RECENT CASES
State v. C.C. – Banks County Superior Court
Our client was under 21 years of age at the time she was arrested for DUI, and she faced charges of DUI - Per Se, DUI - Less Safe, Driving While License Suspended, and Speeding. Prior to trial, we secured the dismissal of her suspended license charge, and we successfully excluded the results of the breath test which would have shown that our client’s breath-alcohol level was more than 4 times the legal limit. With no breath test to rely upon, the State agreed to reduce our client’s DUI charge to minor in possession of alcohol.
Because our client was 21 years old prior to the entry of the plea to possession of alcohol by a minor, she suffered no suspension of her license.
State v. L.R. – Meriweather County Probate Court
Our client was charged with DUI – Less Safe. After a deputy observed our client’s truck in a ditch, the deputy stopped to investigate the incident. The deputy testified at trial that when originally passed the scene of the incident, he observed our client in the vehicle. However, when the deputy returned to the scene, our client was out of his vehicle. The deputy discovered that our client was heavily intoxicated, but our client denied that he had driven the vehicle on the night in question. The officer testified that he did not see our client move the vehicle or even attempt to move the vehicle. At trial, we produced our client’s girlfriend who testified that she had driven the vehicle into the ditch. Based on this evidence, the Court declared that our client was NOT GUILTY of DUI. While it is customarily our recommendation to clients that a case be tried before a jury where there is arguably an interpretation of the facts that would convict the client, this case illustrates that your attorney must know the court in which your case is pending.
State v. J.W. – Meriweather County Probate Court
Our client was charged with DUI – Per Se (.138 BAC), DUI – Less Safe, and Driving While License Suspended. Our client was stopped for failing to yield at a stop sign. After our client produced his license to the officer, the officer discovered that our client’s driver’s license was suspended. The officer returned to our client’s vehicle and promptly placed him under arrest. After our client was arrested, the officer questioned our client regarding his consumption of alcohol and the officer had our client submit to a portable breath test (Alcosensor test). Our client was never Mirandized prior to submitting to the portable breath test or responding to the officer’s questions regarding his alcohol consumption. Prior to a ruling upon our motion to suppress the arrest of our client, the State reduced our client’s DUI charge to RECKLESS DRIVING, and the State dismissed our client’s suspended license charge.
State v. J.M. – Athens/Clarke County Municipal Court
Our client was under 21 years of age, and he faced charges of DUI - per se, DUI – less safe, possession of alcohol by a minor, and making an improper left turn. Our client made an improper turn onto a one-way street. After being stopped, our client was placed under arrest based on the suspicion of the Georgia State Patrolman’s suspicion that he was under the influence of alcohol. Our client submitted to the state-administered breath test and registered a resulted in excess of 3 times the legal limit.
We filed motions to suppress the arrest of the defendant, the “search” of the defendant, and the breath test performed upon the defendant based upon the Trooper’s statements on the video and in his incident report that he suspected our client was under the influence of alcohol due to the strong odor of “gum.” When we appeared on the trial date, the State, in the presence of the arresting officer, agreed to DISMISS the DUI charges and the improper left turn charge in exchange for a plea to possession of alcohol by a minor. Because our client was 21 years old prior to the entry of the plea to possession of alcohol by a minor, he suffered no suspension of his license.
State v. M.S. – Fayette County State Court
Our client faced charges of DUI - per se, DUI – less safe, and improper backing. Our client made an improper turn onto a one-way street. Our client submitted to the state-administered breath test and registered a resulted of .098 grams.
We argued a motion to suppress the arrest of the defendant, the “search” of the defendant, and the breath test performed upon the defendant based upon a lack of probable cause to arrest our client. The Court denied our motion to suppress, but during the course of the motions hearing, we were successful in revealing the defects of the inexperienced officer’s administration of standardized field sobriety tests upon our client. Particularly, we showed that the officer’s administration of the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test clearly deviated from his training. At the trial the state agreed to reduce our client’s DUI charge to RECKLESS DRIVING.
State v. S.W. – Haralson County Probate Court
Our client was a commercial truck driver charged with leaving the scene of an accident and failure to yield in connection with an accident that occurred on I-20. In the accident, the victim’s car was forced into the median and rolled over—resulting in substantial injuries to the victim. After conducting a detailed investigation of the facts, including interviews of two out-of-state witnesses that revealed substantial weaknesses in the State’s case, we secured an agreement for the dismissal of all charges against our client. If our client had been convicted of leaving the scene of an accident, he would have faced a suspension of his CDL and, therefore, lost the sole means of support for his family. Our client walked away from this unfortunate incident with his license intact and no record of the charges on his driving history.
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