Experienced Brookhaven DUI Lawyers at Chestney & Sullivan

If you have been arrested in Brookhaven for a DUI, our experienced Brookhaven DUI lawyers at Chestney & Sullivan are available to discuss your Brookhaven DUI case, including after-hours and weekends! You only have thirty days from the date of your DUI arrest to act on an administrative license suspension action separate from your criminal case just dealing with your license. We are available to discuss your license and your DUI charges today. If you refused the officer’s request for a blood test, Mr. Sullivan argues before the Georgia Supreme Court that a defendant’s right to refuse the state blood test cannot be used against him at trial. He won that issue at the trial court level and the prosecution appealed the case to the Georgia Supreme Court. We can discuss how recent appellate cases, including Mr. Sullivan’s Georgia Supreme Court case, may help defend your driving under the influence case. Our Brookhaven DUI lawyers offer a free in-office consultation on how we can effectively defend your Brookhaven DUI charges. Call us today at 404.816.8777. 

Arrested for DUI in Brookhaven?

Being arrested for DUI in Brookhaven can be a stressful experience. We know what you are going through. Our Brookhaven DUI lawyers at Chestney & Sullivan are available to discuss your Brookhaven DUI case, including after-hours and weekends! Our Brookhaven DUI lawyers offer a free in-office consultation on how we can effectively defend your Brookhaven DUI charges. Call us today at 404.816.8777. We are located just a few miles from Brookhaven in the heart of Buckhead near the Peachtree Road/Piedmont Road intersection. Brookhaven Municipal Court is located in the same building complex as the Brookhaven Police Department at their new location at 1793 Briarwood Rd, Brookhaven, Georgia 30329.  The judges in Brookhaven Municipal Court are Chief Judge Bryan C. Ramos and Senior Judge Laura Stevenson. If you have been arrested for DUI in Brookhaven, you will most likely be brought to the DeKalb County Jail to be processed. The DeKalb County Jail is notoriously slow in its booking process.  The average time from booking to release is around 18 hours.  

What is the court process for my DUI charges in Brookhaven?

If your Driving Under the Influence charges start in Brookhaven Municipal Court, there are two solicitors (prosecutors) that will oversee the prosecution of your case. 

The solicitors are Greg Schwarz and Steven Chen. The solicitor is responsible for prosecuting your Brookhaven driving under the influence case. Brookhaven Municipal Court is a “limited jurisdiction” court, meaning they do not have jury trials. If you want a judge to decide your Brookhaven DUI case without a jury, that is called a “bench trial.” You would have to waive your right to a jury trial (a fundamental Constitutional right) if you want a judge in Brookhaven Municipal Court to decide your DUI case. At a bench trial, the prosecution is still burdened to prove every element of an offense beyond a reasonable doubt. The judge then decides if the trial has met its burden in your Brookhaven DUI case. Sometimes, a “bench trial” is a sound strategy; sometimes, it is not.

What is the court process if I demand a jury trial for my DUI charges in Brookhaven?

There are many times when a jury trial is the best possible option to avoid a DUI conviction in your Brookhaven DUI case. Because Brookhaven Municipal Court does not conduct jury trials, your case must be transferred to DeKalb County State Court in the DeKalb County Courthouse. DeKalb State Court currently has seven state court judges. Your Brookhaven DUI case will be assigned to one of the seven judges once the DeKalb State Court Solicitor files your Brookhaven DUI charges (and associated traffic charges) with the DeKalb County State Court Clerk’s Office. Each judge handles their caseloads differently, so your Brookhaven DUI lawyer must know how each courtroom operates. Our Brookhaven DUI lawyers also defend DUI cases in DeKalb County regularly. Because we frequently contest DUI cases in DeKalb County State Court, we are familiar with the judges and solicitors handling your case.

