If you were recently arrested for a DUI offense in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, or the surrounding areas of Pinellas County, you may be questioning whether it was a good idea to provide law enforcement with a breath sample.
In Florida, a prosecutor can attempt to prove a DUI offense in one of two ways. The first is by submitting evidence that you were driving or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle with a breath or blood result above .08. In cases where a subject has not supplied a breath or blood test, the prosecutor will seek to utilize “circumstantial evidence” to demonstrate that your normal faculties were impaired by alcohol while you were driving or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle.
Thus, in cases where a subject has refused to comply with a breath test, they have deprived the prosecutor of one of two ways to prove his or her case. However, even if you provided a breath test that was above a .08, it is still possible to get your charge reduced to “Reckless Driving.”