Come Back With a Warrant
Episode 39: What Counts as a DUI in Florida? (Golf Carts, Boats, Sleeping in Your Car)
Hosted by Brandon Dinetz and Monica Ishak
Intro
Brandon: Welcome back to Come Back With a Warrant podcast. I'm Brandon Dinetz.
Monica: And I'm Monica Ishak.
Monica: Before we kick-start this week's episode, this is your reminder that this podcast is not legal advice. It's real, unfiltered, and for entertainment purposes only. If you need to speak with a lawyer, call one. Or better yet, call us.
Brandon: Call us.
Episode
Brandon: So welcome back. On today's episode, we are gonna be talking about one of the questions we get most often, which is, 'Can I get a DUI on that?' And what I mean by that is what type of vehicles, or sometimes not even vehicles, can somebody in Florida get a DUI on or in? We're gonna talk about Florida DUI law. We'll talk about some of the updates to the new changes in the law that there are in 2025 and going into 2026. Because by the time this episode airs, it will be 2026.
Monica: Yes, it will.
Brandon: And we're gonna be going over a whole bunch of different things all focused on DUIs. So strap in and let's buckle down and get going.
Monica: Yeah. I think that also something that was, like, talking about things that, like, oh, you can get a DUI for that, is that I didn't know that you could when I first started practicing. Like, one of the very first things I learned was that you don't need to be driving to get a DUI, and I was like, 'What do you mean?'
Brandon: Correct. And that's a big thing that we get asked is, if I was just sitting on the side of the road in my car, can I still get a DUI? And the answer is yes. The vehicle doesn't need to be moving for you to get a DUI. You don't have to be actually driving the car to get a DUI or the vehicle that you're in. And I keep saying vehicle because we're gonna talk about things like golf carts, horses, bicycles.
Monica: Scooters.
Brandon: Scooters.
Monica: We'll talk about —
Brandon: Heelys.
Monica: So we're gonna talk all about that in today's episode. But I honestly don't know a grown adult that owns a pair of Heelys.
Brandon: I don't either. But a lawyer posed the question and wrote an article about it, so we're gonna touch upon it.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: I don't know any —
Monica: Yeah, that could be our merch drop.
Brandon: Right. We're gonna have special Heelys that come back with a —
Monica: Come Back With a Warrant —
Brandon: — on the side of them.
Monica: Yeah, that, like, light up too.
Brandon: Yeah. If you're getting pulled over in these —
Monica: Give us a call. Yes, it has our number on it.
Brandon: Right.
Monica: Right. Stay tuned, 'cause it's coming.
Brandon: Yeah.
Monica: So I guess let's talk about, like, what the state has to prove in order for someone to be convicted of a DUI. So usually this is how it goes down. I would say a traffic stop usually, but it could be a crash. Anything that would prompt an officer to — and this is generally kinda like your basic DUI with a car —
Brandon: Right.
Monica: — before we make it complicated. So you get stopped by an officer, and the officer usually sees signs of impairment, and then, you know, it's always, like, the same three things. It's, you smell like alcohol, your eyes are bloodshot and glassy, and your slurred speech.
Brandon: Right.
Monica: They love those three.
Brandon: Right. That's the trifecta that you —
Monica: Yes, the trifecta.
Brandon: — generally see in a probable cause —
Monica: Exactly.
Brandon: — affidavit is those three. It's, like, verbatim.
Monica: Right. And then usually that person, I would say, likes to call out the DUI people and will be like, 'You know what? I'm done here. I called out this person. I was gonna issue a citation.' I don't know if they do it, but whatever. They end up calling the DUI people, and then the DUI guy comes and he's like, 'Can you get out of the car? We're now doing a DUI investigation. Can you do roadsides?' And that whole thing happens. But there's, like, legal parts of a DUI that's, I don't wanna say, like, kinda behind the scenes, but it's the legal aspect that the state would have to then prove in court to prove that this person was DUI, such as this person was driving —
Brandon: Right.
Monica: — or behind the wheel.
Brandon: Right. So operating a motor vehicle —
Monica: Yes.
Brandon: — while impaired, and that impairment is either based on the fact that you have a blood alcohol level, or you have narcotics in your blood that are present, or you have the normal faculties being impaired. So in a situation where you don't have a breath result, you don't have a blood result, the state attorney's office goes on the impairment of normal faculties, so the ability to walk, talk, drive a car, follow instructions, things like that. Because oftentimes in DUI cases you have refusals. Somebody refuses to give a breath sample, which now in the state of Florida is its own offense —
Monica: Mm-hmm.
Brandon: — for the first time. It's always been an offense for the second time, but now it's also an offense if it's your first time refusing.
Monica: Or blood.
Brandon: There have been situations where in the past, you know, the person who's suspected of DUI is asked to submit to a breath test. They say no, and then the officer applies for a search warrant for that person's blood. Judge signs the warrant, they get the blood, and they see that the blood is over the legal limit, and then they can prove it that way as well.
