In Brief
Every Florida DUI conviction rests on a number the State calls settled science: a breath reading, a blood result, or a score on roadside exercises. Each is a chain of assumptions, and The Florida DUI Trial Manual is the practitioner treatise on attacking that chain. What the book is, who it is for, and how to get it.
On This Page
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. I wrote The Florida DUI Trial Manual to put the method for taking that science apart into the hands of the lawyers who try these cases.
What the book is
It is a working reference, not a treatise you shelve and forget. In plain English it explains the forensic science behind the breath machine, the blood vial, and the field sobriety exercises, and then shows how to challenge each piece in a Florida courtroom, from the first discovery request to the closing argument. Inside:
- The forensic science of breath, blood, and field sobriety testing, explained for trial lawyers
- Measurement uncertainty, retrograde extrapolation, and David Ball’s rule-out method, adapted for the Florida DUI case
- Worked cross-examinations of the blood analyst, the breath-test witness, and the arresting officer
- Discovery, Daubert, and suppression, with Florida authority throughout
- Two hundred cases, the current chapter 11D-8 rules, and a complete motion and form set
Who it is for
I wrote it for two lawyers. The first wants to stop taking the State’s science on faith and start testing it. The second would rather hand the science to someone who lives in it. Other attorneys already bring me into their DUI cases to read the forensic file and challenge it; this book is that same method, on paper. If the case rises or falls on the number, the manual will help you work it, and if you would rather refer it, my door is open.
How to get it
The ebook is available now on Amazon, where you can read a free sample first and keep the whole thing on any device. The hardcover is available on Lulu, and everything about the book lives on its page here.
The State’s number is not the last word, and it was never meant to be read on faith. You’re better Safir than sorry.
WRITTEN AND REVIEWED BY
Rory Safir, ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist
He is the author of The Florida DUI Trial Manual, an NHTSA-qualified instructor in the standardized field sobriety exercises, faculty of the National College for DUI Defense, and a former Assistant Public Defender in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit.
This post is general information about Florida law as of this writing. It is not legal advice about any specific case.
