about the case amongst
themselves nor with friends or family members, until the
conclusion of the trial. In most cases, the jury members
are not sequestered. Sequestering of a jury only happens
in the highest profile cases. This means that the jury
members will be asked to stay in a hotel overnight, so as
to not be contaminated by the news media. Do not expect
your jury to be sequestered. If your trial goes overnight,
more than likely, your jury will go home in between the
trial days.
The next step of the trial is opening statements. Opening
statements in a trial are used as “roadmaps.” They are
supposed to help the jury understand what each side
expects the evidence to show in your DUI case. The State
of Florida will generally tell the jury what they believe their
witnesses and their physical evidence will show to prove
that you are guilty of a DUI. They will use this time to ask
the jury to find you guilty at the conclusion of the trial.
What your attorney discusses in opening statements will
depend upon your case and your attorney’s strategy.
26

27. Because, as a defense attorney, we are not sure how the
State’s case is really going to go, it is usually in our client’s
best interest to keep the defense’s opening statements
brief and not detailed. The jury is going to expect to see
and hear all of the things that the lawyers say that the jury
is going to see and hear. Overall, a general, brief,
interesting opening statement is usually the best bet for
Defense Attorneys. However, this is not a rule. Every case
is different. The facts and circumstances of your individual
case will determine how your attorney approaches the
opening statement.
After the attorneys for both parties lay out a “roadmap”
for the jury, then the State will begin presenting their case.
The State will be allowed to call witnesses and present
evidence that they believe goes towards proving your guilt
for DUI. Your attorney will be attentive and engaged in this
process. It will be up to your attorney to make sure that,
under Florida law and Florida Rules of Evidence, only
admissible evidence is presented to the Jury. Once the
State of Florida gets done asking questions of one of their
witnesses, your lawyer will have a chance to cross examine
their witness.
Depending on the witness, and their importance to the
case, will depend on how many questions your lawyer asks
the witness. Some witnesses are not vital and do not offer
much to the State’s case, and therefore, do not need to be
cross examined heavily. However, some witnesses are
literally the crux of the State’s case, so your lawyer may
spend hours asking them questions. The length of direct
and cross examinations is usually linked to the complexity
27

28. of issues that are involved in your case. Another important
point to remember about cross examination is that your
lawyer knows and is trained in what style to use with each
witness. While, as a Defendant, you might want your
lawyer to be mean and nasty to the witnesses while cross
examining them in your case, your lawyer knows when this
is helpful and when it is not. There are sometimes that this
will be effective, and there are sometimes when it will hurt
your case. Not all cross examinations need to be mean,
some do, but not all. So, keep this in mind while mentally
preparing yourself for what you will hear at trial.
After the State of Florida
presents all of the evidence
that they have against you,
they will “rest.” After the
attorney for the State of
Florida is done, then it will be
your time (through your
lawyer), to present the
defense’s case. Sometimes the
defense’s case is just as long, or longer, than the State of
Florida’s case. If you have witnesses or physical evidence
to present, then you will have previously talked about this
with your lawyer. Your lawyer would have been
responsible for getting those witnesses and that evidence
ready for trial. If you have witnesses that you would like
called to testify at your trial, then your lawyer will call
them to the stand at this point in the trial. When your
lawyer calls your witnesses, then your lawyer will be the
first to ask them direct examination questions. After your
lawyer gets done asking all of the questions that you and
28

29. your lawyer think are essential, then the lawyer for the
State of Florida will get to cross examine your witness. This
will be done in a similar fashion as discussed above.
The biggest decision that you will have to make in the
defense’s case is whether or not you want to testify in
front of the jury. You have the right to testify if you want.
However, you do not have to testify as you have the right
to “remain silent.” If you choose not to testify, the Judge
will instruct the jury that they are not to hold that against
you. The Judge will instruct the jury that you have the right
to testify or not testify and that choice should not be used
in their decision to find you guilty or not guilty. In light of
the facts of your case and what you can offer in your
defense, you and your lawyer will discuss the pros and
cons of you testifying in your trial. Most of the time, you
will have made the decision to testify or not testify prior to
the day of trial, but not always. Normally, your lawyer will
prepare you for testifying in trial, as if you were going to
testify. However, you always have the right to change your
mind. Depending on how the State of Florida’s case goes
and what issues arise in the State’s case, you may make a
last minute decision on whether or not to testify at your
trial.
Once you have made the decision to testify or not testify
and all of the other Defense evidence, if any, has been
presented to the jury, the Defense will “rest.”
The final step of substantive value in a trial is closing
statements. During closing statements, the State of Florida
and your lawyer will get to argue to the jury why, in light
29

