What is Actual Physical Control in a D.u.i. Case in Palm Beach, County, Florida?

Greetings! I write again from the home of The Florida D.U.I. lawyer. Today the topic is actual physical control (APC) in a D.U.I. case. What is actual physical control you ask? Actually, some judges have become confused over this issue!

So you thought that you could only be convicted of D.U.I. if you were actually over .08 or impaired while actually driving an automobile? Surprise, surprise you are wrong. In the State of Florida a driver maybe convicted of D.U.I. if driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle.

How does actually physical control arise? In a variety of different ways! As your Florida D.U.I. Lawyer I have encountered cases where the officer arrives at the scene and discovers the defendant asleep behind the wheel, either with the engine running or not. I have had cases where the defendant had passed out while waiting on the traffic light to change. You see actual physical control is where the defendant has the ability to readily exercise control over the vehicle. Like asleep behind the wheel and the car keys are in the ignition. Or, lying down asleep in the front seat and the keys are in the ignition.

I recently had a case in Palm Beach County, Florida where the defendant had actually been seen in a bar by the cop. The cop had actually engaged her in a conversation that would later be described as incoherent. A cab was called for her and she refused to take it. The cop had went to his car and waited for her to exit which she obligingly did. As she walked across the parking lot to her car the cop noticed she was staggering. Pulling out her car keys she opened the door and sat down sideways in the car with her feet on the payment. She did not insert her keys in the ignition. The cop walked up and arrested her. The intake division of the State Attorneys’ Office of the 15th Circuit (that’s Palm Beach County, Florida) filed a “no-file”, which essentially means there will not be a prosecution. However, as far as the Bureau of Administrative reviews was concerned she was in actual physical control and up held her license suspension. Oh well, better to have a license suspension than be prosecuted for a D.U.I. or worse yet to have a D.U.I. conviction.

If the car itself is inoperable and the defendant had not operated the car prior to it’s becoming inoperable then this may be a valid defense to the D.U.I. charge. Even if the defendant has pulled the car off of the roadway, turned off the automobile and then proceeded to sleep it off, he maybe arrested and prosecuted for D.U.I, if a cop stumbles upon him. The issue of actual physical control is one to be decided by a jury and not by a judge unless it is a non-jury trial

Should you wish to discuss your Palm Beach County, Florida arrest or life, the universe and anything you may reach me at 561-616-8700. Please feel free to visit my blog at http://floridaduidefense.blogspot.com for more informative articles or my website at www.duilawyerofpalmbeach.com and www.expungemyfloridaarrest.com.

Copyright 2008, by Timothy Foster. All rights reserved.