How our skilled Brookhaven DUI lawyers build a successful defense in your Brookhaven DUI case:

To build a strong DUI defense in Georgia, our Brookhaven DUI lawyers start by meeting with you about your Brookhaven DUI charges and learning as much as possible from you about what happened. Using this core information, we can look for more evidence to help our defense by using specialized resources as needed to determine if all testing and other details of your arrest for DUI in Brookhaven were accurate and legal. We gather information, videos, 911 calls, possible surveillance videos, police reports, road/scene conditions documents, and more. There are also times when we use the services of toxicologists, accident reconstructionists, private investigators, breath test/field sobriety experts, medical professionals, and video illustrators, to name a few, to help build a solid defense in your Brookhaven DUI case. Our Brookhaven DUI lawyers then analyze your case, starting with whether the initial stop or reason why the police were involved was legal. We also look for suppression issues with the admissibility of field sobriety tests or state chemical tests (breath, blood, or urine). Our Brookhaven DUI attorneys then develop strategies to conduct the license suspension hearings, preliminary/committal hearings, motion hearings, and trials. This approach is an effective way to ensure we are prepared to defend your Brookhaven DUI charges and develop a winning strategy to avoid a conviction in your Brookhaven DUI case. 

Can I represent myself and avoid hiring a Brookhaven DUI defense lawyer?

There is a saying that “a person who represents himself has a fool for a client.” You can enter a guilty plea and avoid hiring a DUI defense lawyer. However, DUI cases are among the most severe cases prosecuted in Brookhaven Municipal Court or DeKalb County State Court. Even if you think you are guilty and may not want to fight your Brookhaven DUI case all the way, there are matters that a skilled Brookhaven DUI lawyer is better able to handle than someone representing him or herself. Here are some reasons why you may consider hiring our Brookhaven DUI lawyers rather than representing yourself:

• You can put your driving privileges in jeopardy if you go to court and enter a guilty plea to your Brookhaven DUI by yourself, especially if there are DUI Child Endangerment charges in addition to your DUI charge. If you have been arrested by a Brookhaven police officer (or any Georgia police officer), you should have been notified of an administrative license suspension action. Enter a guilty plea without adequately addressing the license suspension action. You will not be able to get a limited permit (if you are eligible to get one at all) until and unless the license suspension action is conducted correctly.
• If your license is suspended for refusing the State’s chemical test from losing a suspension hearing or failing to address the license suspension action within 30 days from the date of your Brookhaven DUI arrest, your Georgia driver’s license or driving privileges will be suspended for a year with NO PERMIT. Properly coordinating and handling the Brookhaven DUI criminal case and the license suspension action can improve your chances of being able to drive.
• Other charges besides your Brookhaven DUI charge may be more severe and carry more punishment than the DUI charge itself like Vehicular Homicide, Fleeing and Attempting to Elude, Hit and Run, or felony drug charges.
• Sometimes, the prosecutor gives a bad plea offer. Even if you decide not to contest your case, an experienced DUI attorney in Brookhaven who is familiar with Brookhaven Municipal Court, as well as DeKalb County State Court or Superior Court, can assess a plea offer to determine if it is worth taking or moving your case to state court, or you may decide to take your case to trial.
• If you decide to represent yourself at trial, the Georgia Rules of Evidence still apply. Lawyers go to law school for years to learn these rules, and you will be at the mercy of a skilled prosecutor and judge if you are not careful.
• If the officer obtained a blood search warrant, you are not trained on how to effectively challenge the admissibly of the blood test result. 
• A nolo contendere plea will not save a license suspension and still counts as a conviction – the same as a guilty plea or guilty verdict after trial. 

Administrative License Suspension

• IMPORTANT INFORMATION CONCERNING YOUR DRIVER’S LICENSE WHILE YOUR BROOKHAVEN DUI CRIMINAL CHARGES ARE PENDING IN COURT

  Besides your Brookhaven DUI criminal case pending in municipal court or DeKalb County State Court, you are likely facing an administrative license suspension action. There is only a limited time to request this separate hearing with the Office of State Administrative Hearings to keep your driving privileges. Whether you refused the State’s chemical test or the breath test results indicated an alcohol concentration above the legal limit, Georgia law requires your Brookhaven DUI officer to serve you notice of an administrative license suspension. The form that is used is called a DDS-1205 form. This form is either yellow or white, and the Brookhaven DUI officer may have had you sign it. Sometimes, this paperwork gets lost (you may have received it, but it may have been misplaced, or it may have been lost at the jail). Our experienced Brookhaven DUI lawyers can explain this process to you. 