Monica: Because I've had cases where the legal limit was crazy, but the person held down the alcohol so well. I'm like, is it really that high? Like, it's crazy. That's how you know people actually are chronically drinking.
Brandon: Well, when you see blood alcohol levels that would kill a normal human being — I've seen a blood alcohol level of a .3, a .4.
Monica: And the person is interacting —
Brandon: Yes. When you're talking about that, there are people that would be dead with that much alcohol in their system.
Monica: And they're talking to the officer fine. And they're driving a vehicle.
Brandon: Yeah. I mean, not well, because they got caught and they are in trouble for DUI at this point, but they're still doing it. That's an insane amount of alcohol to have in your system. And I've had cases where the blood alcohol level was so high that part of my argument was that there's no way this person was driving —
Monica: Like, it was not working, yeah.
Brandon: — the car at the time. And in a case that I did have, somebody's blood alcohol level was so high that based on some of the physical evidence in the car itself, because there was a crash involved, I was able to show that there was no way that person was the driver of the vehicle. They also had injuries consistent with being on the passenger side. They had some bruising —
Monica: Let's talk about this. Yeah.
Brandon: They had an injury to their forehead that I explained that was based on them hitting the windshield. And where that was in the car, it wouldn't be possible for that to have been the driver. They also had bruising consistent with a seatbelt going the way of a passenger as opposed to the way of a driver. So I was able to use those things to basically assert to the state attorney's office that there's no way that my client could have been the one driving.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: That there had to have been another driver, and then taking into account the insane breath alcohol level that the person had, which was, if I remember correctly, it was either a high .38 or it was a .4. And the individual that was suspected of DUI was not very large. He was not 6 feet tall, he was not 200 pounds.
Monica: Yeah, they couldn't take that much alcohol.
Brandon: Right. So everything taken into account, I was able to put forward to the state and say, 'There's just no way this person was driving the car at the time of the crash, and there's no way that they can be charged with DUI.' And eventually the state dropped the case.
Monica: That's so cool.
Brandon: And it was — yeah, that was a great case.
Monica: Yeah, I was gonna say, 'cause that's like kind of the exception, not the rule. 'Cause usually you don't have an issue with having a wheel witness. And when I say a wheel witness is someone comes to court, whether it's the officer or someone who was involved in the crash, comes to court and says, 'Hey, that person was the one driving.' And then the cop says, 'Yes, I showed up, and they said that this person was the one driving, and that's when I started doing the roadsides and all those things.'
Brandon: Right.
Monica: So if you don't have that person, or that person's missing, or that person — you don't have their address or their information, or they moved — the state doesn't have a case. They cannot prove DUI. And so it sounds like this person involved in a crash —
Brandon: When the other driver, who I believe was the one that called it in, they did not see my client exiting from the driver's side of the vehicle.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: So they saw my client getting out from the passenger side. Now, I believe there was damage to the vehicle. I don't know if the driver's side —
Monica: Like, he could even get out.
Brandon: Yeah. I'm not sure. But based on the information that we had, based on the forensics and based on just really the physical evidence —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — on my client and in the car, it just wasn't really possible for my client to have been the one driving the car.
Monica: Yeah. That's so cool. I actually had a similar case — I don't wanna say a similar case, but I had a case that we lost. We appealed it, and the DCA wrote an opinion on the argument, but they said that it was harmless error. So they said that I preserved the issue, but they said it was harmless error because my client — this is what happened. So my client was accused of DUI. It was a crash, and the problem was with the trial that the state had presented the witnesses out of order and had presented the officer, and the officer testified to hearsay saying that my client was the driver. And so I objected and I said he doesn't have personal knowledge, that's hearsay. And that would've been permitted had they presented the victim of the crash to testify to that first. But I objected, I laid my record, the judge allowed it in, and then the witness who was involved in the crash never identified my client as the wheel witness. So the reason why it was harmless error, which means that the judge's ruling in the trial was wrong, but it was harmless in the end because my client was ultimately making statements in the end about the crash. So but for those statements, we would've won the trial. So anyways, long story short, these are like technical legal issues, I guess, when I'm describing it. But there is proper procedure, and this is partly evidence obviously, but what we're talking about is an essential element of the crime that the state has to prove that this defendant was the one that committed DUI.
Brandon: Right. And that's obviously a big deal. You don't wanna be mistaken for somebody else.
Monica: No.
Brandon: And generally speaking, it's an officer that observes the driving pattern and stops the vehicle for whatever the driving pattern was —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — and then observes indicators of impairment, and that's when the DUI investigation begins. Or some other driver calls in, 'Hey, there's somebody swerving all over the road,' and a police officer comes out, and that police officer still will then wait and observe some of that driving pattern before they make a stop because then they can say, 'I saw the driving pattern when I stopped the car. This was the driver behind the wheel.' And then they observe the indicators of impairment. They can start building that DUI case out that way, but they still have to see that person behind the wheel. In a crash, in a DUI crash, the officer doesn't have to be the one that sees the person behind the wheel because there could be another —
Monica: Correct.
