After being stopped for Failure to Maintain Lane and Failure to Stop at Stop Sign, client agreed to take Field Sobriety Tests. Officer administered these tests very poorly, and otherwise our client looked and acted completely sober. Despite blowing .163 on the Intoxilyzer 5000, the prosecutor agreed that with the poor administration of FSTs and lack of manifestations, it was questionable that probable cause could be established. Reduced to Reckless Driving.
Tagged: Fulton County DUI
State Patrol NightHawks: DUI Dismissed
Our young female client was stopped by the Georgia State Patrol Nighthawks in the Buckhead area for rolling through a stop sign. She had actually stopped at the balk line, then rolled forward to check for traffic before entering Roswell Road from a side street. After the case was bound over to Fulton State Court, a motion was filed challenging the traffic stop. When the State could not carry its burden of showing that the trooper had reasonable grounds to initiate the stop, our motion was granted and the entire case dismissed.
Juvenile Court: DUI Reduced to Reckless Driving
This 16-year old client was stopped in Sandy Springs after midnight for driving without headlights. She was arrested for DUI and submitted to a breath test, blowing 0.111 (the limit for under 21 drivers being 0.02). Two motion hearings were held in Fulton County Juvenile Court, and the case was set for an adjudication hearing (trial). We filed one last motion claiming the Implied Consent Law violated a child’s rights under the Juvenile Code; and after 18 months of vigorous defense, the ADA finally agreed to drop the DUI charge, and she admitted to Reckless Driving.
Fulton County State Court: Milton DUI Dismissed
This client was arrested by Milton Police in August 2011 for DUI, Failure to Maintain Lane and Open Container. She blew a .161 on the Intoxilyzer 5000. Two months later, her case was bound over to State Court. Incredibly, the case was not accused until days before the statute of limitations would run, in August 2013. It was finally set for a motions hearing in January 2014, and we argued that our client’s constitutional right to a speedy trial had been violated. Because it had been 29 months since her arrest, and she had suffered from related anxiety to the point of being prescribed medication, the state court judge dismissed the entire case.
Fulton State Court: Alpharetta, GA DUI Reduced to Reckless Driving
John was leaving a concert at Verizon Amphitheater with his wife and another couple when he was stopped for briefly straddling the lane divider. After doing poorly on field sobriety tests, he was arrested and charged with DUI. We showed the prosecutor medical records indicating our 61-year old client had recent back problems, explaining his poor performance. And we pointed out that he had not refused a breath test, he had simply insisted on speaking with an attorney before blowing, which the arresting officer took as a refusal. The DUI was dismissed upon a plea to Reckless Driving.