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The Safir Lawyer Blog

Florida DUI, criminal defense, and personal injury, explained by a forensic lawyer-scientist and former public defender. Seven running series cover the science behind the evidence, the cases in the news, the injury claims, and how a defense actually gets built, all in plain English.

Rory Safir

Every post here is written by Rory Safir, one of only six ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientists in Florida, the author of The Florida DUI Trial Manual, and a former Assistant Public Defender in Tampa.

About Rory →

The Series

Seven running series, each with its own beat. Pick a lane or read them all.

The Safir WireThe Safir WireLegal news, court rulings, and law changes, read the way a lawyer-scientist reads them.Explore the series ➞Called SafirCalled SafirAthlete and celebrity arrests, broken down by a criminal defense lawyer.Explore the series ➞SafircrackingSafircrackingForensic science, taken apart piece by piece: breath, blood, DNA, drug testing, and the crime lab.Explore the series ➞Fail-SafirFail-SafirFalse alerts, misused databases, and lab failures, and what they mean in a real case.Explore the series ➞Safir HarborSafir HarborHow cases actually get defended, from the first night to the last motion.Explore the series ➞Better Safir Than SorryBetter Safir Than SorryCar crashes, insurance tactics, and what an injury claim is actually worth.Explore the series ➞Rory SafirAsk SafirHave a question about a DUI, an arrest, or an injury claim? Ask it, and the answer may become the next post.Ask your question ➞
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Is a License Plate Frame Illegal in Florida? What Changes October 1, 2026

Starting October 1, 2026, a Florida plate frame is lawful if it leaves the plate number and the upper-right registration sticker visible. SB 488 also narrowed the crime of obscuring a plate. What didn’t change is the 100-foot legibility rule in section 316.605, which can still justify a stop. With...
  • Rory Safir
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Florida’s $2,000 Crash Report Rule Starts October 1. Here’s What It Means If You’re Hurt

Starting October 1, 2026, Florida drivers must report a crash to police only for an injury, a death, or apparent damage of at least $2,000. What SB 488 changed, what it didn’t, the 10-day self report you may still owe, and why an injury crash was never a $2,000 question....
  • Rory Safir
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The Affidavit Showed One Breath Test. The Machine’s Own Records Showed Three.

A two-count DUI from a multi-vehicle crash, breath results over 0.17, and an offer with 60 days in jail for a first-time offender. The affidavit showed one test. The instrument’s public electronic records showed three, two of them aborted on radio interference. Here is how that record, a motion to...
  • Rory Safir
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Genetic Genealogy in Florida: The Attorney General’s Cold Case Program, and Why the Search Is So Hard to Challenge

Florida’s Attorney General is running DNA from 21,000 unsolved murders through forensic genetic genealogy with a private lab. The search finds a cousin, not a suspect, which is why the usual suppression motion fails. Where the defense actually is: the direct sample, the decades-old evidence, and the analysts who have...
  • Rory Safir
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Can Florida Police Make You Unlock Your Phone? Face ID, Passcodes, and the Split Between Tampa Bay and South Florida

Since iOS 26.4, a warrant and a passcode are often not enough to copy an iPhone; the phone wants a face or a finger. Florida’s Second and Fourth Districts disagree on whether a passcode can be compelled, no Florida court has decided a forced Face ID, and the federal circuits...
  • Rory Safir
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Convictions Undone: Four Cases Where the Evidence Gave Way, and What Each One Teaches a Florida Defense

Florida breath machines repaired by an agency that admitted it could not repair them, 28 years on a medical examiner’s time of death, a confession from a sedated patient while the suspect was a police officer, and a DNA “match” that retested as inconclusive. What overturned really means, case by...
  • Rory Safir
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New Florida Criminal Laws Taking Effect October 1, 2026: The Full List, From the Statutes

Seven Florida criminal laws take effect October 1, 2026: rental application fraud, no-contact order violations, Meg’s Law on nitrous oxide and xylazine, gang-related language online, the career offender license marking, a new exposure felony, and the plate frame rule. What each statute says, the penalty, and where the defense lives....
  • Rory Safir
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The Caleb Flynn Trial, Explained: How a Murder Case With No Gun and No Witness Gets Tried

A former American Idol contestant was convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to life without parole, with no gun, no confession, and no witness. What the State had, how the messages and device data got into court, and how Florida would try the same case....
  • Rory Safir
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Before You Sit Down With a DUI Lawyer: The Six Things That Make the First Hour Count

The first conversation about a DUI case decides what gets investigated. The six things that make that hour count, including the 24-hour timeline with the gaps marked and the medication line most people leave vague....
  • Rory Safir
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The Officer Who Called Your DUI a Drug Case May Have Had 16 Hours of Training. Here Is What That Training Says About Itself

ARIDE is a 16-hour course, and its own manual says it will not certify an officer as a DRE and does not support picking a drug category. What the manual says about the eye and balance checks, the exam the officer passed, and why a skipped step is a validation...
  • Rory Safir
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Was Your Police Report Written by AI? Axon Draft One in Florida, and the Draft Nobody Keeps

Axon Draft One writes police report narratives from body camera audio, and the first draft is not kept. Where Florida sheriffs use it, what their policies say, and the questions to ask when a report matters in your case....
  • Rory Safir
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How Many Jurors Decide a Florida Criminal Trial? Six, Twelve, and the Eight That Decide Death

Two Tampa juries heard similar murder trials; one recommended death and one life. Florida uses six jurors for felonies, twelve for capital cases, a unanimous verdict, and eight of twelve for death, and the Supreme Court is now reviewing the six....
  • Rory Safir
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Can the Crime Lab Be Wrong? A DNA Analyst Just Got Ten Years for Deleting Results

A state crime lab DNA analyst deleted results for years and an intern caught it. She got ten years on September 8. What a lab report actually is, why the analyst has to come to court, and the records a Florida defense lawyer asks for by name....
  • Rory Safir
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Can Florida Police Stop You Just for Carrying a Gun? A Federal Appeals Court Said No

Two Miami-Dade detectives stopped a man at gunpoint because he had a pistol in his hoodie. The Eleventh Circuit vacated his conviction: in Florida a concealed gun alone is not reasonable suspicion. What the ruling means if you carry....
  • Rory Safir
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Asleep in a Running Truck in Tampa: The Welfare Check That Became a DUI

Deputies woke a man asleep in a running truck at a Tampa apartment complex and a DUI followed. A judge suppressed it; the appeals court reversed. Where a welfare check ends, and why a parked truck can still be a DUI in Florida....
  • Rory Safir
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Florida Took the Word ‘Lawful’ Out of Resisting With Violence: What the Officer Jason Raynor Act Changed

One act signed June 16, 2026 removed the word lawful from three Florida statutes, defined good faith to include an arrest later found unlawful, and repealed the rule that an officer may not use force in a knowingly unlawful arrest. Resisting without violence was left alone....
  • Rory Safir
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Police Took His Blood Without a Warrant. The Court Just Took Back the Rule They Used.

A driver refused a blood draw after a fatal crash and police took it anyway. The Fourth District affirmed suppression and receded from the sentence prosecutors had been citing as a probable cause exception to the warrant requirement....
  • Rory Safir
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Can a Withdrawn Guilty Plea Be Used Against You in Florida?

Florida keeps a withdrawn guilty plea out of evidence, along with a no contest plea, an offer to plead, and the statements made in connection with any of them. The protection can apply even when no deal was ever reached....
  • Rory Safir
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What Happens When a Florida Jury Says It Is Deadlocked

A Florida jury is allowed to hang. When one says it cannot agree, the judge may read a specific instruction asking it to try again, and that script has protections built into it. Leave them out and a conviction can be reversed....
  • Rory Safir
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Ask Safir: Can You Seal or Expunge a Criminal Record in Florida?

Florida lets many folks seal or expunge one record in a lifetime, and how the case ended decides which remedy applies. The disqualifiers are stricter than most articles admit, and one old misdemeanor can close the door....
  • Rory Safir

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