Brandon: — witness. And one of the issues that this all ties into is operability of the vehicle. Because an inoperable vehicle, a person cannot be found to be DUI of an inoperable vehicle. Now, that's not in a crash case. That's in a regular situation. So what I mean by that, an example, and I've had a case like this, is there was a vehicle off the side of the road in an embankment, and the tires were lifted up in such a way that there's no way that vehicle could've been driven from that position, or the vehicle was broken in such a way that it couldn't be moved really without like a flatbed tow truck.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: An inoperable vehicle, if there was nobody that saw the person driving the car and there was no officer that saw the person driving the car, or no other wheel witness that was able to say, 'I saw the person really moving the vehicle,' you have a problem. The state has a problem with their DUI. That's different than somebody just being pulled over on the side of the road with an operable vehicle. The car is running or the car is not running. The car could be off, but you have the key fob on you.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: You're in what we call actual physical control.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: And that's a big way that the state proves its case is, who is the person in actual physical control of the motor vehicle? Because APC, as we, you know, as a prosecutor, that is the person that can lawfully be prosecuted for a DUI.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: If you were in that position where maybe the car wasn't on, maybe the car wasn't moving, but you have the ability to operate that vehicle at that time and it is an operable vehicle, you could be the person that's charged with a DUI.
Monica: When I was a PD, I had a DUI. You're reminding me. I had a DUI client — and it wasn't, so obviously, DUI can be non-alcoholic DUI.
Brandon: Right.
Monica: The officer saw my client parked with, I think the windows were down, at a gas station, and I think he had approached the car and smelled weed and was like, 'This guy —' and I think the guy was, like, kinda out of it, like loopy. He might have been sleeping. But when he interacted with him, he saw that he was kinda loopy. And so he thought he was DUI, and it was like 6:00 AM. It was like a weird time, and he arrested him for a DUI for smoking, like, on DUI, which is like —
Brandon: A marijuana DUI —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — which is very difficult to prove.
Monica: Yeah. I was like, prove that he wasn't sleeping —
Brandon: Yeah.
Monica: — and that he didn't smoke hours before, you know what I mean? Like, 'cause the smell reeks, and it sticks around, so like —
Brandon: Well, with the new law change, that wouldn't have been good enough anyways —
Monica: Yeah, exactly.
Brandon: — because the smell alone would not be —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — enough at least to start searching the vehicle, let alone to do a full — now, with other indicators of impairment there that I'm sure the officer articulated, yeah, there are ways to get that DUI investigation going. But —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — the odor alone —
Monica: This was back in 2019.
Brandon: Yeah. Now, with the odor alone, that's not gonna be —
Monica: No.
Brandon: — not gonna be enough.
Monica: Yeah. But I think the state either dismissed it or offered, like, a lesser or something. It was definitely not a successful DUI conviction case. But oftentimes that's when, like, the APC comes in, is when you're passed out behind the wheel. You have your key fob in your lap, and you're not really driving the car, but you're in actual physical control of the vehicle, and it's operable, so they charge DUIs for that when you're asleep.
Brandon: Yeah, or parked in a parking space —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — in a public lot or a park. I mean, I've seen that —
Monica: All the time.
Brandon: — many times. And back in the day, somebody could sleep off a DUI. Officers would say, 'Stay there and sleep it off.' That's not a thing anymore —
Monica: No more.
Brandon: — at all. Even if you're trying to do the right thing and be safe, you can't.
Monica: You wanna know what? Something crazy happened to me as a civilian, okay? Not that I'm not always a civilian. I'm not a cop, okay? Let me —
Brandon: Right.
Monica: — just clarify that.
Brandon: Right.
Monica: But as a non-person in the courtroom, like not practicing. Okay. So I was in Texas with my friend, and we went to, like, Whataburger. It was like 2:00 AM. Our flight had landed at midnight. We go to Whataburger. We're, like, pulling up, and there's this car that's, like, an SUV. It's blocking the Whataburger drive-through line, like parked diagonal. So you can't even go around it. Like, what the fuck? We're trying to get our burgers. So we get out of the car, park the car, get out, and we see this woman literally passed out behind the wheel. So I was like, 'Oh my God, she's DUI,' like immediately in my head. And I'm like, 'Okay, a part of me wants to not be involved in this.' I do not want to get involved. Let's go to another Whataburger, you know, whatever. Anyways, my friend and I decide, let's just check on her. Maybe she's dead. We don't know. The car's running. She's literally passed out. So we just tap on the window, and no response. Tap again, and she's like wiping her drool and like getting up, and she sees where she is and what she's doing. She ends up putting the car in reverse and driving off. She didn't even put the window down, nothing. She probably thought we were coming for her. I was like, 'Girl, what are you doing?'
Brandon: Yeah, that's, that's like — DUI. But I, if I told you I've had probably five or so DUIs that I can remember that have taken place in or around drive-throughs at fast food restaurants.
Monica: Really?
Brandon: I just resolved a DUI a month ago — last month, that was an individual at a Wendy's had tapped the car in front of them at Wendy's, in the drive-through line. And then my client parked at the Wendy's and was eating his food, and the police showed up and did a DUI investigation and arrested him.
