Can I get a DUI if I was just sleeping in my car?
Yes, you can get a DUI for being asleep in your car. Even though you're not driving, Florida law allows a conviction under the theory of actual physical control. That appears both in the statute and in the standard jury instructions.
What that means: if you're in actual physical control of a vehicle, even without driving, that can be enough to establish that element. But the State still has to prove the other one — that your normal faculties were impaired. That part doesn't go away.
What points toward control: sitting in the driver's seat, keys in the ignition, engine running, vehicle on a roadway.
What points away: sleeping in the back seat, keys in the trunk or out of reach, the vehicle lawfully parked, and evidence the person deliberately chose not to drive.
That last one does real work with a jury. Someone who recognized they shouldn't drive and pulled over to sleep did the responsible thing, and presented properly that isn't an admission — it's the defense.
Where the keys were is often the whole case. Write it down before you forget. ---
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