30. of the evidence in your case, they should find you guilty or
not guilty of DUI. The State of Florida will get to argue to
the jury first, then your lawyer, and then the attorney for
the State of Florida will get to finish closing statements off
with the last word. The Florida Supreme Court has given
the State of Florida what lawyers call the “sandwich” in
closing arguments. This means that the State of Florida
goes first and last, with your lawyers closing arguments
“sandwiched” in between. Depending on the timing of the
trial, your lawyer should ask you for things you would like
to bring up during closing arguments. But, you need to
also remember, that your lawyer knows your case well and
he or she has been paying close attention to your trial.
Your lawyer will be spending their time arguing in your
best interest. During this time, you need to sit back and
listen to your lawyer fight for you.
After closing arguments, the Judge will read to the jury a
series of, often lengthy, jury instructions. These
instructions will be reviewed beforehand by your lawyer
and the attorney for the State of Florida to ensure their
accuracy. These instructions are used to guide the jury in
discussing your case and coming to a conclusion on a
verdict. The jury will be explained things such as their need
to select a foreperson to preside over their deliberations
and that any verdict they reach must be unanimous. Once
all of the jury instructions are read aloud, in court, for the
jury members, the jurors are asked to retire to the jury
room and attempt to render a verdict.
Rendering a verdict could take two minutes, two hours,
two days, or could possibly never happen. There is no way
30

31. of predicting the time line for jury deliberations. Most
Judges want the parties in the case to remain close to the
court room while jury deliberations are in progress. A lot
of times this is a good opportunity to grab a soda, make
phone calls, and talk to your family. The Judge should give
a jury as long as it needs to come to a decision.
In some circumstances, a jury will return to the Judge and
tell them that they are not able to reach a unanimous
decision. Usually this comes after hours of deliberations. If
this becomes apparent to the Judge, then normally the
Judge will give the jury an additional instruction that was
written to aide a deadlocked jury. After reading this
instruction, the Judge will normally send the jury back into
the jury room for further deliberations. Sometimes the
jury will then return with a unanimous decision and
sometimes they will remain deadlocked. If the jury is
unable to reach a verdict, we say that the jury is “hung.” If
your case results in a hung jury, your case is still active. At
this point, the State of Florida will have to make the
decision whether or not to bring you to trial again or,
because they have seen that they do not have an absolute
winner of a case, that they might resolve your case in an
alternative way.
If the jury is able to reach a unanimous decision, then they
Judge will bring all of the parties to the case back into the
courtroom for the reading of the verdict. Normally, the
foreperson will hand the verdict form(s) to the court
Deputy who will hand the verdict to the Judge. The Judge
will review the verdict form(s) to make sure that the
verdict form(s) are in proper order. If they are, then the
31

32. Judge will hand the verdict form(s) to the trial clerk to be
read. It is proper form for the Defendant (you) and your
lawyer to stand for the reading of the verdict.
If the verdict is not guilty on all counts, your DUI case is
finished and resolved forever. If you are out of the State’s
custody during your trial, then you will be free to leave the
courthouse with your friends and family. However, if you
are in custody during your trial, then you may have to be
transported back to the jail to be booked out of the jail
through their normal procedure. Whether or not this must
happen is always at the discretion of the Judge. Some
Judges will take the liberty to release you right from the
courtroom upon a not guilty verdict. If the verdict comes
back guilty on all or some of the counts in which you are
charged, then the Judge will have to decide how he wants
to handle your sentencing. The Judge is entitled to
proceed with sentencing on your case immediately or he/
she can decide to postpone sentencing to a later date.
Every case is different and it is hard to predict what the
Judge will do in your case.
32
Sentencing
At your sentencing, whether it happens immediately after
trial or weeks later, you are able to present testimony on
your behalf to the Judge before the Judge pronounces

33. sentence. You and your lawyer, although a very hard
conversation, have a talk before trial about your
sentencing. This conversation is necessary so that your
lawyer is prepared for your sentencing hearing, in the
event that it is needed. Commonly friends and family
members come to sentencing hearings to speak good
about you to the Judge. Also, it is helpful to make the
Judge aware of any job that you are holding, school you
are attending, kids that you have, or good works that you
are doing in the community. If your sentencing gets set off
for a few weeks after your trial, and you are out of custody
during that time, your lawyer might suggest that you take
some rehabilitative classes (impulse control class, anger
management, etc.). This will give you something additional
to show the Judge at sentencing. This will help the Judge
see that you are taking this very seriously and might
encourage the Judge to go easier on your sentence.
If the Judge chooses to immediately proceed to sentencing
and not set off the sentencing hearing, and he/she
sentences you to a term of incarceration, then most of the
time, you will be taken into custody immediately to begin
serving your sentence. If there are real, identifiable
appellate issues in your case, then your lawyer can ask the
Judge to set a supersedes bond in your case. This is a bond
that you are released on, after trial, to allow you time to
appeal your case before you begin serving your sentence
on the case. These types of bonds are very rare, but are
available, if there are real appellate issues in your case.
33

