Florida Lawsuits Questions DUI Methods

A small town in Florida has become the frontline in questioning that state's DUI policies. The inquiry may have ramifications that could change the hundreds of thousands of DUI cases each year throughout the United States. In the town of Coral Springs, Florida, a DUI Attorney successfully argued that the sobriety tests were being done incorrectly, getting his client out of a DUI charge and putting the status of the other 42 DUI cases in Coral Springs up in the air.

The attorney, Michael Mermer, seeks to have evidence about his client thrown out of court on the grounds that the Coral Springs police failed to properly perform the DUI tests.

According to the suit, the laws require a 10-minute time period to let the device used in testing for blood alcohol levels properly get mixed. When the police stop a suspect, the device is opened and then the solutions in it are replaced and are supposed to sit for 10 minutes to properly function.

Mermer alleges that the police only waited four minutes for the device to work. The police also only waited two minutes between other tests they conducted. Mermer wants the evidence thrown out because it was improperly obtained, he said, and the police misused the device.

The case is being considered by an area judge and could mean that the other DUI's in Coral Springs will also come under scrutiny and possible get reversed or thrown out of court.