- Board Certified Criminal Trial Attorney
- Former Assistant Public Defender
- Licensed to Conduct Breath Alcohol Testing
- Open 24 Hours
Your Fort Myers DUI Attorney Studied Forensic Science Before Law School
Robert Malove is one of fewer than 400 Board Certified criminal trial attorneys among more than 100,000 active members of the Florida Bar. Before law school he earned a Master's in Forensic Science at The George Washington University, in a program he describes as taught by physicians, with coursework in crime scene preservation and the medical-legal investigation of death. Blood evidence has been part of his training since before he was a lawyer.
- Former Assistant Public Defender in Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties
- Florida DUI Training Attorney, designated 1995 in Miami
- Master's in Forensic Science, The George Washington University
- Metro-Dade Police Academy Field Sobriety Testing Course
- Founding member, National College for DUI Defense
While working as an assistant public defender, Robert found a wrinkle in the law that let him enroll in the police academy's field sobriety testing course, and he became certified by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in the administration of breath testing on the Intoxilyzer. His observation after four decades of practice is that not many criminal defense attorneys have ever held that certificate. When you interview Fort Myers DUI lawyers this week, ask each one whether they have.
Board Certified criminal trial attorney Robert Malove of The Law Offices of Robert David Malove pairs a forensic science degree with a Florida Department of Law Enforcement breath-testing license, and he has used both against the state's numbers since 1984.
A DUI With Serious Bodily Injury Is a Felony, and Blood Becomes the Evidence
On a misdemeanor DUI stop in Florida, officers can request a breath test and cannot require blood. A driver can volunteer a blood test, and the state cannot compel one.
A crash that causes serious bodily injury moves the case out of that framework. Under section 316.193 of the Florida Statutes, DUI causing serious bodily injury is a felony of the third degree, and the rules about blood change with the charge. Robert states it without softening:
"They can request you to give blood, and if you don't provide it, they can forcibly take it from you." Robert Malove, recorded interview
He adds that investigators can also subpoena the blood records from the hospital that treated you. The vial a nurse drew for medical reasons can end up in a criminal file.
Board Certified criminal trial attorney Robert Malove of The Law Offices of Robert David Malove defends felony DUI cases in Lee County built on compelled draws and subpoenaed hospital records, the cases where the evidence is a number from a lab rather than a roadside machine.
Some Fort Myers DUI Arrests Come Weeks After the Crash
In a hospital-draw case, the arrest often does not happen at the hospital. Robert describes clients released from treatment who are not arrested until weeks, sometimes months, have passed and the blood work has finally been evaluated.
That gap is working time. DUI defense in Fort Myers starts during those quiet weeks, before any charging decision is made. The defense file asks how the sample was drawn, who handled it, how it was preserved, and whether the department's rules and regulations were followed at each step, because forensic blood evidence has to be collected and kept correctly to be evaluated at all.
Robert describes cases won because no blood result could ever be introduced, after the collection rules were not properly followed or the sample spoiled. That is his account of past cases, not a promise about yours. The point is that a blood number is evidence, and evidence has to survive scrutiny before it convicts anyone.
Impairment Charges in Lee County Extend Onto the Water
Robert closes his overview of Florida impairment law with a variation. "You have boating under the influence." Fort Myers sits on the Caloosahatchee where it opens toward the Gulf, and Lee County generates both kinds of cases. A BUI stop on the water carries its own procedures, and the firm defends BUI cases in Fort Myers alongside the driving cases. If your arrest happened on a boat, say so in the first phone call, because the two cases are not worked the same way.
Your License Runs on a 10-Day Clock After a Fort Myers DUI Arrest
The traffic citation from a DUI arrest doubles as a notice of license suspension, and it works as a temporary permit for 10 days. By the 10th day, a request for a formal or informal review must be in front of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, or the driver can waive the review and seek a restricted license without sitting out the hard suspension days. Section 322.2615 of the Florida Statutes sets both 10-day windows.