Monica: He's probably just sobering up too.
Brandon: I mean, it was not — he's like, 'I'm just trying to get my french fries and burgers, guys.'
Monica: The fact that he stuck around after he hit another car to eat his burger is crazy. Like, leave.
Brandon: Well, yeah, because it was like he tapped the car in front of him and didn't think it was a big deal.
Monica: Yeah, exactly.
Brandon: But the people in front of him got out —
Monica: Didn't go?
Brandon: — and they looked at their car. Their car was pretty much fine.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: But they were like, 'Oh, that dude's wasted,' and they called —
Monica: Yeah, that girl that I tapped on her window definitely got away with DUI, I think, that night.
Brandon: Yeah. You don't know for sure.
Monica: No, I don't know.
Brandon: But that's, I'm telling you, drive-through DUIs is like a real thing.
Monica: Yeah. Yeah, it's either you're drunk or you're big back like we were doing. We were just —
Brandon: Well, yeah.
Monica: — wanting a burger at 2:00 AM.
Brandon: Yeah.
Monica: We're like, 'Let's go —'
Brandon: There's nothing wrong with it.
Monica: '— let's go to Whataburger.' It's a free country, and these places are open —
Brandon: It's America too.
Monica: — super late. So if you wanna eat and go to a fast food restaurant in the middle of the night —
Brandon: You're fine to do that. You can definitely consume 1,500 calories any time of day. But if you're wasted and doing that — which there's a good amount of people that probably are. Good luck.
Monica: Uber.
Brandon: Yeah. Uber, Uber Eats.
Monica: That's why Uber Eats — Uber Eats, right.
Brandon: Yeah, exactly right. Anyways, the point of all of this is to say that you don't really need to be actually driving a car, but obviously we're talking about people who are driving at —
Monica: Right.
Brandon: — fast food restaurants. But especially nowadays, like I don't know any vehicle that has like — I mean, obviously we're gonna get into talking about golf carts, which do have actual keys to start the —
Monica: Mm-hmm.
Brandon: — the golf cart. But everything is push to start now.
Monica: For the most part, yeah.
Brandon: Most cars are push to start.
Monica: Yeah, you don't have to have a 2024, 2025 car. But if you have that fob in your pocket or within your immediate access, like, that is gonna be enough for you to be in actual physical control of a motor vehicle —
Brandon: It's the same thing.
Monica: — as far as a DUI's concerned.
Brandon: Yeah, exactly. But that means that a DUI can happen just about anywhere. It doesn't have to be a specific roadway. It can be in a parking lot. It can be in a parking spot.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: It could be at a drive-through at a fast food restaurant. It could happen at any of these types of places.
Monica: Yeah, exactly. And so that, I think, segues into the next part of this episode, which is talking about — I don't wanna say what can be considered a vehicle, because certain things are not considered a vehicle and you can still get a DUI, like a BUI.
Brandon: Mm-hmm.
Monica: Boating.
Brandon: Right.
Monica: Which is big in South Florida. You know, that's a thing. I'm sure in other areas, like BUIs are not really a thing —
Brandon: Not as big, no.
Monica: — like in the country. But BUIs are huge in South Florida —
Brandon: Yeah.
Monica: — because there are a ton of people that are taking boats out and drinking —
Brandon: Getting shwasty.
Monica: — and, you know — yeah, I — Boca Bash, or all these different events where people get together with their boats and people are drinking and having a good time.
Brandon: There are cops everywhere waiting to give out BUIs.
Monica: I mean — yeah, I was just thinking about it. It's crazy 'cause you cannot drink in your car. But you can drink on your boat.
Brandon: Well, no, I mean, no. You're — the rules are quite similar. If there are other people —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — on your boat drinking —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — that's a little —
Monica: That's what I'm saying.
Brandon: — versus being in your car. That's different.
Monica: Yeah. That's what I'm saying.
Brandon: That's a little bit different, where that's something that's more — that's okay.
Monica: It's, like, broader, yeah. But to —
Brandon: Yeah, you can't operate —
Monica: Be the one that's —
Brandon: Yeah, you can't be getting wasted —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — driving the boat. And the punishments for a BUI have just gotten more and more serious because what they're doing is the statutes are treating them close to a DUI.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: And a lot of the same conditions that somebody would get after they're convicted of a DUI, a lot of the same probation conditions are gonna be applicable to BUIs.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: And as you get to more serious versions, where we're talking about felony level or manslaughter level, a BUI manslaughter now has the same minimum mandatory —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — prison sentence as a DUI manslaughter.
Monica: Yeah. And that was one of the new 2025 law changes —
Brandon: Right, right.
Monica: — you were talking about.
Brandon: So they treat BUIs very seriously.
Monica: Yeah, I mean, it should parallel a DUI. But, I mean —
Brandon: Well, yeah, of course. The BUI manslaughter should be paralleling the DUI manslaughter.
Monica: Those are just so tragic.