34. The lawman says, “If you are found
34
not guilty, you walk out like a free
person!!”

35. 35
Chapter 9
Motions
Motions? What does that mean? Movement? Not hand
waving or gesturing or making faces. Rather legal
documents requesting that a Judge throw evidence out
or limit evidence in case your case goes to trial. Normally,
once these Motions are filed, your lawyer will set them
for a hearing in front of your Judge so that all sides can
argue the merits of the Motions.
Motion to Suppress Evidence
According to our Bill of Rights, you have a constitutional
right to be free from unreasonable and unlawful searches
and seizures of your home, person, and property.
Sometimes the police make mistakes and violate
Constitution protections.
If your lawyer believes that your rights have been violated
in anyway, i.e. you were the subject of an unreasonable
search or seizure, your lawyer will routinely file a motion
to suppress asking the court to throw out, suppress, any
evidence that was unlawfully obtained. If the Judge grants
a Motion to Suppress in your case, the State of Florida will
be precluded from using any evidence that the Court feels
was illegally o unlawfully obtained. If this happens, it may
leave the State of Florida with very little remaining
evidence. The weaker your lawyer can make the case for

36. the Sate or Florida the better. A lot of times, if a Motion to
Suppress is granted, the State will be forced to drop the
charges against you.
Before you get too excited, please realize that judges do
not routinely grant these motions and in many cases it
comes down to your word versus the cops. Sometimes the
court will believe your story and will rule in a Defendant’s
favor. However, Judges are very reserved about doing this.
For a Judge to grant a Motion to Suppress, the Judge is
basically saying that the police officer in your DUI case did
something wrong, and as you can imagine, Judges are very
careful about making that determination.
36
Motion to Suppress Confession
You have heard of Miranda? Almost everyone sees that on
TV. If you are arrested and the cops want to talk to you
and specifically to question you about your crime, they
must give you some warnings like:
 You have the right to an attorney
 You have the right to remain silent
 Anything you say can be used against you
In some cases police officers may forget to read you your
Miranda warning. In other cases they may fudge the
report and claim they read them when in fact, they never
did. If the cop did not administer you your Miranda

37. 37
Warnings or administered them improperly, your lawyer
might want to file a motion to suppress your confessions
(i.e. your responses to questions you were asked when
you were in custody). The rules about issuing Miranda
Warnings are somewhat different in a DUI case, than
other types of crimes. Your lawyer will assess your case
and determine if they feel there might have been a
Miranda violation.
You and your lawyer can figure out whether it is in your
best interest to file such a motion. Sometimes even if
there is a Miranda Violation, you do not want to exclude
your statements because sometimes they are helpful. If
your lawyer does file this Motion to Suppress and the
Motion is granted by the judge, any confession you made
will be tossed out and the State will not be able to use
them during your prosecution.
However, please note, that Television shows have created
a legal misconception in regards to cops reading Miranda
Warnings. They are not required in all cases. A cop is only
required by the law to read you your Miranda Warnings if
you are: (1) in custody and (2) the cop is planning on
asking you questions that will incriminate you. If one of
both of these things are not true, then the cop does not
have to read you your Miranda Warnings. Not all arrests
call for Miranda Warnings, in fact, most do not.

38. 38
Motion in Limine
A Motion in Limine is a Motion asking the Judge to
preclude the prosecutor in your case from bringing into
evidence (i.e. letting the jury hear) things that might
prejudice them against you. Normally, these Motions are
based in statutory law (rather than constitutional law),
meaning, there is some law out there that your attorney
believes precludes the prosecutor from mentioning certain
facts. (For example, why is it relevant for the jury to hear
that you have 3 prior DUI arrests, when you are fighting
this current DUI?) Most of the time your lawyer will file
this type of Motion to limit prejudicial information from
coming in against you at trial.
However, sometimes your lawyer will file a motion to
prevent an unscrupulous prosecutor from raising
prejudicial, inflammatory, and emotion invoking
arguments to a jury. In other cases, the criminal lawyer
can file motions to prevent prosecution from asking you or
witnesses irrelevant questions or prevent them from
producing unqualified witnesses to testify against you.
Regardless of the reason a Motion in Limine is filed, they
are done so to limit the scope of what the prosecutor can
say to a jury at our trial. The more confined and restricted
your lawyer can keep the prosecutor, the fairer your trial
will be.

39. The lawman says, “A case can be won
with good, aggressive Motion practice.
You need a lawyer that will go the extra
mile and is not scared to file Pre-Trial
39
Motions.

