DUI and Traffic Reductions are More Common for Lawyers who Aggressively Challenge the Case.
Obtaining a reduction of charges in Georgia from a serious driving offense [such as, DUI, hit and run, racing, attempting to elude an officer, aggressive driving] to another GA traffic offense that carries less punishment or results in fewer negative consequences (e.g., that your license will not be suspended, as it would for a DUI) will always be more common for attorneys who are well known for vigorously defending their clients by way of demanding and pursuing trials. Aggressive defense of clients facing criminal charges in GA such as DUI-alcohol, DUI-drugs or DUI-refusal typically involves the criminal defense lawyer filing pre-trial motions (requests for the trial judge to exclude certain evidence prior to the jury hearing the case), discovery requests, speedy trial demands (where appropriate), and forcing disclosure of breath test evidence cards, calibration reports or blood test computer print-outs and retention time.
December 13, 2008
DUI and Traffic Reductions
December 5, 2008
Winning Georgia DUI Cases
Prosecutors Respect Relentless Lawyers who Seek a Reduction of Charges. Criminal defense/DUI attorneys in Georgia (and other states) measure “effectiveness” by certain objective standards. Courtroom victories are an important yardstick of a trial lawyer’s success because prosecutors and trial judges pay attention to which GA attorneys regularly achieve case dismissals or acquittals of criminal charges at trial. Even when the jury does not acquit on all charges, a good battle by a well-prepared defense attorney will “signal” the prosecution that this is an advocate who won’t quit working for his or her clients, and who will push a case all the way to the end of a 2 or 3 day jury trial to try to achieve victory for his or her clients.
Prosecutors Spread the Word about Which Attorneys Fight to the Bitter End.
Criminal defense lawyers who do not hesitate to demand trial for his or her clients earn the respect and the “caution” of the opposing prosecuting attorney. In Georgia, you have a right to jury trial in EVERY traffic offense case, from speeding to DUI. These GA prosecutors talk to others in their offices about the skills of such zealous advocates. Broadening that “word-of-mouth” reputation for skillful fighting, Georgia prosecutors all attend an annual summer seminar hosted by a State agency that oversees prosecutor training, and the word about the best trial attorneys spreads to many more prosecutors at these meetings. Our attorneys’ trials, appeals and innovative attacks on the State’s evidence and witnesses have been specifically mentioned in dozens of these training programs. Due to this reputation for relentless pursuit of acquittals, in hundreds of cases, our attorneys have secured reductions or dismissal of charges at the beginning stages of the trial, long before a jury has had to decide guilt or innocence.
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November 25, 2008
Roadside Handheld Breath Test vs. The Intoxilyzer 5000 Breath Test Machine
Almost All Arresting Officers will Request Breath Testing – but WHICH Breath Test is it?
The OFFICIAL tests on an Intoxilyzer 5000 Breath Test Machine (or, when blood or urine are collected, at a hospital) are ONLY given in one of three places, [with extremely rare exceptions]: (a) at the police station or jail (the breath testing machine is a silver and black, tabletop, typewriter-sized device with a black, cylindrical breath test collection tube mounted on the left side as you face the machine. Official testing in Georgia is done ONLY on the Intoxilyzer 5000 breath testing machines (GA uses both the 768-00 devices and the 768-01 or 768EN devices) that are plugged into a 115-volt wall socket, or (b) at a hospital (blood or urine) — often after an accident or where the officer suspects that possibly drugs are involved or he/she cannot locate a breath test operator to administer your breath test or (c) a breath test can be administered in a specially-wired mobile van [referred to as a “BATmobile”, which stands for Breath Alcohol Testing Mobile Unit] that has an Intoxilyzer 5000 breath testing device securely fastened to a shelf inside.
How the BATmobile Operates Remotely from the Police Station or Jail
The Intoxilyzer 5000 machine is plugged in and becomes operational via its 115-volt plug. The outlet that generates power for the machine is powered by a special electrical converter inside these mobile vans. The converter takes the energy from the automobile engine and “conditions” the electrical energy into a grounded AC outlet supplying 115 volts of electricity. These BATmobile vehicles are expensive, and are usually only found in major metropolitan areas such as City of Atlanta, Gwinnett County and a few other high population areas. Furthermore, the presence of RFI (radio frequency interference) from police radios, nearby remote microphone devices, power generators and compressors of buildings nearby, communication towers or antennas, cell phones, Blue Tooth devices and similar devices can create false high readings or cause temporary shut-down of devices inside these mobile testing vans.