Brandon: It's the same — they're horrible cases.
Monica: They're really — yeah, yeah. It's always, like, such a tragedy every time. It's really a sad situation.
Brandon: It doesn't matter what your role is involved in those cases. It's very difficult.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: We talked about it on other episodes, and I handled a DUI manslaughter that ultimately worked out for my client based on certain things that happened in the case. Going to that sentencing with the family of the victims and them making all the statements — I mean, there's really no winners in those —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — in those situations. They're horrible cases —
Monica: They're really, yeah, they're tough.
Brandon: For the court to deal with, for the lawyers to deal with. They're not easy cases to deal with.
Monica: Yeah. Especially, like, when this person has no criminal history and then they're facing —
Brandon: Yeah.
Monica: — like, a minimum mandatory of X amount of years, and you're like, just from one decision, which is to drink and get behind the wheel, all of this happened.
Brandon: Well, and you have to think about how all of the other DUIs that are out there, how lucky all of those other DUIs were from not being this situation.
Monica: Oh my God, I saw a statistic the other day. I gotta get the exact number, but it's like people usually DUI between, like, 300 to 1,000 times without getting caught before their first DUI arrest. It was, like, a crazy number, something like that. My numbers are probably off, but something like that.
Brandon: That's insane.
Monica: I was like — and it was also a big range, so, but still, the bottom number was definitely in the hundreds, and I was like, 'I believe that. I do believe that.'
Brandon: Yeah, I mean, I think there's a lot of people that should be opting for an Uber that don't. And we always look at the examples where a celebrity gets, or an athlete gets a DUI, and you look and you just think, 'Why?'
Monica: Why?
Brandon: Like, you had all this money. You have all the options. And even someone that doesn't have all the money and all the options, like you still do —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — have the option of taking an Uber home. Like, there is no situation where an Uber is more expensive than a DUI.
Monica: Or, like, calling someone, right.
Brandon: Right.
Monica: There are alternative options — they're not great, but.
Brandon: Yeah, you could take the bus.
Monica: Yeah, like —
Brandon: I mean, there always is an alternative option —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — to doing that.
Monica: It's just, I don't know. And you've said it before, but DUI is definitely, like, one of the worst misdemeanors you can be charged with because there's enhancements. And I don't know if we've talked about this in detail, and I won't bore you with it, but as you get more DUIs on your record, your minimum sentence requirement increases, and it includes jail time after your second time. They are, like, requirement for jail — you, within five years, second within five — and that is common. People who get DUIs, I mean, I don't wanna say it's like, oh, it's very rare that it's a first-time DUI, 'cause obviously first-time DUIs happen, but it's also very common to see where someone who gets DUIs gets —
Brandon: Has multiple DUIs.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: And that, I think, also comes down to substance abuse issues.
Monica: Yeah. Obviously, yeah.
Brandon: Because you have people that get — there are people that I've dealt with that get DUIs, and that's it.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: They don't drink ever again. They're done doing anything illegal that they can control.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: And you're totally right. It's very common to see recidivists in the DUI world.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: Where especially in situations like in Palm Beach County, a lot of first-time DUIs where there's no crash involved and the breath level is below a certain level, they could qualify for a first-time diversion program where they don't wind up resolving the case to a DUI. They wind up resolving it to a reckless driving.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: There are a lot of people that will get that reckless driving and then get arrested again for a DUI.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: And that then is their first DUI.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: It's not technically their second.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: And those people will find a way to continue to pick up DUIs, and you see they got that reckless driving at the beginning, and they didn't treat it as seriously as they should have. The consequences that come with a DUI are so numerous. Beyond just being found guilty of something and having a conviction on your record permanently because you can't erase a DUI conviction, beyond that, you're talking about having a year or more of probation with a list of conditions that you have to do, classes, community service, fines.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: But then you talk about some of these other consequences, the collateral consequences, where you have license suspensions.
Monica: Oh my gosh.
Brandon: You have insurance that you have to get. Special insurance for DUIs is —
Monica: So expensive.
Brandon: — so expensive, and you have to pay for some of it upfront. So I mean, that's why you hear ads on the radio where it's like, 'Oh, a DUI will cost you 10 grand.'
Monica: Literally.
Brandon: That's true. Minimum. And I don't even think that takes into account you hiring a good lawyer.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: That's extremely serious, and the consequences really build up over time and can destroy your license, can destroy your ability to drive. And that's not to say, you know, oh, you did the crime, you do the time.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: That's the consequence. Still, I mean, the consequences of somebody with no criminal history that went to — we had a guest on the show that said it well. You go to Chili's and you get 2 for $11 night, and they're watered down drinks. You get pulled over, you're getting a DUI.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: Like, it just is the way that it is.