40. 40
Chapter 10
Discovery
So your lawyer tells you, “I got the State’s discovery and it
doesn’t look so good.” You are possibly wondering to yourself,
“What’s no good? What’s discovery? What was the use to
discover?”
Discovery is a process that your lawyer will engage in with the
government’s lawyer. Basically, it is where the government has
to show your lawyer all of their “cards.” Meaning they have to
hand over all of the evidence in your DUI case. The have to
show your lawyer both the evidence that they feel proves that
you are guilty of the crime that you are charged with, as well as,
any evidence that they might have that may tend to show you
are not guilty of the crime with which you are charged.
The Discovery process can include conducting depositions of the
government’s witnesses, viewing evidence collected in your
case, or visiting locations that are important to your case.
However, most of the time when you lawyer indicates he
received “Discovery,” it means that he/ she received a packet of
paperwork from the government pertaining to your case. Most
of the time this packet of paperwork has in it police reports,
witness statements, pictures, etc. all pertaining to your case.
This packet is crucial to building your defense, so it is important
that you review this packet with your lawyer. You must read
every word on every page of this packet. As they say, “the Devil
is in the Details” and inconsistencies in the discovery packet can
help you win your DUI case.

41. The Lawman says, “Discovery is crucial to
determine what case, if any, the
government has against you. Make sure you
go over the discovery with your lawyer with
a fine tooth comb.”
41

42. 42
Chapter 11
The Nolo Contendere Plea
The famous plea of nolo contendere, what does that mean? The
judge says, “Hey, if you plead no contest or nolo contendere,
you don’t have to admit guilt of any of the charges. You just say
it’s in your best interest to get it over with.” In the uninitiated
(i.e. never been in trouble before), naïve or otherwise mentally
challenged the plea of nolo contendere sounds like a good idea.
You’re saying to yourself, “Great! I can plead to this charge
without taking the rap. After all, I’m not pleading guilty, nor am
I admitting guilt. So it should be a slap on the wrist, or better
yet, nothing will be on my record.”
Not so fast buddy!
You can plead no contest, or nolo contendere to murder and
guess what? You’ll still go to the big house (prison) for a long,
long time. It does not matter if you plead guilty or no contest,
you’re still going to pay the price, be punished, and marked for
it.
You say, “What is the harm of pleading no contest to a little
misdemeanor?” Ha, gotcha! The judge can still adjudicate you,
convict you, and maybe put you in jail. After all this the only
benefit you really got is that you didn’t admit guilt and perhaps
that the no contest can’t later be used against you in a civil case.
Yes, a plea of no contest is more than what meets the eye.
A nolo contendere (no contest) plea means that you believe
that resolving your case by pleading to your charges is in your

43. own best interest. It also shows the Court that you believe that
you are ready to get your case over. It also shows the court that
you are not going to contest the evidence against you any
further (i.e. not go any further with pre-trial motions and/ or
trial). Basically, you want the case over and you are going to
accept whatever punishment that the Court deems fit. Most
people that plea no contest do not entirely agree with the
State’s evidence/ case, but they also do not want to take the
risk of going to trial on the case.
A lot of lawyers do not do a good enough job explaining to their
clients that when you plea no contest to charges, the
disposition still does go on your record. It is not a way around
this case going on your background, but hopefully it will assist
you as you explain the charges to anyone that might see them
on a background check.
A no contest plea might also help you avoid automatic civil
liability. In some cases a person can be charged in criminal court
and then also sued in the civil courts for damages (i.e. money).
A plea of no contest is not automatically admissible against you
to prove liability in a civil suit. However, be warned, this is not a
block to civil liability, it is just not an automatic admission.
The lawman says, “Pleading no contest (or
nolo contendere) is not always in your best
interest. Please know what you are doing.”
43

44. 44
Chapter 12
Probation
Plead to a charge? Got probation? Get ready, your life is about
to have a new boss in it!
Not bossed around enough by your real boss, mother, or
spouse? Get ready for some more, because the probation
office will be in charge for the next few months or years.
Want to go out of the country? Better call your probation
officer.
Want to throw a party for your degenerate friend? Better ask
your PO.
Need a date? Don’t worry, once a month you’ll have a date to
meet with your PO.
Probation is a type of community supervision. While probation
is one of the lowest types of community supervision that can be
given as a part of a sentence in a criminal case, it is still a very
large pain.
When you get sentenced to probation, you will be told you have
to go straight to probation and “check-in.” If you are found
guilty of a misdemeanor DUI or plead guilty to this charge, you
will be placed on what is called County Probation. This is a
probation program that is run by the County in which your case
was handled. This first meeting is a very quick meeting where
you provide to the appropriate probation office your contact
information, case information, and other general information

