Safir Injury and Criminal Defense Law
(727) 761-4318

(727) 761-4318

Call/Text 24/7 / 365

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 ➞
, ,

Tony Romo’s OWI Arrest, and the Strange Reason the Same Night Would Be Worse in Florida

On the evening of Thursday, July 23, 2026, a Milwaukee County sheriff's deputy stopped a car on the I-43 high-rise bridge. The driver was Tony Romo, the former Dallas quarterback and, since 2017, the lead NFL analyst at CBS. He was arrested on suspicion of operating while intoxicated, first offense....
  • Rory Safir
, ,

Cannabis DUI Dropped: What a Positive Urine Test Actually Proves

The State offered diversion. Our client turned it down, we sent the prosecutor a forensic packet instead of filing a motion, and the charge was dropped in full....
  • Rory Safir
, ,

RFI Detect: How an Officer’s Radio Undid a 0.179 Breath Test

Everyone who walks into a Florida breath testing room is carrying a transmitter. The operator has a portable radio. The arresting officer has a phone, a body camera on his chest, and more often than not a smartwatch....
  • Rory Safir
, ,

DHSMV Has Opened Rulemaking on the DUI Hearing Rules

The Department has opened rulemaking on the chapter that governs DUI administrative suspension hearings. Nothing has changed yet. Here is what is in scope....
  • Rory Safir

The Florida DUI Trial Manual: A Working Reference for Taking the State’s Science Apart

Every Florida DUI conviction rests on a number the State calls settled science: a breath reading, a blood result, or a score on a set of roadside exercises. It is not settled. Each one is a chain of assumptions the State has to prove and usually cannot....
  • Rory Safir

I Wrote the Book on Florida Nursing Home Cases, and It Is Free

My fourth book is finished, and it is the hardest one I have written....
  • Rory Safir
, , ,

The Same Fall, Four Different Injuries: New Pages on Hips, Knees, Shoulders, and Wrists

The same fall breaks a hip at seventy, a wrist at thirty five, and a kneecap at fifty, and the insurance company has a playbook for every one of them....
  • Rory Safir
, ,

Attacked on Someone Else’s Property? There Is a Second Case, and Nobody Tells Victims About It

When you are attacked on commercial property, everyone points you toward one legal process: the criminal case against the person who hurt you....
  • Rory Safir
,

A DUI in Sarasota, Manatee, or DeSoto? DETER Is the Most Structured Exit in the Region

If your DUI, or your boating DUI, happened in Sarasota, Manatee, or DeSoto County, your case sits in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, and the Twelfth runs the most structured diversion program in the region. It is called DETER, and I just published a free plain-English guide to it: Safir Guide...
  • Rory Safir
,

A First DUI in Hillsborough Comes With a Second Chance. Here Is How RIDR Works

A first DUI arrest in Hillsborough County comes with something most counties cannot offer: a State Attorney program that can end an eligible case as reckless driving with no conviction at all. It is called RIDR, and I just published a free plain-English guide to it: Safir Guide No....
  • Rory Safir
,

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
, , ,

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
,

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
, ,

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
, ,

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
, ,

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
, ,

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

Start Your Free Strategy Session


(727) 761-4318

Call/Text 24/7 / 365

Book a Time Online  ➞

Not Ready? Explore the Free Resources

Call (727) 761-4318
Browse by Topic
DUI Defense
Criminal Defense
Personal Injury
Firm News
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 →

Practice Areas

Case Results

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

Past results are examples only and do not predict, promise, or guarantee the outcome of any other case.

See All Case Results

Client Reviews

“Rory rescued me. His professionalism and knowledge of criminal law turned what could have been a terrible situation into freedom. One of the best attorneys in the state, in my opinion.”

Daniel T.

See All Client Reviews

Google
★★★★★
4.9 | 200+ Google Reviews

Let’s Go Over Your Case


Email Newsletter