Reader’s Question:

My brother was arrested for DUI in Jacksonville, Florida and he was taken to the police station. He refused to be videotaped and what I need to know is, what happens now after his refusal to be videotaped at the police station?

Eddie

Jacksonville, FL

DUI laws do not mandate that a person has to be videotaped, nor does it provide a person arrested for DUI with the right to refuse videotaping. Since your brother refused to be videotaped at the police station after being arrested for DUI in Jacksonville, Florida, several things may occur. The first thing is that without being on videotape, all the jury would be able to consider is the officers’ opinion as to his mental and physical faculties. Oftentimes, people who are arrested for DUI look better on the videotape than what the officer describes in their offense report. The other thing that could happen is that the prosecutors would argue that the only reason that your brother refused to be videotaped is that he was intoxicated and just did not want a jury to see it.

In any DUI case, if the person arrested was videotaped, he did not have to answer any questions on the tape, nor does he have to perform any field sobriety tests. If he doesn’t want to do anything on videotape, he can simply tell the officer he wants to speak to a lawyer before doing anything. The officers would not most likely give this opportunity but by asking, this does not mean refusing to cooperate or do any tests but he just wants the advice of a lawyer before making a decision.

Tags: drunk driving laws, DUI, DUI arrest, DUI lawyer