Robert frames the stakes plainly, "you don't have a right to drive. It's a privilege." The administrative numbers follow from that. A refusal brings a 12-month suspension with no driving at all for the first 90 days. A breath test over the limit brings a 6-month suspension with 30 hard days. For a first-time client who depends on driving, Robert often recommends the waiver route so those hard days never happen.
The license case at the FLHSMV and the criminal case in county court run on separate tracks, and each can be won or lost on its own. Winning one does not decide the other, which is why both deadlines get counsel from day one.
Lee County DUI Cases Are Heard at the Justice Center in Downtown Fort Myers
Lee County DUI cases are heard at the Lee County Justice Center, 1700 Monroe Street in downtown Fort Myers, inside the Twentieth Judicial Circuit. The firm's Fort Myers office on First Street is minutes away.
For a standard first conviction, section 316.193 carries a fine of $500 to $1,000 and up to 6 months in jail; the ceiling rises to 9 months when the breath or blood result is .15 or higher or a minor is in the vehicle. A plea also locks in mandatory terms that outlast the case, including an adjudication of guilt that cannot be sealed or expunged.
Many Florida counties run first-offender diversion programs, and each elected state attorney controls their own. The programs are not statewide, and some circuits offer none. Whether a program exists for your Lee County case, and whether your facts qualify, is a question to ask counsel with your file in hand.
The Fort Myers Office Is on First Street, Open 24 Hours
2310 First St, Ste 210
Fort Myers, FL 33901
Open 24 Hours
(954) 861-0384The office is in downtown Fort Myers, minutes from the Lee County Justice Center. If you searched for a DUI lawyer near me tonight, this is the address, and the phone is answered around the clock. If you were visiting Fort Myers or Fort Myers Beach when the arrest happened, the 10-day clock does not wait for you to get home, so call before you leave the area.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a DUI lawyer in Fort Myers cost?
The fee follows the file. A first-offense breath case, a refusal, and a felony blood case with hospital subpoenas are different engagements, and no honest number exists before a DUI attorney in Fort Myers reads yours. Robert also walks clients through the other side of the ledger. A conviction raises your insurance a lot, if your carrier keeps you at all, and coverage can be canceled outright. Spread across the years a conviction stays on a record, paying for the defense is often the smaller number.
Can the police take your blood after a DUI crash in Florida?
In a misdemeanor case, no. Officers can request a breath test and cannot require blood, though a driver may volunteer it. In a crash that causes serious bodily injury, the charge becomes a third-degree felony under section 316.193, blood can be requested and taken over your refusal, and the hospital's own blood records can be subpoenaed. How the sample was drawn, handled, and preserved is where a Lee County DUI lawyer starts reading the file.
Can you be arrested for DUI weeks after leaving the hospital?
Yes. Robert describes clients released from the hospital whose arrests come weeks or even months afterward, once the blood work has finally been evaluated. If you were in a serious crash and no charge has been filed yet, treat that quiet stretch as working time and get counsel moving. The Fort Myers office answers 24 hours at (954) 861-0384.
Is boating under the influence handled like DUI in Florida?
It is a separate offense with its own procedures, and Robert lists it as one of the variations of Florida impairment law. A BUI stop on the water is worked differently from a traffic stop, and the firm defends both in Lee County.
Does Lee County have a DUI diversion program for first offenders?
Diversion is not statewide. Many Florida counties run first-offender programs, each elected state attorney controls their own, and some circuits offer none. The honest answer for your Lee County case comes from counsel with your file in hand, and it is worth getting before you make any decisions about how to plead.
Talk to a Fort Myers DUI Lawyer Before Your 10 Days Run Out
Robert Malove is a Board Certified criminal trial attorney, one of fewer than 400 in the state out of more than 100,000 active members of the Florida Bar. The distinction requires at least 25 contested cases and a minimum of 20 jury trials every 5 years.
If you are under investigation, have been arrested for DUI, are facing a second charge, or have a conviction on your record and want an expert criminal defense attorney on your side, fill out this form or call us now at (954) 861-0384.
The Law Offices of Robert David Malove serves clients across Florida, with DUI defense teams in nine offices: Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Fort Myers, Fort Pierce, Gainesville, Key West, and Sarasota.