  • We strongly suggest that you set up an online account with the Georgia Department of Driver Services to monitor the status of your driver’s license: https://dds.georgia.gov/online-services

Regardless of whether you have received a DDS-1205 form from your Brookhaven DUI officer, you need to understand that you only have 30 days to request a hearing to preserve your driving privileges or waive your hearing through the Georgia Department of Driver Services by opting for an ignition interlock device permit. 

Three tracks you can take [beware of choosing without the advice of an experienced Brookhaven DUI lawyer]:

1. Do nothing within 30 days of your Brookhaven DUI arrest date:

   In most cases, we do not recommend this path. If you do nothing and your Brookhaven DUI officer initiates an administrative license suspension action, then on the 46th day after the date of your Brookhaven DUI arrest, the Georgia Department of Driver Services will automatically suspend your driving privileges for one year with no permit to drive. Even if you did not receive the DDS-1205 form in your Driving Under the Influence case, our Brookhaven DUI lawyers still recommend that you take some action instead of doing nothing. However, there are limited circumstances where we recommend our clients do nothing regarding a license suspension action, but those circumstances are rare.

2. Request an administrative license suspension hearing in your Brookhaven DUI case:

   This is the traditional track that has been the law for many years now, except there are thirty days instead of ten business days to take action. This track is where you request an administrative license suspension hearing in your Brookhaven DUI case through the Georgia Department of Driver Services challenging the Brookhaven DUI officer’s decision to administratively suspend your driver’s license for testing above Georgia’s “per se” legal limit for alcohol concentration or for refusing the Brookhaven DUI officer’s request for a state-administered chemical test of your breath, blood, urine, or other bodily substances. Our Brookhaven DUI lawyers can explain the pros and cons for choosing this option. 

3. You can properly waive your right to an administrative license suspension hearing in your Brookhaven DUI case and install an ignition interlock.

   This track came into effect July 1, 2017. This allows the first DUI arrest in five years for drivers to be able to drive in the state of Georgia and fight their Brookhaven DUI criminal case without losing the privilege to drive. It comes with a cost, of course. It involves waiving your right to an administrative license suspension hearing in your Brookhaven DUI case through the Georgia Department of Driver Services. You would need to install an ignition interlock device on your vehicle for a minimum of 120 days if you tested over the “per se” legal limit or one solid year of having the ignition interlock device installed in your vehicle (and driving under the confines of an ignition interlock permit) if you refused your Brookhaven DUI officer’s request for a state-administered chemical test. If you choose this track, our Brookhaven DUI lawyers highly advise installing the ignition interlock first, then going to DDS within 30 days from the date of arrest to obtain the permit (a checklist to see if you are eligible for the ignition interlock device permit is attached). There are obvious concerns and pitfalls in choosing this track. For many, the stigma of having the ignition interlock device installed in their vehicle is not worth it. The ignition interlock device is expensive, requiring installation and monthly monitoring fees. And if you remove it while under your ignition interlock permit, tamper with it, or it tests positive, your permit to drive may be revoked for six months – meaning no driving at all. In addition to waiving your right to an administrative hearing and having an ignition interlock device installed on your vehicle, you must also meet the following conditions:

• An application for the ignition interlock permit must be made with DDS within 30 days of the person being served notice of the ALS by the Brookhaven DUI arresting officer through the DDS-1205 form (usually 30 days from the date of arrest) or—in the event of a DDS-1205S form—within 30 days of receiving such notice of the ALS from DDS (from a blood test result that was not procured by a search warrant);
• The ALS cannot stem from a motor vehicle accident involving fatalities or serious injuries;
• The person must be licensed in Georgia and not have any other suspensions, cancellations, or revocations against their Georgia driver’s license;
• If the person holds a Georgia commercial driver’s license (CDL), they must downgrade to a non-commercial Georgia driver’s license to obtain and maintain the permit;
• The person cannot have any convictions for DUI in the 5 years preceding application for the permit. If there is a DUI arrest with a DUI conviction within 5 years of the current Brookhaven DUI arrest, the person can still opt for track 2 – requesting an administrative hearing, or track 1 – do nothing at all;
• The person must surrender their Georgia driver’s license, either to the Brookhaven DUI arresting officer at the time of arrest or to DDS before issuance of the permit; and,
• The person must pay a $25.00 permit fee to the Georgia Department of Driver Services. 

The period during which a person must successfully maintain the ignition interlock device on their vehicle will depend on whether they consent to or refuse the state-administered chemical test requested by the Brookhaven DUI arresting officer. 