Monica: Yeah. It's very easy to get a DUI. Well, the thing is, because of these mandatory minimums associated with DUIs, or this sentencing requirement, these businesses that see these requirements capitalize on it. So they charge accordingly because they know that if you are getting arrested for a DUI, especially we're talking about South Florida — we're not in, like, the middle of nowhere. We're in a very common space where people come here to literally drink and party, aside from it being a busy place. And people often get arrested for DUI. These businesses know that they have to do ignition interlock, MADD or victim impact panel, DUI school and recommended treatment. If there's obviously substance abuse programs, all these things. They know that, so they charge accordingly, and so things are very expensive. And not only that, the DUI school and recommended treatment that —
Brandon: That's —
Monica: We were talking about this, like some people —
Brandon: It is a huge scam.
Monica: It's, but you cannot successfully complete probation —
Brandon: You can't, you can't get your license back either.
Monica: — or get your license back —
Brandon: Right.
Monica: — until you complete this class with the recommended counseling and treatment.
Brandon: Right. You have to do — any conviction of a DUI, mandatory DUI school. Every time, always. And recommended treatment. So what happens is you complete the DUI school. There's different levels of DUI school if you've been there before, and you complete that course, and then you're given an evaluation, and the evaluation is basically about your drinking habits and the way that you interact with alcohol. And then after that, there's a recommendation that's given if you need some sort of treatment.
Monica: For you to come back —
Brandon: And the person —
Monica: — to the person evaluating you —
Brandon: Right, but —
Monica: — and getting paid.
Brandon: And that person that's evaluating you and that's getting paid gets to say how many sessions you need.
Monica: Exactly.
Brandon: They are arbitrarily picking how many sessions you need to come back to pay them each time per session, and if you don't do that, you're not going to pass probation, and you're not going to be able to get your license back.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: So they completely take advantage of people because I've had clients that will say, 'Oh, okay, well, you know, no criminal history, no drinking problem, no nothing, just the wrong night,' and they have to do 7 treatment sessions. Then I have another client that'll come and say, 'Well, I got 21 treatment sessions.'
Monica: Yeah. 18.
Brandon: And it's just like —
Monica: It's so random.
Brandon: — it's a racket.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: It's the way that these companies make money —
Monica: Make money.
Brandon: — because they know if they don't give the approval to do that and they don't sign off ultimately —
Monica: This person's gonna get —
Brandon: Person's screwed.
Monica: So it's between their freedom or paying, and most people are gonna try to pay.
Brandon: Right. DUIs are an expensive —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — they are expensive.
Monica: In conclusion.
Brandon: Just expensive.
Monica: Yeah, in conclusion, DUIs — take — I feel like we're always supporting Uber, but also you can take Lyft wherever.
Brandon: Oh, yeah.
Monica: We're not, like — I say Uber but that's just because it's like I use it the way that you use Xerox or Band-Aid.
Brandon: Yeah. It's become the new, like — you just use the brand name.
Monica: Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Take, I don't care which rideshare you — we're not getting paid by Uber yet.
Brandon: Yeah.
Monica: I was gonna say, listen. You can take a Lyft also.
Brandon: That would be cool.
Monica: Yeah. Or whatever else exists in your area.
Brandon: Our partnerships with Heelys and Uber are coming soon.
Monica: Yeah. The partnership with Heelys is really —
Brandon: That's the one we want. When that one comes through, that one's gonna be the big one. Because that you cannot get a DUI in.
Monica: Correct. That one you cannot get a DUI on. So let's talk about the things you can get a DUI in. A boat. So you can get a BUI in a boat, so that is covered by statute. Actual physical control applies on the water, too.
Brandon: Yeah. And it's a common arrest during the holidays, especially during spring break. It's a common arrest.
Monica: Yes.
Brandon: You see a lot of BUIs. And the BUI getters are not always people from in-state. A lot of times they're out-of-state people that came down, and they rented a boat or a jet ski —
Monica: Living their best life.
Brandon: — because you can get a BUI on a jet ski as well.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: So that's a common —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — that's a common one is the BUIs. Bikes. Bicycles. I think I've only ever had one of those. I've never had one as a defense attorney —
Monica: But as a pros— yeah.
Brandon: — but I've definitely prosecuted —
Monica: I was a PD.
Brandon: — a bike case.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: And that person didn't start out their DUI career on a bicycle. They got DUIs before they got to the bicycle. Generally speaking.
Monica: You're like, 'That was their third time.'
Brandon: Yeah. No, no, I'm not saying it was in that circumstance. But it's something like that most likely. It was not their first rodeo.
Monica: Yeah. The fact that people get that many DUIs within a short period is crazy to me. Or, like, picking up a new DUI while on DUI probation.
Brandon: Yeah. That's really the worst.
Monica: That's the worst. I have that right now.
Brandon: The worst thing you can do.
Monica: The worst thing you can do if you're on DUI probation or reckless driving probation for, like, a DUI that was mitigated, is picking up a DUI. There's nothing that's gonna piss off the prosecutors and judges more —
Brandon: Yeah.
Monica: — than that.
Brandon: Like, say sayonara.
Monica: Yeah. Kiss your license goodbye. Literally.
Brandon: That's it.
Monica: DUIs really get under our skin, if you can't tell.
Brandon: It's tough because it's so easy to get, and it's so easy to avoid.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: And from a community member standpoint, we don't want people picking up DUI after DUI after DUI.
