Rockledge, FL DUI Law Firms & Lawyers

Many folks wrongly but reasonably believe that a police officer must immediately inform an arrested person that he or she has the right to remain silent and other rights.  They are referring to "Miranda" rights, or warnings, which in fact must be provided to an individual by a police officer if two conditions exist: First, the individual must be "in custody."  That doesn't necessarily require handcuffing or the actual restraint of one's physical liberty.  A person is "in custody" if, given all of the attendant circumstances, a reasonable person in the given situation would believe that he or she is not free to leave the presence of the officer.  Secondly, the officer must intend to ask questions of the person who is "in custody." Standard procedure by police in DUI investigations is to not provide Miranda warnings until after "non-testimonial" aspects of the investigation have occurred.  Those would include roadside sobriety tasking and breath, blood or urine gathering.  That is because they know that Miranda warnings may cause an arrested person to not cooperate with that part of the investigation. If a person, without Miranda warnings being provided, at any time during any investigation, states to a police officer that he or she wants to consult with a lawyer, or is unwilling to answer any questions, there can be no interrogation.   So, during the investigation when you mentioned your desire to speak to an attorney, you were then invoking your Constitutional rights to an attorney and to silence.

Its not mandatory, but its something I have argued with mixed success (depending upon other facts in the case). If the dash cam is there, why not use it?

Why has it been delayed for that long? Are you represented by an attorney? If not, you should retain an experienced DUI attorney in your area as soon as possible. Is the prosecution delaying the case because of lack of evidence or is the defense delaying it for some strategic reason? A lot more information is needed before a more accurate answer can be given. Usually there are statutory mandates on how long the court has to bring a misdemeanor case to trial. If it has not come to trial in that time period, there would need to be good cause for why it has been delayed for so long.