45. that they can use to enter your into their system. Normally, at
this initial meeting you will only interact with the office staff
and not your probation officer. The staff will only have limited
information for you and will probably not be able to answer
very many of your questions. At this initial “check-in” they will
normally give you a day to come back to your probation office
and have an in-depth meeting with your actual probation
officer. This will be the meeting that they will lay down all of the
rules and regulations that will be governing you while you are
on probation. This would be the time to ask questions and get
all of the information you think that you need to be successful
on probation.
After the initial “check in” and meeting to get you acquainted
with probation, most probation sentences only require you to
check in with your probation officer once a month. Normally,
the probation officer will set the appointment for the next
month before you leave your monthly meeting. This way
everyone is on the same page in regards to your reporting time
and date. Probation Officers may give some leeway if you miss
an appointment, but you must call and reschedule with them
either before the meeting, or immediately after. If they hear
nothing from you, they will consider it a no-show and can fill out
an affidavit of Violation of Probation. Your attendance at these
monthly meetings is critical to your success on probation. Also,
at these meetings, your probation officer will monitor your
progress in completing the requirements of your sentence, the
probation officer will collect money and fees that you owe to
probation, and might even drug test you.
45

46. While on probation many people are sentenced to classes,
community service hours, counseling, and drug tests.
Depending on what the terms of your sentence are, will dictate
what you have to do on probation. Most of the times your
probation officer can assist you in getting set up for all of these
things. While they cannot actually do the requirements for you,
they should be helpful in figuring out how to get all of them
done in a timely manner. They will also be the one that
administers in random drug testing to you.
If you live out of the area where your case is being prosecuted,
probation is still may be
an option. If you live out
of the area and have a
misdemeanor case, you
may be allowed to
resolve your case by a
written plea (meaning
your lawyer can draft all
of the appropriate
documents, get you to
sign them, and deliver/
enter them in Court
without you having to
come back to the area). If
this is the case, then the Judge might approve mail in/ call in
probation. Which means it would be your responsibility to
contact probation after your lawyer goes to court for you and
then keep in contact with them through the phone, mail, and
email. While this seems easier than a face to face meeting,
many clients that report to probation remotely complain of
46

47. unresponsive and disinterested probation officers. This may
lead to increased stress and anxiety. Unfortunately, transferring
county/ misdemeanor probation is not an option, so mail in/ call
in probation will be your only choice if you find yourself facing
probation as a sentence for your case.
Note: If you violate your probation it is a huge deal and you
will want to seek a lawyer immediately. If you even think you
are about to violate your probation, you will want to seek a
lawyer immediately. Normally, when your probation Officer
feels that you have done something that violates your
probation, they will write up an affidavit of Violation of
Probation to the Judge and a request for the Judge to put out a
warrant for your arrest. If the Judge feels that, based on the
affidavit that your probation officer has filed, that there is
probable cause to believe that you violated your probation, the
Judge will more than likely issue that warrant for your arrest. If
the Judge authorizes the issuance of a warrant for your arrest,
the Judge gets to set a bond amount for our warrant. Most of
the time on a violation of probation arrest warrant, the Judge
will not give you a bond. This means that if you are arrested/
turn yourself in on the outstanding warrant, then you will not
be able to bond out of jail. You will remain in custody until your
court date or your lawyer files a Motion with the Court and
convinces the Judge to give you a bond. This could take a while
and could result in your sitting in jail for days, weeks, and in
some cases, months.
47

48. The lawman says, “Life on probation is not
like you used to know it. You have a boss
more bossy than yo momma.”
48

49. 49
Chapter 13
Role of the prosecutor
PROSECUTOR OR PERSECUTOR. HMMM. Depends on
which prosecutor you get.
The prosecutor, also known
as the Assistant State
Attorney, is the lawyer who
represents the State of
Florida in a criminal case. It
is the prosecutor’s job to
represent the interest of
the people of the State of Florida in making people pay for
crimes that they commit in the State, such as a DUI. You
cannot pick which prosecutor that you get on your case.
The Office of the State Attorney houses all of the
prosecutors in your particular county. The head of the
Office is an elected official and all of the Assis tant State
Attorneys serve under that official and at his pleasure.
When your case, or any case, comes into the State
Attorney’s Office it is assigned to a particular prosecutor.
Most of the time your prosecutor is determined by two
things: your judge and what type of case you have.
Unfortunately, there is nothing neither you nor your
lawyer can do to change your prosecutor.
Your case may not get assigned to a prosecutor for some
time. Again, this is out of the control of your lawyer. This
might be frustrating to you. During the time that your case
is not assigned to a prosecutor, your lawyer will have no

50. direct contact name at the State Attorney’s Office to
discuss your case. During this time, usually at the very
beginning of your case, your lawyer might not be
negotiating your case, but your lawyer is getting a head
start on the competition. Your lawyer will use this time to
investigate the case, think of possible defenses for your
case, and become as familiar as possible with your file.
Because your lawyer gets this jump on the prosecution,
your lawyer will be much more prepared on your case
than the other side.
As your case progresses, the prosecutor assigned to your
case will be the person that gathers all of the evidence
that the State has against you and presents that to your
lawyer. Also, that prosecutor will be the one in Court
arguing against any pre-trial motions that your lawyer has
filed on your case. Also, and probably most importantly,
that prosecutor will be the person that your lawyer
negotiates with to try and resolve your case.
Make no mistake the prosecutor is bound to do justice.
He or she is ethically and morally supposed to do the
right thing, so one would think you should get the same
result no matter which prosecutor has been assigned to
your case. But as with everything else in this world, there
are good ones and bad ones.
50
Good v. Bad Prosecutor: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE TO
ME?
Aggressive or passive, mean or nice. Experienced or
Rookie. Liberal or Conservative. Vindictive or Fair. The

