Jacksonville DUI/DWI Defense Law Blog

Are there any Chicago Bears fans in Jacksonville? If so, they may have heard about the recent DUI cases of former Bear's coach Mike Ditka's sons. In March, the felony DUI case of Ditka's son Michael P. Ditka was thrown out after a judge learned there may not have been probable cause for an arrest. And on Wednesday, the results of a breath test in a drunk driving case against the younger Mark Ditka were thrown out by a judge.

The results of the Breathalyzer--which were more than twice the legal limit--were thrown out because chewing tobacco may have tainted the results. Breath tests are not a perfect science and there are actually many factors, including chewing tobacco, which can skew the results in an unfavorable direction.

Those who have been charged with drunk driving in the Jacksonville area may have been asked to take a blood alcohol test. When the results of such tests come back over the legal limit, defendants often think they have no choice but to plead guilty to a DUI charge. This is not the case as this evidence can sometimes be challenged successfully.

Blood alcohol tests and breath tests are not 100 percent accurate. Human error in administering and reading these tests can cause inaccurate results as can a number of scientific factors. Case in point is an investigation that is underway currently in Colorado where the health department believes as many as 1,700 blood alcohol tests could have been misreported.

Jacksonville residents may have heard that a high-profile DUI case is coming to a close. Former Miss USA Rima Fakih entered a no contest plea in her drunk driving case earlier this week. The beauty queen was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving in December after police noticed she was speeding and changing lanes without signaling.

The plea deal allowed Fakih to avoid the more serious charges that she was facing. She pleaded no contest to driving while visibly impaired, and in exchange charges for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, open intoxicants and careless driving were dismissed. While a no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, it allows the judge to treat the defendant as guilt for sentencing.

Under Florida's criminal law statutes, ignition interlock devices are required to be installed in the vehicles of some people who are convicted of DUI. Whether someone is required to have the blood alcohol content measuring devices installed in his or her car depends on whether it is a first or subsequent conviction and what his or her blood alcohol content was reported to be in the incident.

Soon all Americans, regardless of personal driving history, could be required to have similar alcohol sensing technology in their cars. The government is currently funding research to see whether it is feasible to mandate automakers to include this technology as standard equipment in all cars.