November 15, 2008
Georgia DUI Expungement
It is vital to remember that any administrative license suspension action is a separate, civil component to the criminal prosecution you are facing. A DUI conviction can mean much more in terms of punishment and loss of future opportunities than any administrative license suspension. A DUI criminal conviction will create a multitude of additional penalties that overshadow any short-term loss of driving privileges from an ALS suspension. A DUI conviction can NEVER be EXPUNGED in Georgia, absent proof that the conviction was incorrectly entered on your record (e.g., another person used your license and was arrested and later convicted under your identity). Therefore, asking about expungement (sic) [expunction is the proper word, since “expungement” is not a word] is not an effective strategy AFTER you have pleaded guilty or been found guilty of DUI. Focus on winning the DUI or getting the criminal DUI case reduced, not on trying to undo a conviction from your prior GUILTY plea, which (like concrete) gets more and more hardened as time goes forward. By getting the criminal case reduced or dismissed, any ALS action — even for repeat administrative license suspensions or a revocation – gets cleared immediately. See the chart showing minimum penalties for your DUI charge, if convicted, at http://www.dui.tv/galaws.pdfdetails.
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November 10, 2008
Intoxilyzer 5000
The Legal Basis for You Being Coerced Into Submitting to Testing
For either refusing to submit to the requested “chemical test” (blood, breath or urine or any combination of these the arresting officer requests) or blowing a breath test result over the legal limit after you were properly given the legal admonishment (i.e., the officer read you the correct implied consent warning about what would happen to your Georgia license or privilege to drive in Georgia, for licensees from other states). “Proper advisement” requires a TIMELY and COMPLETE reading of the ORANGE-COLORED card that carries one of three “implied consent” advisements”. This is a legal notice set forth in the Georgia code that operates on the “legal fiction” that (by using the State highways) you thereby authorized any police officer who reasonably suspects you of driving while being intoxicated, to demand your submission to a proper, legal evidential sobriety test [the officer gets to elect which TYPE or TYPES of OFFICIAL testing] of your bodily “substances.” Your refusal to be tested or if you submit to the state-administered OFFICIAL test or tests, and you have an alcohol content AT OR ABOVE the applicable legal limit triggers the ALS action against your license. If this “feels” like legal coercion, it is. However, the practice has been approved by the United States Supreme Court in the Sandstrom case in 1983. Since 1983, Georgia’s courts have allowed evidence of your “refusal” to submit to testing to be put into evidence in front of a jury or judge hearing your criminal trial.
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November 4, 2008
DUI Lawyers Advice if Stopped for Suspicion of DUI
Before being informed that you are being (or have been) arrested for DUI, TAKE NO FIELD SOBRIETY EVALUATIONS, including the hand-held alcohol screening test, because all these roadside tests are VOLUNTARY and carry NO PENALTY and NO LOSS OF LICENSE under Georgia law for politely saying, “No, thanks.” An “OFFICIAL” test is one that has a PRINTED “evidentiary” result, and can be submitted to a judge or jury. The Intoxilyzer 5000 breath alcohol testing instrument (machine) is the only OFFICIAL evidentiary breath device approved in GA. No roadside tests of balance, ABC recital, follow-the-finger (or pen) eye examination or counting are REQUIRED to protect your right to drive or to keep your license in Georgia. These are NOT “evidentiary” tests, but the roadside “evaluations” CAN and often DO create a greater likelihood of conviction. Plus, scientific studies have revealed that these roadside evaluations are “designed to fail” and are NOT scientific, due to the number of variables that can cause false-positive readings and false-negative readings. Starting off with “negative” video footage of you failing these evaluations (the officer’s words) not a good starting point for a DUI arrest that is being captured on video approximately 90% of the time in GA.
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October 28, 2008
Georgia Criminal DUI Prosecution
Why You Face Both a Criminal Prosecution and an Administrative Legal Proceeding
The reason for initiation of this separate administrative action against your license is that the federal government made such actions against an accused DUI driver’s license mandatory about 30 years ago. All states now have an “implied consent” law that controls these separate civil-type actions against driving privileges and most states have a verbally-administered or a written “implied consent” advisement or BOTH. Under federal highway funding statutes, States that did not comply with passing such laws would lose federal highway money for not enacting statutes to suspend or revoke drivers’ licenses when a breath or blood test “over the limit” is given as part of a DUI arrest, OR if a person REFUSES to provide a “chemical test” after being reasonably suspected of being a DUI driver. All states have complied and passed these laws.
A “Hard” Suspension TOTALLY Takes Away Your Right to Drive — No Permit Available
Some administrative suspensions, those for REFUSALS, are HARD suspensions in Georgia, meaning that no “work permit” is available IF you lose the administrative hearing on the issue of “refusal.” This rule on refusals is applicable for ANY offender — first DUI arrestees or anyone else. This “HARD” suspension may also be applicable for “per se” (cases where you were previously arrested for DUI and submitted to testing but had a result “over the legal limit”), but only if you have had a prior per se administrative suspension entered against you for an arrest made within five (5) years of the last DUI arrest that resulted in an administrative suspension for “blowing” over the legal limit.
October 27, 2008
Georgia Driver’s License Suspension
The Georgia ALS Hearing Creates Two Legal Fronts for Your Attorney to Battle
In Georgia, your DUI lawyer must first defend you against this immediate administrative loss of your license (or privilege to drive in Georgia), AND also investigate and prepare to fight the criminal DUI case later. These two RELATED BUT SEPARATE proceedings SHOULD be coordinated and handled by ONE attorney who is fully versed in DUI law and procedure. That person needs to be a D.U.I. specialist, who understands the interrelationship of both proceedings and attacks both legal proceedings in a “comprehensive and cohesive fashion.” If no other advice is followed in these video clips, DO NOT try to handle the administrative hearing or merely walk in alone, expecting to “ask for” a continuance. You will likely LOSE that hearing, because you did not follow the Rules of the Office of State Administrative Hearings (OSAH). Your actions at this early stage of the case could take away ALL of your rights to drive for twelve (12) full months, or possibly longer.
October 26, 2008
Georgia Ten Day Rule
Why Filing an Appeal is Crucial and What Happens if You Don’t File
If you miss the 10-business day deadline to appeal, you may have totally squandered one of your best leverage points for contesting your entire DUI prosecution. The appeal sets up an ALS Hearing date, which is typically scheduled about 60 days after your date of arrest. If you miss the filing deadline (10 business days after arrest), then no hearing will be scheduled and your right to drive ENDS on the 31st day after your arrest for DUI. More is explained about this below.
How a “Business” Day is Defined and Calculated by Georgia Law
In a nutshell, this is how you count “business” days. First, you START counting days on the next calendar day AFTER the actual date you are arrested, so long as that day is NOT a Saturday, Sunday, or State holiday. Weekend days and STATE holidays (not federal holidays) are NOT counted as “business days”. The appeal must either be RECEIVED at DDS [Department of Driver Services] Headquarters in Conyers, Georgia, or must bear an OFFICIAL U.S. Postmark date on or before that last day. Use of a confirmed FAX of the appeal [678-413-8450] to DDS is possible, but a second method of delivery, with signed proof of delivery, to DDS Headquarters in Conyers is our DUI law firm’s preferred way of dealing with these EXTREMELY important matters. Dual methods of delivery are utilized by our firm in all cases.
October 25, 2008
Georgia DS-1205 Form
Continued important information about the Georgia DS-1205 form
The police officer will check the applicable block on the Georgia DS-1205 form stating the basis of the suspension. The DS-1205 Form outlines the officer’s options for issuing the intent to seek an immediate administrative suspension of your GA license or (if licensed elsewhere, your driving privileges in Georgia) PRIOR TO the criminal case ever being resolved. The Form DS-1205 offers boxes for the officer to “check off” his or her reason [for either “refusing” the State tests OR “blowing over the legal limit”] for seeking the suspension. The issuance of this form MANDATES that you file a written appeal to the proposed suspension WITHIN TEN [10] BUSINESS DAYS.
You Will Be Asked to Sign the Form 1205, and You Should Sign It
The officer usually asks you to acknowledge the pending action against your license by having you sign the document near the bottom of the Form DS-1205. Once you sign it, the Arresting Officer will sign it and (in doing so) AUTHORIZE you to take advantage of temporary driving privileges sanctioned by GA laws. You should be given the yellow copy of this multi-part form to take with you, since your plastic license is being confiscated and sent to Georgia DDS. Typically, this issuance of the Form DS-1205 happens while you are being processed at the detention center (jail) where you were taken for booking, and (possibly) the administering of the Intoxilyzer 5000 breath testing being offered (if applicable). Shortly after this, you will be turned over to the jailers at the detention facility. In some very rare instances, the arresting officer will issue the Form DS-1205 at the roadway for a person who has already said “I refuse” or otherwise indicated that he or she will not submit to the requested testing at the station.
The DS-1205 Form is Your Temporary License, so KEEP IT WITH YOU
Some arrested drivers refuse to sign the DS-1205 Form. They insist on speaking to an attorney first, or are just mad at their general predicament. Georgia’s highest court has ruled that you do not have the right to ask an attorney for advice before either submitting to official implied consent testing or refusing to be tested. This failure to sign the Form DS-1205 accomplishes nothing, and possibly could mean that you have no temporary right to drive is you refuse to sign the Form DS-1205. We can help cure that problem by filing an immediate appeal of the pending suspension. Call our 24-Hour Hotline at 404-250-1113 or Toll Free at 877-384-4367.