Monica: Yeah. Of course not.
Brandon: At all. I mean, we're sharing the road. We're out on the holidays. I was out during the holidays driving with —
Monica: Your family.
Brandon: — my family. Like, you don't want other drivers being out there on the road that are wasted.
Monica: I have, like, New Year's anxiety. Like, I don't like to go out on New Year's, like, even to a family member's house 'cause then I have to drive back home, and I'm like, 'The DUIers are gonna get me.' Like, I'm actually scared because I've checked the blotter on January 1st.
Brandon: You've checked the?
Monica: DUI galore.
Brandon: Yeah, usually.
Monica: New Year's Eve is, like, the worst.
Brandon: They're — that one and the night before Thanksgiving —
Monica: Yes, is a huge one.
Brandon: — because everybody's partying.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: That's a huge one.
Monica: It's a fun night to party.
Brandon: Yeah. Again, take an Uber —
Monica: Take an Uber.
Brandon: — or a Lyft home. And you'll be fine.
Monica: So golf carts, I said this already, you can get a — that's another big South Florida one. I'm sure other places don't have this as much, but golf carts —
Brandon: There are a lot of communities where people just drive —
Monica: Drink and —
Brandon: — golf carts around, and then they take the golf cart out of the community and go to, you know, down the street to the bar or wherever.
Monica: Yes.
Brandon: And that's —
Monica: That's a DUI.
Brandon: — you could just —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — just as easily.
Monica: Yeah. And they, like, literally have their beer in their hand. It's like, I know you're in Florida. You think it's, like, chill to have a beer and flip-flops on in your golf cart, and you're just chilling. But that can ruin your life.
Brandon: Yeah. It can. And it's, you know, it's funny to an extent, but you could just —
Monica: It's such a harmless —
Brandon: — as easily get, like —
Monica: Like, I think the person that's doing that is thinking from such a harmless perspective probably. But it's like you don't understand the gravity of what you're doing.
Brandon: Yeah.
Monica: And it's not, it's dangerous.
Brandon: Yeah. South Florida's dangerous —
Monica: Exactly.
Brandon: — to begin with.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: With all the canals and all the other drivers out, there are a lot of unfortunate circumstances where people will get into, even on golf carts, will get into —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — crashes.
Monica: Yeah, I've seen pretty bad ones.
Brandon: And people go into canals —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — and you have people get pinned and drowned, and it's very easy for this stuff —
Monica: Scary.
Brandon: — to happen, and it's very extreme —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — scenarios. 0 to 100.
Monica: But this happens all the time.
Brandon: Yeah.
Monica: Literally, things escalate so quickly. I feel like we say that a lot, but it's true. This is, like, the job we're in. We see things go from 0 to 100 real quick in every scenario.
Brandon: In every scenario. Yeah.
Monica: Yeah. So —
Brandon: Whether that's people interacting with the police —
Monica: Police, yeah.
Brandon: Or just, like, something as harmless as going out for a ride on the golf cart.
Monica: Yeah. You see cases all the time, especially the civil world sees these cases all the time.
Brandon: Yeah, yeah.
Monica: 'Cause people get injured and die.
Brandon: Yeah. There's also scooters, which it depends on the scooter. If it goes over a certain mile per hour usually it's like an electric scooter are the ones that —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: Well, with the electric scooters and the e-bikes, it's usually a matter of the size of the motor and the speed that it can go up to.
Monica: Exactly.
Brandon: Those are usually the factors that get weighed in. And, like, dirt bikes is another one —
Monica: Mm-hmm.
Brandon: — where, if the motor is of a certain size, then that qualifies as a motor vehicle to begin with, so —
Monica: Oh, that makes sense.
Brandon: Yeah. So that would be easy for people to get a DUI on. 'Cause obviously a motorcycle you can get a DUI on —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — no problem.
Monica: Yeah. And I have those too, have had those so.
Brandon: And horses.
Monica: And horses. I saw a video on Instagram that was this guy riding on his horse, and he literally was trying to get stopped. The police were trying to stop him, and he was like with his bottle and was like — did they bring a rope? He literally went off with his horse. I was like, 'Is this AI?'
Brandon: Galloped, galloped away into the night.
Monica: Yeah. Literally. I was like, 'Okay, bye.' But yeah, those are other ways you can get DUIs.
Brandon: I just love that. He's in actual physical control of a horse.
Monica: Yeah. Like, imagine seeing that case, like someone calling you and saying, 'I got arrested for DUI, and I was just riding my horse in the acreage.' That'd be really funny.
Brandon: That would be a thing.
Monica: Like, I would not be surprised. Could the lawyer blame the horse? It wasn't my client recklessly driving the horse.
Brandon: Yeah.
Monica: The horse was just —
Brandon: The horse has its own —
Monica: The horse is off. The horse has its own —
Brandon: The horse has got a hoof problem.
Monica: Yeah. And now one of the horseshoes is not on right, and he's galloping a little bit —
Brandon: With a — it's got its mind of its own.