A person who consents to the state-administered chemical test and opts for the new permit will be required to successfully maintain the ignition interlock device on their vehicle for 4 months. If they are subsequently acquitted of the underlying Brookhaven DUI charge or the underlying Brookhaven DUI charge is dismissed or reduced, the ignition interlock device may be removed at no cost, and the driver’s license may be replaced. A person who refuses the state-administered chemical test and opts for the new permit will be required to successfully maintain the ignition interlock device on their vehicle for 12 months, regardless of the outcome of the underlying Brookhaven DUI charge.   

Successful maintenance of the ignition interlock device must be evidenced by the permit holder to DDS by producing satisfactory monthly monitoring reports before DDS removes the ignition interlock restriction from the permit. A permit may be renewed for a fee of $5.00 if additional time is needed for the permit holder to comply with the terms of the ignition interlock device. Still, it may only be renewed one time once the permit holder becomes eligible to reinstate their driver’s license. Following the designated term of successful compliance, the ignition interlock device restriction may be removed from the limited driving permit in person at a DDS customer service center for a fee of $100.00 (or $90.00 if removal of the restriction is requested by mail or other approved alternate means). The removal fee is in addition to any reinstatement fee that may be required.

Please call 404.816.8777 today to discuss your Brookhaven DUI case with our experienced trial lawyers. Our dedicated Brookhaven DUI defense lawyers are experienced in fighting DUI charges and handling license suspension actions. We can review your case and prepare a strategy for your Brookhaven DUI criminal case and your license suspension action.

So, I correctly requested a license suspension hearing in my Brookhaven DUI case. What happens next?

The license suspension action in your Brookhaven DUI case is a civil action separate from your Brookhaven DUI criminal case and only deals with your license or privilege to drive in this state. A separate court from your Brookhaven DUI criminal case, the Office of State Administrative Hearings, litigates the administrative license suspension action. Once the Georgia Department of Driver Services processes your request for a hearing, your case is sent to the Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings (OSAH), where a hearing will be scheduled in front of a judge from that agency. A hearing date is typically set roughly 60 days from your Brookhaven DUI arrest date. Once a hearing is requested, the Department of Driver Services will extend your driving privileges until an order is entered from an OSAH judge.

The scope of the administrative license suspension hearing in your Brookhaven DUI case is minimal:

At an administrative license suspension hearing in your Brookhaven DUI case, the OSAH judge has a minimal role in deciding your case. The judge is bound by law to only look at certain statutory factors to determine whether those factors were met based on the evidence presented at the hearing. That is it. The judge does not look at your criminal or driver’s history. The judge is not concerned about your job, transportation issues with your children’s school or daycare, or any other hardship you may have if your license is suspended. The judge’s only role in a license suspension hearing is to determine if the following factors were met:

• Whether the Brookhaven DUI law enforcement officer had reasonable grounds to believe the person was driving or in actual physical control of a moving motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance and was lawfully placed under arrest for violating Code Section 40-6-391 (the DUI statute); or
• Whether the person was involved in a motor vehicle accident or collision resulting in severe injury or fatality and
• Whether at the time of the request for the test or tests the Brookhaven DUI officer informed the person of the person’s Implied Consent rights and the consequences of submitting or refusing to submit to such test; and
• Whether the person refused the test; or whether a test or tests were administered and the results indicated an alcohol concentration of 0.08 grams or more or, for a person under the age of 21, an alcohol concentration of 0.02 grams or more or, for a person operating or having actual physical control of a commercial motor vehicle, an alcohol concentration of 0.04 grams or more; and
• Whether the test or tests were properly administered by an individual possessing a valid permit issued by the Division of Forensic Sciences of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on an instrument approved by the Division of Forensic Sciences or a test conducted by the Division of Forensic Sciences, including whether the machine at the time of the test was operated with all of its electronic and operating components prescribed by its manufacturer correctly attached and in good working order, which shall be required. A copy of the operator’s permit showing that the operator has been trained on the particular type of instrument used and one of the original copies of the test results or, where the test is performed by the Division of Forensic Sciences, a copy of the crime lab report shall satisfy the requirements of this subparagraph.

How is the OSAH license suspension hearing conducted in my Brookhaven DUI case?

