Atlanta DUI and Hit & Run .197 Breath Test: Case Dismissed

Skip Sullivan, partner with Chestney & Sullivan Law Firm represented our client who was stopped by the Atlanta Police Department for striking another occupied vehicle while driving in Atlanta (knocked off the other driver’ side mirror).  He was immediately placed in the back of the Atlanta Police patrol car.  No field sobriety tests were performed.  Our client was eventually read the Georgia Implied Consent Notice and agreed to take a breath test at the jail.  The results were very high: .197/.202.  Mr. Sullivan sent the case out of Atlanta Municipal Court to Fulton County State Court for a jury trial.  He also filed motions attacking the admissibility of the breath test as well as a motion alleging a speedy trial violation.  After two motions hearing dates, the prosecution could not meet their burden and the Fulton County State Court Judge granted Mr. Sullivan’s motion to dismiss. 

If you have an Atlanta DUI charge, call Chestney & Sullivan today at 404.816.8777

Clayton County DUI, Improper Parking on Interstate: Dismissal of all Charges

In a must-win situation, our medical professional client faced a nightmare situation, where the incident report looked awful at first glance.  Our client was found in a compromising situation on I-75 late one rainy night.  Her car suddenly lost power while driving on I-75 in Clayton County, Georgia.  She was able to navigate her disabled car almost fully into the left emergency lane of I-75.  Naturally, someone called 911 and claimed that a driver was all over the road, was partially parked in the fast-lane, and was likely drunk.  Unfortunately, at that same time our client urgently needed to urinate.  Because of her location on the interstate she was unable to get out of her car, so she grabbed a cup and did her best.  Adding insult to injury, the cup of urine spilled all over her pants.  Instead of pulling up her soaked pants, she decided to sit with her pants down until help arrived.  While waiting, she fell asleep.  What occurred next is a prime example of why it is important to investigate your Clayton County DUI case.

  • The Clayton County officer documented that he tried to wake our client up for five minutes. Our investigation revealed that to be a gross exaggeration.  
  • The officer documented that he was able to simultaneously observe our client’s front and rear private areas—while she was sitting down.
  • The officer documented that our client had difficulty standing up while walking. Our investigation yielded dash-camera footage showing she walked fine.
  • The officer documented that our client admitted to drinking “2-3 drinks,” despite that statement being nowhere on the video.
  • The officer documented that he did not ask our client to perform any field sobriety evaluations due to “safety concerns.”  Our investigation revealed that he moved our client to a much safer location where the evaluations could have been performed, and we also uncovered the likely real reason—that the arresting officer was not trained in field sobriety testing.
  • Lastly, when the officer arrested our client for her Clayton County DUI, the officer failed to properly read the Georgia implied consent notice—twice—which resulted in the suppression of our client’s refusal to take the state administered breath test.

We prepared for a jury trial in Clayton County State Court on the seven-count accusation, and planned to call multiple rebuttal witnesses to tell the real version of events.  When the Clayton County Police officer failed to show up on the morning trial, the prosecutor had no choice but to dismiss the entire case.

Atlanta DUI, Georgia State Patrol, Refusal: Dismissal of all charges

Our client was stopped by a Georgia State Patrol Nighthawks DUI Trooper in Atlanta for failure to maintain lane.   The failure to maintain lane was obvious on the patrol car video and it took a while for our client to stop.  Our client also did not perform well on field sobriety evaluation and was arrested for her Atlanta DUI and Failure to Maintain Lane.  She refused the state breath test.  The case was moved out of Atlanta Municipal Court by her former attorney who was not associated with our firm.  Her former attorney was disbarred from the practice of law by the Georgia Supreme Court while the case was pending.  An arraignment date was missed due to the fault of her former attorney and she was arrested for failing to appear for court.  She subsequently hired Chestney & Sullivan and we promptly got her case back on a court calendar.  Mr. Chestney and Mr. Sullivan filed various motions, including a motion to dismiss due to the delay of the prosecution bringing this case to trial.  The Fulton County State Court judge agreed with Mr. Sullivan and dismissed all charges against our client.  