Monica: Yeah, he's swerving on his own. He's a horse. How do you know the horse isn't impaired?
Brandon: I think that's ridiculous. Well, that's its own problem. Start breathalyzing horses.
Monica: Let's see them do that beyond a reasonable doubt.
Brandon: I've never seen a —
Monica: Oh, man.
Brandon: I've never seen a horse DUI go to trial, so that would be — I haven't ever seen a horse DUI, but I would love to. I mean, not really 'cause I don't want anybody to get arrested for that, but if someone does, I would love to handle it. But we talked about the example of Heelys.
Monica: And skateboards.
Brandon: Well, actually we didn't talk —
Monica: And skateboards.
Brandon: — about skateboards, but Heelys and skate— no, but Heelys, and we'll include skateboards in there. There was a shout-out to attorney Andrew McCain who wrote an article for the Florida Defender in September of 2025. He raised this question, and it fit with what we're talking about, so we're bringing it up.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: But after doing a thorough legal assessment, no, you're not gonna get a DUI with a pair of Heelys.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: But you can pick up a resisting arrest on a pair of Heelys.
Monica: Disorderly.
Brandon: You can pick up a disorderly intoxication on a pair of Heelys. So there are —
Monica: Which you can do anywhere.
Brandon: Right. So you can still get some alcohol-related offenses —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — with your Heelys, but you're not gonna pick up a DUI.
Monica: Yeah. Not gonna pick up a DUI with those. Yeah, you're safe in those, so stick to those to get around.
Brandon: It's not a free pass, but —
Monica: But yeah. You touched on this a little bit for major Florida case law changes, or not case law, like statutory —
Brandon: Statutes, updates.
Monica: — yeah, updates, is that BUI manslaughter now has a 4-year minimum mandatory prison, which is the same as a DUI manslaughter requirement. So now they're trying to parallel the two, which is, I mean —
Brandon: Yeah, I mean, it's the same —
Monica: It sucks, but —
Brandon: But the same penalties for —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — what you do on land is the same penalties on water.
Monica: It should be, yeah.
Brandon: If it's resulting in the ultimate worst case scenario —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — it makes sense that the statutes track.
Monica: That they're the same. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I mean, it should be, but the 4-year min-man just, like, ugh, sucks. And then if you have a prior conviction, manslaughter becomes a first-degree felony if the defendant has a prior qualifying offense. So —
Brandon: So if you have a prior DUI —
Monica: Like DUI.
Brandon: — or BUI manslaughter, then a new one would become a first — gotta hope that that wouldn't happen.
Monica: That would be very —
Brandon: If this is your second, you're like —
Monica: Oftentimes people, it's a one and done with the manslaughters. I've never seen —
Brandon: Well, a lot of times those people are going to prison for a significant amount of time —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — and that —
Monica: That's true.
Brandon: — puts a — you know — and getting your license back after that is almost impossible.
Monica: Good luck.
Brandon: Yeah.
Monica: And then the other one that we see a lot associated with DUIs is leaving the scene of a crash. So leaving after a DUI or BUI manslaughter now carries the same penalties as leaving a fatal crash on land, which is kind of what we were saying with the same —
Brandon: Yeah, again, tracks, but this is more specific to the additional charge of leaving the scene.
Monica: Yes. And finally, controlled substances enhancement. If alcohol or drugs are a significant contributing factor, courts may impose up to 12 months of probation, which requires a separate judicial finding for the court to give you that. But that is usually —
Brandon: As a misdemeanor — that's in second-degree misdemeanors.
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: So generally speaking, a second-degree misdemeanor, the maximum probation that can be sentenced would be 6 months. But if a judge makes a special finding that —
Monica: They can increase it.
Brandon: — controlled substances or alcohol were a significant factor, they can increase the amount of probation to 12 months.
Monica: Yes. So that's a significant change —
Brandon: That's a significant change in —
Monica: Anything associated with, like, a misdemeanor.
Brandon: Right. A second-degree misdemeanor.
Monica: So that was just a little side takeaway for alcohol and controlled substances and the new law changes in 2025. But overall, basically the 'I wasn't driving' defense is usually not a successful one.
Brandon: Nope.
Monica: Unless you have, like we said, like the examples we gave in the beginning of the episode, which is the exception —
Brandon: Unless you can say there was no other —
Monica: There's no real witness.
Brandon: Right. And you can put another driver in the vehicle —
Monica: Which is cool.
Brandon: — or the evidence really —
Monica: Those are fun.
Brandon: — lays out. Yeah. And that's —
Monica: For us.
Brandon: — from a legal perspective, that's —
Monica: Exciting.
Brandon: — a fun case to be able to put together —
Monica: Yeah.
Brandon: — because you can show, hey, my client really wasn't the one that was DUI.
Monica: Exactly. Yeah.
Wrap-Up
Brandon: So that wraps up this episode. If you liked listening to us, make sure you like, comment, and subscribe. We are on all platforms, comebackwithawarrant.pod. Leave us a five-star review and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.