51. prosecutor you draw on your case is incredibly important
to the outcome of your charges. Draw an experienced
prosecutor on a weak case, you might get the charges
dropped. Draw a rookie on that same weak case and you
might find yourself looking at jail because the prosecutor is
scared of getting fired!
Just remember that when it comes to your DUI case the
Prosecutor is not your friend. They represent the State and
the Victim’s interest and not yours. They are out to get
you.
51
General Rules: Do not talk to the prosecution without a
lawyer, in fact let your lawyer do the talking. Don’t email
the prosecution, don’t call them, and don’t write them
letters. Anything you say to them can and will be used
against you in a court of law. Remember they are law
enforcement.
The lawman says, “A prosecutor is sort
of like a cop, but in a suit, armed with a
law degree, and a reputation to uphold!”

52. 52
Chapter 14
Missed Court Date
What happens if you miss your court
date, or in other words, screw your
bondsman?
Prepare for the worst and know that
Hell is coming for you. Forget the easy part- the judge is going
to issue a warrant for you that will go out nationwide alerting
every law enforcement agency that you’re on the run, on the
lamb, or a fugitive from justice.
Get pulled over for running a stop sign  straight to jail.
Car accident  straight to jail.
But that is only the beginning, you just pissed off your
bondsman who stands to lose $100,000 he posted on your
behalf. The bondsman has just hired a bounty hunter to come
get you. Ever see the Dog on TV? Hell is coming. Unlike the
police who have to respect your constitutional rights the bounty
hunter does not, will not, and frankly could give a damn. The
cops, hey, if they beat you or bust down your door, you can sue
them! The bounty hunter, no way! A license to beat, hunt and
impose unholy terror to bring you back to justice. Imagine a
three hundred pound, seventh degree black belt pumped up on
steroids and, fueled by desire to get that monetary bounty the
bondsman put up. Watch out! Your worst nightmare.
If you hire a lawyer you might be able to avoid the wrath of your
bondsmen. A lawyer can file a Motion to have a Judge consider

53. withdrawing a bench warrant and reinstating your bond. Most
of the time the lawyer can get this Motion filed within a few
days of being hired. Once the Motion is filed the Judge will
decide if he/ she would like to give your lawyer a hearing on the
Motion. Most Judges will at least give you and your lawyer the
opportunity to come in front of the Court to plead your case
about missing the Court date. If there was a good reason to miss
your court date and you have documentation of this, it is
advisable to bring that to the Court date. If you missed court for
a less desirable reason, then you better get ready to beg for the
Court to withdraw the warrant. If the Court chooses not to
withdraw the warrant, then the Judge will take you into custody
until your case is resolved.
Also, at this hearing, the Court can decide to reinstate your
bond. Which means reverse the forfeiture that he/she most
likely put into progress when you failed to appear for your Court
date. Most lawyers will contact your bondsmen in advance of
filing a Motion/ going to Court and get a letter from your
bondmen saying that they would be willing to go back on your
bond. Meaning they will continue to endorse your bond. This is
an important piece of the puzzle, because in order to allow you
to stay at liberty, the Judge has to know that the bondsmen will
stay on your bond. If not, the Judge might withdraw your
warrant, but still take you into custody because he/she is not
convinced that your bondsmen wants to continue to endorse
your bond.
53

54. The lawman says, “Missing a Court date is a
one way ticket back to the big house.
Remember, it will be much more pleasant to
hire a lawyer and go to court him/her than a
bondsman hunting your down and dragging
you in before the Judge.”
54

55. 55
Chapter 15
How to Hire a Lawyer
Out of jail, showered off and freshly scrubbed, now you’re
thinking, “What am I going to do now?”
It would be a good idea to find yourself a lawyer, an attorney,
barrister, esquire, solicitor, shark, public defender, ambulance
chaser. Whatever you call them, you just know you need help.
A good lawyer can advise you on legal strategies and defenses
perhaps negotiate a good deal for you or even “Get you off” of
your charges entirely.
So how do you pick one lawyer? How do you know who you
can rely upon, trust, and/ or who will guide you through the
process?
T.V., mail outs, phonebooks advertising, websites, reviews,
internet sites, billboards, radio: Where do you turn for the
truth? All of these mediums seem to claim that each lawyer
you read about is the most magnificent, grand, excellent trial
lawyer.
How can you choose amongst this cacophony of advertising
voices?
Don’t sweat it! This chapter will go through some of the
various ways to find, interview, and retain a good lawyer who
will meet your legal, emotional, and budgetary needs.