Atlanta accident ticket; CDL driver: dismissed in Fulton State Court

Our client, who has a commercial driver’s license, was involved in a traffic accident when he failed to maintain his lane.  He was issued a traffic ticket and represented himself in Atlanta Municipal Court.  He sent his case over to Fulton County State Court for trial.  He moved and did not get notice of his arraignment date in Fulton State Court and a bench warrant and bond forfeiture was issued.  His license was suspended for failure to appear at his court date.  He subsequently hired our firm.  We quickly got his case out of bench warrant/bond forfeiture status and placed his case on the very next bench trial calendar in Fulton State Court.  Mr. Sullivan was able to successfully negotiate a full dismissal of the traffic ticket and client was able to get his commercial driver’s license reinstated. 

Covington Possession of Marijuana: Dismissed upon completion of conditions

Our client was stopped by Covington Police for speeding (61/45).   The Covington officer conducted a DUI investigation as our client was acting odd and had restricted pupils.  Our client passed field sobriety evaluations ans was not charged with DUI, however, the officer got consent  to search our client’s vehicle after smelling to odor of burnt marijuana.  During the search, the officer found a container with marijuana in it and was arrested. Mr. Sullivan was able to successfully negotiate a full dismissal of the marijuana charge in exchange for our client performing community service, substance abuse evaluation and a responsible behavior class.  

Atlanta DUI, .129 breath test: Dismissed

Georgia State Patrol Trooper stopped our client for making an improper turn out of a bar in Buckhead.   Our client agreed to perform field sobriety evaluations and was subsequently arrested for DUI.  Our client agreed to take a breath test and blew a .129.   After negotiations were not successful in Atlanta Municipal Court, Mr. Sullivan moved his client’s case over to Fulton County State Court for a jury trial.  The prosecution failed to file charges against our client in Fulton County State Court within two years of the arrest date and the charges were dismissed.  

Atlanta Georgia State Patrol DUI Under 21 .159 Breath Test

A “must win” case Mr. Sullivan was faced with when representing his under 21 client, who was applying to highly competitive medical schools.  The facts of the case were bad for the defense:  .159 breath test when the legal limit in Georgia for drivers under 21 is .02.  Compounded by very bad driving on the video, a flat tire, vomit present, and poor scores on field sobriety, this case definitely needed a “special teams” approach.  Skip Sullivan mounted a multi-pronged defense, but ultimately won the case on the sole ground that the prosecution violated our client’s right to a speedy trial.  Case dismissed and our client’s future career as a doctor is saved!  

Fulton County DUI Drugs Dismissed

Our 23-year old client was involved in a parking lot scuffle and collision, showed significant signs of drug impairment, and was arrested and charged in Atlanta with DUI-Drugs and Reckless Driving.  Case bound over to State Court of Fulton County, where the Court sustained our demurrer to both counts, finding them lacking sufficient detail to allow us to fairly defend them.  Bob Chestney handled the hearing, and subsequently negotiated a plea to Reckless Driving.  Since he had completed drug treatment, done community service and was able to pay his fine, our client even avoided probation.

Marijuana Possession with Intent to Distribute- Henry County Dismissal

Our client was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped by a Henry County Police K-9 Officer for Failure to Maintain Lane on I-75.  After questioning and an alert by the officer’s drug dog, the vehicle was searched.  A pound of marijuana and a scale was located.  Through Skip Sullivan’s work and coordination with the co-defendant’s attorneys, we were able to get our client’s case completely dismissed.

Fulton DUI Dismissed – .15 breath test

Our client was stopped after proceeding the wrong way down a one way street by Georgia State University Police.  Client agreed to do field sobriety evaluation in the rain.   The officer clearly did not follow his training in administering the horizontal gaze nystagmus evaluation.  The officer also read the Georgia Implied Consent notice before placing our client under arrest, contrary to Georgia DUI law.  Client agreed to the State breath test and blew a .154 on the intoxilyzer 5000.  That test would have been inadmissible at trial due to the timing of the implied consent notice.  The prosecution in Fulton County State Court elected not to file formal charges in this case and the charges were dismissed.