St. Petersburg DUI Defense Lawyer

If you were arrested for DUI in St. Petersburg, one deadline controls everything else right now: you have 10 days from the date of your arrest to request a formal review hearing with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, or your license is automatically suspended. 

The St. Petersburg DUI defense lawyers at Khonsari Law Group handle that deadline and everything that follows, representing clients throughout Pinellas County in the 6th Judicial Circuit, the court system that handles all DUI criminal proceedings in St. Petersburg.

What Happens to Your License After a DUI Arrest in Florida?

A DUI arrest in Florida triggers two parallel proceedings simultaneously: a criminal case and an administrative action against your driver's license. Most people focus only on the criminal side. Missing the administrative deadline costs you your license before the criminal case even gets started.

• The two-track system: The criminal DUI case moves through Pinellas County circuit court and can result in fines, jail time, and a conviction on your record. The administrative proceeding is handled entirely by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV), the state agency that controls your driving privilege, and it runs on a completely separate timeline.
  
• The 10-day deadline: When you are arrested for DUI, the officer typically confiscates your physical license and issues a 10-day temporary driving permit. Within those 10 days, you or your attorney must request a Formal Review Hearing with the DHSMV.
  
  If that hearing is not requested in time, the automatic suspension takes effect and your right to challenge it is waived. If the hearing is requested, your temporary permit extends for 42 days while the hearing is scheduled.
  
• Challenging the suspension: At the Formal Review Hearing, your attorney can challenge whether the traffic stop was lawful, whether the arrest met legal requirements, and whether the breathalyzer or chemical test was administered correctly.
  
  A hardship license, which is a restricted license that allows driving for work, school, and medical appointments, may be available during the suspension period for eligible drivers.

Florida's implied consent law: Under Florida Statute 316.1932, obtaining a Florida driver's license is treated as prior consent to submit to a breathalyzer, blood, or urine test if you are lawfully arrested for DUI. Refusing a chemical test after a lawful arrest results in an automatic administrative suspension of 12 months for a first refusal.

A second or subsequent refusal triggers an 18-month suspension and is itself a first-degree misdemeanor (a separate criminal charge). A refusal can also be used as evidence against you in the criminal DUI case as circumstantial evidence of consciousness of guilt.

What Are the Penalties for a DUI Conviction in Florida?

Under Florida Statute 316.193, DUI penalties escalate sharply with each conviction and with aggravating circumstances. A first offense carries mandatory consequences that extend well beyond the night of the arrest.

First DUI conviction: Fines between $500 and $1,000, up to six months in county jail, 50 hours of mandatory community service, DUI school, potential probation, and a six to twelve-month license revocation. If your BAC was 0.15% or higher, or if a minor was in the vehicle, fines increase to up to $2,000 and jail time extends to nine months.

Second DUI within five years: A mandatory minimum of 10 days in jail, a five-year license revocation, and mandatory installation of an ignition interlock device (IID).

Third DUI within 10 years: A third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a 10-year license revocation.

DUI Manslaughter: A second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years in prison. If the driver failed to stop or render aid, it elevates to a first-degree felony with up to 30 years.

A DUI conviction becomes a permanent part of your criminal record, affects car insurance rates, professional licensing boards, and employment background checks, and cannot be sealed or expunged if you were formally adjudicated guilty. The criminal case is the one place where the outcome is still undecided. What happens there determines everything else.

How Do You Actually Challenge a DUI Charge?

A DUI charge is not automatically a conviction. The state must prove specific elements beyond a reasonable doubt, and the evidence used to do that is challengeable in ways most people do not realize until they work with an experienced attorney.

The Legality of the Traffic Stop

Every DUI case begins with a traffic stop. For that stop to be lawful, the officer must have had reasonable articulable suspicion that a traffic violation or crime was occurring. If the stop itself lacked a valid legal basis, any evidence gathered afterward, including field sobriety test results, breathalyzer readings, and the driver's own statements, may be suppressed, meaning excluded from the case entirely.

When the core evidence is suppressed, the state's case often cannot proceed.

Can a Breathalyzer Result Be Challenged in Florida?

Yes. Breathalyzer results are not infallible. Under Florida law, if the prosecution fails to follow strict testing procedures, the evidence may be challenged or excluded.

We investigate four key areas to build your defense:

• Device Reliability: We audit maintenance and calibration records to ensure the machine was accurate at the time of your test.
• Officer Protocol: We verify that the administering officer was properly certified and followed every step of the approved testing procedure.
• The 20-Minute Rule: Officers must observe the driver for 20 minutes before testing to ensure no contaminants (like gum or stomach acid) skew the results. We check for any lapses in this observation.
• Physiological Factors: Conditions like GERD, diabetes, or specific medications can produce "false positives." We evaluate if your personal health influenced the device’s reading.

Are Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs) Reliable?

Not necessarily. While standardized, Field Sobriety Tests are inherently subjective. They can be challenged if the officer failed to follow strict protocols, or if external factors influenced your performance.

We evaluate every FST case by examining these three critical areas:

• Standardized Procedure: Florida officers must follow precise instructions and testing conditions for tests like the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN), Walk-and-Turn, and One-Leg Stand. We scrutinize the officer's performance to identify procedural errors.
• Adverse Conditions: Uneven pavement, poor lighting, and heavy traffic can make the most sober person appear "uncoordinated." We challenge results obtained in environments that made successful completion impossible.
• Physical Limitations: Many physical factors mimic intoxication. We look for underlying issues—such as inner ear disorders, back or knee injuries, age, weight, or medication—that explain poor performance better than alcohol ever could.

How a Former Prosecutor Builds Your DUI Defense

A DUI charge in Florida is often built on a standard evidentiary package. But a former prosecutor knows that this "standard" package is frequently flawed.

At Khonsari Law Group, we don’t just react to the state’s evidence; we evaluate it from the inside out. Rohom Khonsari brings years of experience from the other side of the courtroom, allowing us to:

1. Anticipate the Prosecution: We know the protocols prosecutors rely on and the procedural failures they try to hide.
2. Expose Evidence Gaps: We rigorously audit device calibration and officer certifications to find the "reasonable doubt" in the state's case.
3. Drive Results: By applying an insider’s understanding of government strategy, we develop a proactive, fact-based defense designed to secure the best possible outcome.

Trust a firm that knows how to build—and break—a government case.

Frequently Asked Questions