The judge will enforce the Georgia Rules of Evidence like other court proceedings at your OSAH license suspension hearing in your Brookhaven DUI case. The Officer who made your Driving Under the Influence Arrest in Brookhaven testifies first because the burden is on the Brookhaven DUI officer to establish that the statutory factors were met. Some jurisdictions allow the officer to get help from the prosecutor’s office, or if the officer is a Georgia State Trooper, an attorney paid by the State of Georgia assists the officer in direct examination. The officer is then subject to cross-examination. Sometimes, our Brookhaven DUI lawyers may place our clients or witnesses on the stand for direct examination. Our witnesses would then be subject to cross-examination from the other side. Once the testimony and presentation of the evidence are finished, each side can make a closing argument. The judge will then typically decide within five business days and transmit that decision to the parties and the Georgia Department of Driver Services. If there is an error in how the judge ruled, an appellate process is available to review the court’s decision.

What happens if I win the administrative license suspension hearing?

Suppose the judge finds that one or more of the applicable statutory factors above were not met at your administrative license suspension hearing. You win! In that case, the judge will issue an order reversing the suspension action and transmit it to the Georgia Department of Driver Services. Then, the Georgia Department of Driver Services will delete the license suspension action from your driver’s history (no administrative license suspension). This does not mean that the Brookhaven DUI criminal case is being dismissed. Still, an OSAH license suspension hearing can be an excellent tool for our Brookhaven DUI lawyers to gain an advantage in your DUI case in Brookhaven.

What happens if I lose my license suspension hearing in my Brookhaven DUI case?

Suppose the judge finds that all applicable statutory factors were met by a preponderance of the evidence (a lower standard of proof than beyond a reasonable doubt), and you lose your license suspension hearing in your Brookhaven DUI case. In that case, the judge will issue an order affirming the license suspension and transmit the order to the Georgia Department of Driver Services, which will then suspend your Georgia license. Again, your license may be suspended because the burden on the Brookhaven DUI officer is too low to meet in these hearings. However, again, our Brookhaven DUI lawyers may still be able to gain an advantage in the criminal case based on testimony from the hearing. The decision can be appealed if the judge commits a ruling error. Also, if your Brookhaven DUI charge is reduced or dismissed, or you are found not guilty, the suspension is lifted and deleted from your driver’s history as a matter of law.

Can I handle the license suspension hearing myself in my Brookhaven DUI case?

Because a license suspension hearing from a Brookhaven DUI arrest is a complex subject that even many lawyers don’t understand, we strongly encourage you to contact our Brookhaven DUI lawyers immediately to discuss your case. It is not wise to handle the license suspension hearing yourself in your Brookhaven DUI case. Too many variables can impact your driving privileges, which are to be discussed here without knowing the specific facts of your case and your prior criminal history. Remember, you only have 30 days to request a license suspension hearing through the Georgia Department of Driver Services.

A warning to drivers:

As a warning to drivers, every summer, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety mobilizes its 100 Days of Summer Heat campaign that began in late May and ran through Labor Day. This year, that campaign ran from May 13 through September 2. Click It, or Ticket ran from May 13 through June 2 and just wrapped up its campaign over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Operation Zero Tolerance ran from June 24 through July 7. The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over program ran from August 14 through Labor Day weekend to September 2 and will also run from mid-December through New Year’s Day. Georgia State Patrol and the Brookhaven Police Department stepped up patrols and conducted sobriety checkpoints during these safe driving campaigns and significant events. We saw stepped-up patrols for this past Labor Day holiday weekend.

Public service announcements are regularly posted on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Here are recent posts by Georgia GOHS to never drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs or find a sober driver:

Drinking and driving should never be on the agenda. Call a sober friend, taxi, or ride share to get you home safely. #BuzzedDriving is drunk driving pic.twitter.com/TddnARYPGk

— Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (@gohsgeorgia) November 30, 2024

Call our experienced Brookhaven DUI lawyers today:

If you are facing a Brookhaven DUI charge or license suspension action or have been ticketed for a serious traffic offense, contact our experienced Brookhaven DUI lawyers today. We’ll be able to meet with you to talk about your options and give you advice based on our experience in the court, where your case will be heard. Call us today at 404.816.8777. 

Brookhaven Municipal Court location: