Recent DUI Cases

State v. M.H. (State Court of Carroll County)

The arresting officer had responded to a domestic disturbance but was unable to locate the alleged perpetrator. He then noticed the Defendant driving slowly through a nearby residential neighborhood and stopping her SUV from time to time. This led to her detention and subsequent and arrest. We challenged the reasonable, articulable suspicion for the stop because there were no other vehicles on the road, so she was not impeding traffic. After reviewing the case law we presented at the hearing, the trial judge granted our motion to suppress, which required dismissal of the charges against our client.

State v. A.F. (Superior Court of Floyd County)

This young man was stopped after turning right on red at an intersection with a not-so-visible sign prohibiting such turns. Although he made some damaging admissions on the video, we managed to minimize their impact and proved that the arresting officer had administered the horizontal gaze nystagmus in less than half the time it should have taken. We also pointed out that our client did fairly well on the one-leg stand and the walk-and-turn, particularly in view of the fact that "reasonably level" places are hard to find in Rome, Georgia. Although our client refused a state breath test, the jury heard that he was taking a prescription medication that the officer said (on video) would enhance the effects of alcohol. Our expert witness, who holds a Master's degree in Pharmacology, disagreed. Following a two-day trial, the jury took a bit over an hour to return a verdict of not guilty.

State v. M.H. (Superior Court of Polk County)

This lady lost control of her vehicle and drove across Main Street and struck the drive-through at a fast food franchise. The police showed up and arranged for her to go to the hospital for a blood test; however, the implied consent advisement was not timely.

We appeared for a motion hearing, and the prosecutor, who had a hunch he was going to lose his .24 blood test, offered her a plea to reckless driving. As soon as the fine was paid, she was put on non-reporting probation.

State v. G.W. (Superior Court of Heard County)

This man was stopped at a roadblock conducted by members of both the Heard County Sheriff's Department and the Franklin City Police. He was arrested and tested above .11 on the Intoxilyzer 5000. He obtained an independent test with a consistent result.

However, we challenged the constitutionality of the roadblock, and after taking the matter under advisement, the judge issued a very well reasoned order finding the roadblock was not properly approved at the supervisory level. That means all the evidence against the client is suppressed, and the charge must be dismissed.

State v. D.G. (Superior Court of Paulding County)

This man, who works in a sensitive post on a government facility, desperately needed a non-DUI disposition. We approached the officer at the ALS hearing, discussed the case, and obtained a reduction to reckless driving on the spot.

State v. M.R. (Superior Court of Polk County)

This man was stopped because another driver reported that he had been flashing his lights driving down U.S. Highway 278. Perhaps sensing that we might win a motion hearing on the ground that the officer lacked reasonable, articulable suspicion for the stop and did not corroborate anything but the vehicle description, the powers that be quickly worked out a plea to reckless driving. This saved the man's job.

State v. N.C. (State Court of Carroll County)

While turning left another driver ran a red light and plowed into his car. Unfortunately, he was arrested for DUI. While he had two good witnesses, his wife and another lady who are both school teachers, we had to deal with that .25 breath test. Seems like his request for an independent test was not reasonably accommodated, so he entered a nolo plea to failure to yield, paid the fine and went home.

State of Georgia v. G.L. (State Court of Troup County)

This client was stopped for speeding just north of LaGrange by a Troup County deputy as he returned from the Auburn-Georgia football game. The deputy immediately claimed that he could arrest the client just because he smelled alcohol (he was wrong) and badgered him about taking a portable breath test for several minutes. He eventually arrested the client who provided two breath samples for the Intoxilyzer 5000 at the Troup County Sheriff's Department.

We discovered that the area supervisor who inspects the Intoxilyzer had overlooked a minor problem during the last inspection, so in the middle of a hearing during our third trip to LaGrange on this case the prosecutor announced that the DUI would be dismissed. Our client, whose breath test result was .143, quickly entered a guilty plea to the speeding charge.

State of Georgia v. R.L.P. (State Court of Coweta County)

This man found himself in the unenviable position of trying to convince an irrational, unstable woman to leave the parking lot of a pharmacy in Newnan. A store employee called the Coweta County Sheriff's Department, and deputies responded to the scene, pulled the client from his truck and immediately arrested him.
We were quite disappointed when a judge denied our pre-trial motions, but proceeded to trial. This would have been the client's third DUI conviction in five years, and the jury heard evidence regarding a so-called similar transaction - the Defendant's DUI arrest and guilty plea two years earlier.

In any event we demonstrated that the police did not bother to conduct any field sobriety tests and basically jumped to a conclusion. This jury was out for about six hours before telling the judge they were hopelessly deadlocked, and a mistrial was declared. When the prosecutor wants to re-try the case, we will be there, and we will be ready.

State of Georgia v. R.M (Superior Court of Floyd County)

This lady was stopped by a Floyd County deputy for speeding just outside Rome, Georgia. He asked for permission to search her car again and again, but she refused. Finally he arrested her so he could justify the search as a "search incident to arrest." The client provided blood and urine samples that revealed the presence of prescribed medications. However, we knew that the blood levels were well within therapeutic levels and that our client had taken the medications
for years, so she was highly tolerant. The first week of June our client made her only court appearance, paid a $50 fine for speeding, and her DUI case was dismissed.

State v. C.G. (State Court of Carroll County)

This young man was stopped by a deputy with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department for speeding on the Carrollton-Villa Rica Highway about 2:00 A.M. After he submitted to the state administered breath test and was advised the result was .127 grams, he requested an independent blood test. The officer testified that he called the local hospital and was told that they only accepted cash or checks but not credit cards. Our client did not have enough cash with him, but he had a credit card. Not only did the hospital accept credit cards, but the officer admitted that he knew there was an ATM machine readily accessible from the emergency room. He did not even offer to take our client to that ATM (or the one about 200 yards from the Sheriff’s Department), although the client had the credit card with him. Since the officer failed to reasonably accommodate our client’s request for an independent test, the breath test result was suppressed, and client accepted the State’s offer of a plea to a minor traffic offense.

State v. J.C.G. (Superior Court of Paulding County)

This gentleman, who had another DUI pending in another county at the time of this arrest, was involved in a one-car accident near Dallas, Georgia. He left the scene and walked to the home of a friend to obtain help. When they returned to the accident scene, an onlooker apparently pointed him out to a Paulding County deputy, who stopped the vehicle in which he was riding, handcuffed him, and put him in the back of his cruiser. A Georgia State Patrol officer appeared on the scene, got the client out of the deputy’s car, administered field sobriety tests, had the client blow into a portable breath testing device, and then arrested him. He then read the Implied Consent Warning, but our client refused to submit to a state administered test.

Since the client was in custody when the field sobriety tests were administered and he blew into the Alco-Sensor, but neither officer had advised him of his Miranda rights, all of that evidence was suppressed, as were all of his statements made in response to police questioning. Because the Implied Consent Warning was not read at the time of arrest or as soon thereafter as possible, his refusal to submit to the state administered test was also suppressed. Without the field sobriety tests, the client’s statement, or the refusal, the prosecutor dismissed the case. Our client was not so fortunate in the other case, in which we did not represent him.

State v. O.B. (Superior Court of Haralson County)

This lady was involved in a one-vehicle accident north of Buchanan, Georgia. She was arrested by a Georgia State Patrol officer and agreed to take the state’s breath test, the result of which was .176. We filed a motion challenging the admissibility of the breath test on some fairly novel grounds and brought in an expert witness for the hearing. After waiting for our motion to be heard the better part of the day, the prosecutor offered our client a "blind plea" to reckless driving. She took the offer, and the judge sentenced her to a 60-day suspended sentence conditioned on payment of a $250 fine. She paid the money and went home.

STATE v. D.W (Superior Court of Paulding County)

The Defendant had played golf in Kentucky most of the day and was driving home through rural Paulding County when he was stopped and arrested for driving under the influence by a deputy on Highway 61 near Dallas, Georgia.

A videotape clearly showed that he vomited and pointed at his mouth less than a minute before taking a breath test. The officer claimed that he stuck his finger down his throat, which the video decisively disproved. We filed motions in limine challenging the admissibility of the breath test, which were not heard by the Court prior to trial.

The case was complicated by the fact that the client requested an independent blood test and was taken to a local hospital, where blood was drawn but never tested because a clerk did not properly complete some paperwork. Two hospital employees were available to testify that the client did not appear to be under the influence and was even able to recite his wife’s Social Security number. In any event, less than a week before the scheduled trial date, the prosecutor, perhaps appreciating the weaknesses in the case, dismissed the charges. While we like courtroom wins, this result was just as good as a “not guilty” verdict for our client.

STATE v. C.W. (Superior Court of Haralson County)

Our client was arrested just outside Tallapoosa after a Georgia State Patrol officer stopped him on the basis of what sounded like an anonymous tip. He did not do well on the field sobriety tests, and his breath test result was well above the legal limit. We filed two motions - one challenging the stop and the other challenging the admissibility of the breath test because the Division of Forensic Sciences has failed to issue approved methods for the administration of breath tests. The prosecutor dismissed the case one week before the scheduled hearing date.

State of Georgia v. L.H. (Carroll County State Court)

The Defendant was stopped for speeding at approximately 4:00 P.M. on a Friday afternoon. After administration of field sobriety tests he was arrested for DUI. The client’s friend who bailed him out of jail testified that the Defendant had flu-like symptoms and that he became ill a couple of days later. The Defendant’s wife testified that both of their daughters later "came down with something" and that the Defendant’s temperature was 102 degrees Fahrenheit the day after his arrest. Our expert witness explained that the Intoxilyzer 5000 used in Georgia makes no adjustments for breath temperature but assumes that everyone’s is 34 degrees Celsius. Despite the breath test result of .097 (this arrest occurred after the per se limit in Georgia was reduced to .08), the jury acquitted the Defendant after deliberating for 45 minutes.

State of Georgia v. D.S. (Carroll County State Court)

The Defendant was stopped for allegedly failing to maintain lane after leaving a local restaurant. On the video he appeared to complete the field sobriety tests in an acceptable manner, but he was arrested, primarily on the basis of the alcosensor (portable breath testing device) results. He consented to a breath test on the Intoxilyzer 5000, and the result was .108. Our expert witness testified about the effect on breath test results of elevated core body temperature and the effect of inhaling copious amounts of diesel exhaust. A co-worker testified that the Defendant operated the most "raggedy" crane on a construction site and was either enclosed in his non-air conditioned cab or exposed to diesel fumes that the co-worker could not tolerate if he opened the door. The jury deliberated for four hours before finding the Defendant not guilty of all charges.

State of Georgia v. R.H. (Douglas County Superior Court)

The Defendant was charged with DUI-prescription drugs. She, in fact, was taking phenobarbital, Xanax, and other mood altering drugs at the time of her arrest, which occurred after an accident. We showed up ready for trial on four occasions before the prosecutor finally offered her a plea to reckless driving. This would have been her second DUI in five years and her third lifetime.

State of Georgia v. A.H. (State Court of Carroll County)

Nineteen year old client allegedly involved in traffic accident was taken into custody by city police. A state trooper arrived and took both the client and the other occupant of the vehicle into custody. During a motion to suppress hearing the trooper admitted that he arrested the client because the other occupant stated the client was driving and in response to questioning the client admitted it. The other man's testimony was excluded as hearsay, and the client's statement was suppressed because he was not advised of his Miranda rights. The court ruled that all evidence obtained as a result of the inadmissible statements, including the .15 breath test result, should be excluded. Therefore, all charges were dropped.

State of Georgia v. D.F. (Superior Court of Douglas County)

The client was stopped by police because he was leaving a cul-de-sac where new houses were under construction about 2:00 A.M. Realizing that the motion to suppress would probably be granted because of the lack of reasonable articulable suspicion for the stop, the prosecutor offered the client, who had two prior DUI's in the last five years, a plea bargain to a charge of reckless driving and a fine of only $300 with no jail time, no community service, and no suspension of his license.

State of Georgia v. B.M. (Superior Court of Haralson County)

The client, who had two prior DIU's in the past five years, was stopped for only having one headlight. He allegedly failed the field sobriety tests, and he allegedly refused to take the state breath test by not blowing hard enough. His girlfriend testified that he had only drunk three beers, and during cross-examination it was revealed that the arresting officer had only the most rudimentary training in field sobriety tests and had never completed the Standardized Field Sobriety Testing course. The jury deliberated 35 minutes before finding our client not guilty.

STATE v. J.T. (Superior Court of Polk County)

Our client was charged with driving under the influence of marijuana to the extent he was less safe. During a motion hearing we determined that the arresting officer had no training in field sobriety testing, much less drug recognition expert training, and admitted that he did not smell anything unusual in the client’s car. He simply thought he was "sluggish" at one in the morning. Although the urine test was positive for the metabolites of THC, we knew that it was not evidence of impairment or intoxication. After showing up ready for trial five times, the district attorney offered a plea to reckless driving, which the client accepted. This would have been his second conviction in five years for DUI-drugs.

STATE v. J.K. (State Court of Carroll County)

Our client was followed after leaving a local bar and stopped because he touched the center line a couple of times. The officer performed the horizontal gaze nystagmus test incorrectly, although he tried to change his story on the witness stand, and his evaluation of the walk and turn and one-leg stand were hypercritical. Our client refused to take the State’s breath test on the Intoxilyzer 5000, and he did not appear to be under the influence on the video. The jury acquitted him of the DUI charge after forty-five minutes.

STATE v. B.B. (State Court of Carroll County)

This gentleman was followed from the same bar as J.K. above. The officer followed him almost all the way across Carrollton before initiating the traffic stop. On cross-examination, we elicited testimony about all the good driving, good behavior, and good performance on the field sobriety tests that the officer did not mention during his direct testimony. Thehe breath test results were .096 and .102. We introduced expert testimony about the effect of our client’s use of an albuterol inhaler on breath test results as well as the testimony of the three passengers in his car. He was found not guilty of DUI (and failure to maintain lane).