What Happens At The DMV Hearing In Florida?

At the DMV hearing, you don’t have a lot of the rights that you have in a criminal trial. It is an administrative hearing, so the rules are much more relaxed. What the DMV is trying to figure out is whether there was a lawful arrest, whether you refused to provide a sample, or whether the sample that you provided was above a 0.08. Since it is not a criminal trial and you don’t have the same rights, the DMV can go off of what is written down in your arrest report. They don’t need live witnesses to appear. Normally, the attorney who represents you is going to subpoena law enforcement anyway. He or she is going to ask questions to determine whether or not you were lawfully arrested.

If you are pulled over or arrested unlawfully, it is a fourth amendment violation. In the modern age, videos are very important and very common. Generally, you’re going to have some kind of video system available; either a dash camera or a body camera, and that is going to be a big piece of the evidence at the formal review hearing. By and large, people lose these hearings. The percentages of these hearings won is very low because you’re not dealing with a real judge; you’re dealing with a DMV employee, who has an interest in suspending your license. They don’t like invalidating the suspension. They would much rather suspend.

More often than not, you’re going to lose that hearing but if you have to have it, the thing that you can get from the formal review is a first glance at the criminal case. You get to ask the officer questions before you have to go to trial. You can have it recorded and you can get a transcript of what the officer said in that hearing for possible use later. In a lot of DUI prosecutions, when that case goes to trial, the officer will exaggerate their testimony. You want to lock in the officer’s testimony at that formal review hearing.

Does The Outcome Of This Hearing Have Any Impact On Your Criminal Case?

The administrative hearing has zero impact on your criminal case with the exception of examining the lawfulness of your arrest and locking in the officer’s testimony. You can have that testimony transcribed and you can use that testimony in the criminal case to file a motion to either dismiss or have certain evidence suppressed.

For more information on DMV Hearing For Licenses Suspension In FL, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (850) 432-7726 today.