DUI and Criminal Defense in New Tampa
New Tampa is a growing area in the northeast corner of the city, built around the Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and Interstate 75 corridors near the University of South Florida and the Pasco County line, taking in the Tampa Palms, Hunter’s Green, and surrounding neighborhoods.
The interstate, Bruce B. Downs, and the university nearby keep traffic and enforcement high, and a stop here can become a DUI or drug investigation in minutes. New Tampa also sees student-related and the ordinary range of criminal cases, and we defend each by pressing on the stop, the search, and the testing.
Because New Tampa sits right on the Interstate 75 corridor and near the Pasco line, stops here often involve highway interdiction and claims of cannabis odor or an equipment violation used to justify a search, which we challenge directly. Where a USF student is involved, we also look early at the academic and immigration consequences and at whether diversion or a withhold of adjudication can keep a charge from derailing a degree. The goal is always to test the State’s evidence rather than accept it.
I am Rory Safir, and Hillsborough County is where my career began. I served as an Assistant Public Defender in Florida’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, right here in Tampa, trying cases and learning from the inside how the State builds and tries a case. I am also one of only six attorneys in Florida recognized as a Forensic Lawyer-Scientist by the American Chemical Society, so on the breath and blood chemistry I am trained in, I read the raw data myself, and on DNA, digital, and other evidence I bring in the right expert. Learn more about my background.
Bruce B. Downs, I-75, and DUI Enforcement in New Tampa
New Tampa is a fast-growing area in the northeast, built along Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and Interstate 75, near the University of South Florida and the Pasco County line. Heavy commuter traffic on those corridors, and the nearby college population, bring steady DUI and criminal-traffic enforcement. Many New Tampa stops begin on Bruce B. Downs or Interstate 75, and a stop still has to be lawful, the field exercises still have to be given and scored correctly, and the breath or blood testing still has to hold up, which is where we focus.
How We Help
Whatever the charge, the work starts with the evidence: the stop, the search, the testing, and the witnesses.
What a Charge Can Mean for You
A DUI or criminal charge connected to New Tampa reaches well past the courtroom. A conviction can suspend your driver’s license, leave a permanent public record that shows up on background checks, threaten a job or a professional license, and, for a non-citizen, carry immigration consequences that the criminal sentence never mentions. Certain charges can also affect your right to own a firearm and your ability to seal or expunge the record later. These stakes are the reason we treat even a first misdemeanor seriously, and the reason the early decisions, about the stop, the testing, and how the case is resolved, are worth getting right the first time.
Where Your New Tampa Case Is Heard
Hillsborough criminal cases run through the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, the circuit where I began my career as an Assistant Public Defender, so I know how the State builds and tries its cases here. Felony cases are heard at the George E. Edgecomb Courthouse in downtown Tampa, while misdemeanor, traffic, and many county-court matters for the eastern part of the county are handled at the Plant City Courthouse on North Michigan Avenue. A New Tampa case is generally heard downtown at the Edgecomb Courthouse in Tampa. If a DUI is involved, the ten-day clock to protect your license through the DHSMV runs from the date of the arrest.
That license side runs separately through the Florida DHSMV. Formal review hearings for New Tampa arrests are held at the Tampa Bureau of Administrative Reviews (the BAR) on East Hillsborough Avenue, which also handles Hillsborough, Pasco, and several nearby counties. You have only ten days from the arrest to demand that formal review, which is the only way to fight the suspension and an early chance to question the officer under oath. We file that demand and appear at the Tampa BAR for you.
DUI School and Diversion for a New Tampa Case
If a New Tampa case ends in a DUI, Florida requires DUI school before your license comes back, and the licensed provider for Hillsborough County is DUI Counterattack Hillsborough in Tampa. For an eligible first DUI, the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit’s RIDR program can reduce the charge to reckless driving after enhanced conditions, and the circuit also runs the DETRR drug program, the Misdemeanor Intervention Program, and other diversion and treatment-court options for non-DUI charges, which the Hillsborough State Attorney describes on its site. We line the timing up with your court and license deadlines and tell you plainly whether diversion or fighting the charge fits your case.
How We Defend a New Tampa Case
We get the full file rather than the summary, test the science with the right expert, press the constitutional issues around the stop and the search, and tell your whole story in negotiation and, when needed, at trial. It is the same forensic-first approach in every part of Hillsborough County we serve, and it is what separates a case that is merely processed from one that is truly defended.
Common Questions
Do you handle DUI and criminal cases in New Tampa?
Yes. We defend DUI and the full range of criminal charges connected to New Tampa, including drug, theft, violent, weapons, domestic violence, and probation matters, along with serious injury cases.
Do you serve New Tampa and the Tampa Palms area?
Yes. We defend DUI and criminal cases throughout New Tampa, Tampa Palms, Hunter’s Green, and the surrounding northeast Hillsborough neighborhoods.
What makes your New Tampa defense different?
I am one of only six attorneys in Florida recognized as an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist, and I read the breath, blood, and urine science myself rather than taking the State’s report at face value. That scientific read is where many cases turn.
How fast should I call after an arrest?
As soon as you can. A DUI arrest starts a ten-day clock to protect your license, evidence can be lost, and the earlier we are involved the more of your case we can protect. The first consultation is free and we are available 24/7.
Where do New Tampa DUI stops happen?
Many begin on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and Interstate 75, the area’s main commuter corridors. Wherever it happened, we test whether the stop was lawful and whether the testing was done right.
Where is my license hearing held for a New Tampa DUI?
The license suspension is handled by the Florida DHSMV, not the criminal court. Formal review hearings for New Tampa arrests are held at the Tampa Bureau of Administrative Reviews on East Hillsborough Avenue, which serves Hillsborough, Pasco, and several nearby counties. You have only ten days from the arrest to demand that hearing.
More Hillsborough Areas We Serve
This page is general information about Florida law and our service area, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Court structure and procedure can change, so confirm details with counsel about your own case. Every case turns on its own facts, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