56. 56
The lawman says, “Don’t hire a lawyer unless you
interview them!”
TOP 10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A
LAWYER FOR YOUR DUI CASE:
1. Size of the Law Office (including lawyers and staff)
While the size of an office is not in direct correlation to
the type of legal work that a lawyer will be able to
provide, it is a mark by which you can measure a
lawyer’s success. A one man shop may not have an
assistant, runner, receptionist, file clerk. How do they
get all that work done without any support?
Technology? Not so! Technology might help, but it
cannot replace the human touch.
If you meet with a lawyer and you see that the lawyer
has a support staff that can help with the
administrative work, you can be assured that the
lawyer will have more time to work on the legal
aspects of your case. If a lawyer has to do all of the
administrative work himself/herself common sense will
tell you that they will be doing less actual legal work on
your case.
Also, when you choose a criminal law firm that
employs multiple criminal defense attorneys you get

57. the benefit of multiple lawyers discussing your case for
the price of one firm. Some criminal cases are
complicated and multiple lawyers brainstorming on
your case can be helpful.
The lawman says: The more hands on deck
to help you, the more attention your case is
going to get.
2. Public Rating Systems and Reviews from Former
57
Clients and Peers
The internet is a great equalizer. You can research each
potential lawyer you may want to interview and learn
about their law firm before you ever meet with them/
hire them.
Check out AVVO.com or Google Reviews. The sooner
that you hire a lawyer the better opportunity you are
giving your lawyer to get the best result possible.
However, with that being said, before you hire a
lawyer you should take
your time and really read
your potential lawyers
websites and their reviews.
You might be able to gain
some insight to what other clients think about the
potential lawyer.

58. Of course there are times a client may leave a bad
review, so take what you read with a grain of salt. The
majority of the reviews for each lawyer will give you a
good idea about the potential lawyer and whether or
not you want to meet/ interview/ hire that potential
lawyer.
Martindale-Hubbell AV Rating: what is that?
You may notice that some lawyers post on their
website that they are “AV” rated. What does that
mean? This is the highest rating a
lawyer can achieve for legal ability
and ethical standards. These ratings
are based on confidential peer
58
reviews of judges
and fellow lawyers.
The lawman says: A lawyer’s online
profiles and reviews give you honest
feedback from real clients. Also,
Martindale Hubbell ratings will tell
you what Judge’s and a lawyers peers think about
them. This is important.
3. Research if the Potential Lawyer has any Florida Bar
Disciplinary Actions
The Florida Bar Association is the governing body that
maintains all of the ethical guidelines for lawyers in the
State of Florida. They are also the body that works to
discipline lawyers that behave in an unethical way
while representing their clients. Arm yourself with

59. knowledge and see if the lawyer has been disciplined.
While most lawyers like people are not perfect and
make mistakes, look at the discipline history and if you
see a lot then be very wary!
The lawman says: A Lawyer in
trouble with the Florida Bar is
trouble for you!
59
4. Evaluate the Legal Fees
Remember the old saying: “You get what you pay for”
when evaluating a potential lawyer’s legal fees.
To a lawyer time is money and if you hire someone for
cheap, there is a good possibility that the lawyer may
not work very hard on your case. Usually you will find
that the cheaper a lawyer’s fees are, the more cases
the lawyer has to take on to make ends meet. This
comes down to the following formula:
CHEAP LEGAL FEES =MORE CASES
MORE CASES =LESS TIME ON YOUR CASE
Of course you must find a lawyer within your budget.
For example our law firm usually charges a flat fee for
the legal work we do on your case. This fee covers all

60. of the legal work, including any legal research that
needs to be done, legal Motion writing, and any and all
Court Dates, in your case from the time you meet with
your lawyer and sign our Contract for Representation
until your case is set for a Trial certain date. In some
cases, we charge a separate predetermined trial fee so
you know upfront what you will pay a lawyer if your
cases goes to trial. If the case seems to be a case that
will be easier, or less stressful to resolve, then the price
will tend to be lower. And vice versa, if the case seems
like it will be a lot of work for the lawyer, then the
price will tend to be higher.
The lawman says: You get what you
pay for!
60
5. Evaluate Procedure for Client Communication
RING RING RING!!!
Phone Calls- does you lawyer or
his or her assistant call you back
within 24 hours? They should if
there is no other pending
emergency.

