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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.

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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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Arrested for DUI in Pinellas or Pasco? DROP Can Rewrite the Ending, If You Move Fast

If your first DUI happened in Pinellas or Pasco County, there is a program that can end your case as reckless driving instead of a DUI conviction. It is called DROP, it is run by the State Attorney for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, and I just published a free plain-English...
  • Rory Safir
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Armed Volunteers Can Now Guard Florida Churches. Here Is What the New Law Does Not Change.

Since July 1, 2026, a volunteer with a concealed weapon license can provide armed security at a Florida church, synagogue, mosque, or other place of worship without holding the state security licenses that used to be mandatory....
  • Rory Safir
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Florida’s New Domestic Violence Law Is Here, and the Monitoring Pilots Start in Pinellas and Pasco

Florida’s domestic violence laws got their biggest overhaul in years on July 1, 2026, when House Bill 277 took effect....
  • Rory Safir
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Florida’s Habitual Traffic Offender Trap Just Got Bigger

Buried in the stack of laws that took effect on July 1, 2026 is one that will quietly turn ordinary traffic tickets into felony cases. House Bill 35 added driving without a valid license, section 322.03, Florida Statutes, to the list of offenses that count toward habitual traffic offender status....
  • Rory Safir
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Missy’s Law Is Now in Effect: Plead Guilty to a Dangerous Crime in Florida, Go Into Custody That Day

On July 1, 2026, the plea hearing in Florida changed....
  • Rory Safir

Hurt on Someone Else’s Property? I Wrote the Book, and It Is Free.

Falls are the injury our culture laughs at. People apologize on their way down, wave off the ambulance out of embarrassment, and tell the story as a joke on themselves, right up until the shoulder needs surgery and the joke stops being funny....
  • Rory Safir

Hurt in a Florida Crash? I Wrote the Book, and It Is Free.

After a car crash, the hardest part is not always the injury. It is the not knowing. Is the adjuster really on your side? Should you give that recorded statement? Why did the emergency room say you were fine when you can barely move the next morning?...
  • Rory Safir

I Wrote the Book on Florida DUI. Here Is Why Tampa Bay Gets It Free.

Every week someone sits across from me, a day or a week after the worst night of their year, and asks the same questions. They ask what really happened at the stop, whether the breath number is really the end of it, what the letter from the DHSMV means, and...
  • Rory Safir
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Florida Theft Charges: The $750 Line and Your One Shot at a Clean Record

If a security guard walked you into a back office this week, or a deputy handed you paperwork with the word "theft" on it, you're probably embarrassed, scared, and thinking: this is not who I am....
  • Rory Safir
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A Blood Result Is a Claim, Not a Fact: Three Things From My New Guide

If a nurse drew your blood after a crash, or an officer said "warrant" and "blood" in the same sentence, you know the feeling. Somewhere in a lab there's a tube with your name on it, and everyone around you is acting like whatever number comes out of that tube...
  • Rory Safir
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Hit by an Unlicensed Driver in Florida? A New Law Just Changed the Picture

One of the roughly ninety new Florida laws that took effect on July 1, 2026, is aimed squarely at a problem many injured drivers already know too well....
  • Rory Safir
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When a Florida Theme Park Ride Hurts You: Lessons From the Epic Universe Coaster Cases

Universal's Epic Universe opened in Orlando in 2025, and one of its headline attractions, the high-speed Stardust Racers coaster, has become the center of serious injury claims....
  • Rory Safir
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Ethan Jamieson, a Protective Order, and Your Gun Rights in Florida

Ethan Jamieson, who played a District 4 tribute in the 2012 film The Hunger Games, was charged in North Carolina this spring over a shooting in which a gun was allegedly fired toward an occupied vehicle....
  • Rory Safir
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Lil Nas X, Battery on an Officer, and How Florida Handles a Mental Health Crisis

In August 2025, Lil Nas X was found walking in the street in the early morning hours, in obvious distress....
  • Rory Safir
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Four Charges, Zero Filed: Winning Before the Case Begins

An arrest is not a charge. The State announced a No Bill on all four counts, and our client left Florida without a record....
  • Rory Safir
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Clavicular, a Filmed Fight, and How Florida Charges the Person Who Did Not Throw the Punch

The online streamer known as Clavicular, whose real name is Braden Peters, was arrested in Broward County on a warrant out of Osceola County for misdemeanor battery and criminal conspiracy to commit battery....
  • Rory Safir
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A Punch and a Trashed Lounge: The Trey Songz Charges in Florida Terms

Trey Songz was charged in New York over two December incidents....
  • Rory Safir
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Terrion Arnold and the Law of Directing a Crime You Did Not Carry Out

Terrion Arnold, a cornerback for the Detroit Lions, turned himself in at a Hillsborough County jail this week and was charged with eight felonies: four counts of kidnapping and four counts of armed robbery, with a possible life sentence....
  • Rory Safir
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What the Chris Brown Dog-Bite Case Shows About Florida's Strict Liability Law

A housekeeper named Maria Avila says she was mauled by Chris Brown's dog, named Hades, while she was removing trash from his home, and that she was left covered in blood....
  • Rory Safir

Remember the Name: Taylor Teeple

Every so often you meet a law student and you know, within a week or two, that this profession is in good hands. That is how it has felt having Taylor Teeple with us this summer....
  • Rory Safir

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Arrested for DUI in Florida, the bookI wrote the book on Florida DUIFree to anyone facing a charge in Tampa Bay. Plain English, nineteen chapters, no law degree required.Get your copy →ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist badgeForensic Lawyer-ScientistOne of six attorneys in Florida with the ACS-CHAL designation from the American Chemical Society.What that means for your case →

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Acquittal, Pinellas County: DUI jury acquittal after the HGN eye test was challenged.

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