61. Mail/Email- does you lawyer or his or her assistant
email you back within 24 hours? They should if there is
no other pending emergency.
The lawman says: You are important!
A lawyer or his/her staff should
respond to you within 24 hours if
there is no other pending emergency.
6. Consider Promises Made to you by the Potential
61
Lawyer
Neither at an initial consultation with a lawyer, nor
during the pendency of you case should a lawyer ever
make you a promise about an outcome in your case.
Promises in this context are unethical and unreliable.
Lawyers are not mind readers, gypsies or fortune
tellers and they cannot predict the future, so no lawyer
should be promising you or guaranteeing you a certain
outcome in your case.
Lawyers can however, based on their experience,
provide you with a number of possible outcomes that
could occur in your case. Sometimes a lawyer is able to
tell you, “probably” or “more likely than not,” but most
lawyers will not go further than this in telling you how
your case will resolve. As the case progresses, more
and more information will become available and it will
become easier for your lawyer to form an opinion

62. about how your case. However, in the beginning,
promises as to resolutions should not be made.
Watch out for the following warning signs:
62
We will win your case!
We get every case dropped!
Your case WILL get dropped!
We have never lost a case!
We always get not guilty at trial!
The lawman says: if a lawyer makes a
guarantee, then run run run. Run like the
wind, get the hell out of their office and
never go back!
7. Inquire about Case Load Size
Small caseloads go hand in hand
with the quality of work that is done
on your file. The cheaper the
lawyer, the odds are the more cases
the lawyer will have. The more
cases the lawyer has the less time
he or she will have to handle your
case. Look at the little formula
below:

63. 50 hours (average lawyer work week) /divided by 100
cases= 30 minutes per case spent on average
63
BUT,
50 hours /divided by 25 cases= 2.0 hours per case.
Big difference huh?
There are only so many hours in the day. Don’t let a
potential lawyer bamboozle you when it comes to quality
of their work. Numbers cannot lie. The more cases a
lawyer has, the less time the lawyer has to work on your
case. Bottom Line.
Remember to ask a potential: how many files should I
expect you to be holding when I go to court with you? The
lawyer says one, two maybe three or four. Don’t sweat it.
This means they are successful, but 7, 8, 9 or 10? May
want to be careful here!
The lawman says: Too many files
means too little time for you! You are
important and you do not want to hire
a lawyer that cannot give you and
your case the time and attention it
deserves.

64. 8. Ask about the Potential Lawyer’s Experience Level
Maybe one of the most important questions you can
ask a lawyer. If you are charged with a criminal case,
you don’t need a lawyer who primarily handles family
law or bankruptcy. The lawyer can do more than one
area of law but ask the following question?
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF CASES THAT YOU HANDLE ARE
CRIMINAL?
Remember to look the lawyer straight in the eye and
see how they respond. If it is less than fifty percent, I
would suggest you reconsider hiring them.
The lawman says: Hire a criminal
lawyer for your criminal case. You
would not hire a brain surgeon if you
had a heart attack. Just like in
medicine, lawyers have specialties.
9. Evaluate the Potential Lawyer’s Ideas of Potential
Defenses
Do your research online before you meet/ interview
your potential lawyer about the defenses to your case.
It is easy do a search on the internet for defenses to
you particular charge, for example, you can search,
“potential defenses for a Driving Under the Influence
Case”. There are tons of articles that will come up and
64

65. you can read about them before you have your
meeting with a potential lawyer. You need to go to
your meeting with a basic knowledge of our case and
its defenses.
At your meeting/ interview with the potential lawyer
ask the lawyer about your potential defenses and see
how he/ she responds. Is the potential lawyer able to
spot the same defenses you read about or even come
up with one you have never heard of? Arm yourself
with knowledge. If you hear some of the same buzz
words that you read online, then chances are, this
lawyer is the real deal. Also, if the potential lawyer
offers new/ creative approaches to your case, you can
assume the lawyer is thinking about all avenues to get
you the best result on the case.
The law man says: A potential lawyer
should be able to discuss defenses to
your case in your initial consultation.
If not, then they might not be the
lawyer for you.
65
10. Request a Plan of Action
At your initial consultation, a potential
lawyer should be able to outline what
next steps he/ she will take in working
towards a resolution in your case. They
should be able to clearly identify to you

66. verbally, if not in writing, the next steps on your case.
Also, the lawyer might give you some tasks to do to
aide your case. Sometimes a lawyer might need you to
gather documents, witness name and contact
information, or simply write a statement of events. It is
important that you leave your initial consultation with
a potential lawyer with a clear idea of what the lawyer
will be doing in the weeks and months to come as he/
she works to resolve your case.
A clear plan of action will help ease your mind on time
frame, as well as, manage your expectations of the
lawyer. Managing both parties’ expectations is the best
way to keep a happy, cordial and productive
relationship between you and your lawyer.
I sincerely hope that this has provided you with useful
information. If you have any questions or concerns,
please feel free to call me at 407-228-3838 or email me
at Bill@thelawman.net
The lawman says: Ask for a plan. Just
like in anything in life, you need a plan to
be successful. You need to know what
the lawyer will do for you and what, if
anything, you can do to aide your case.
66