Client was stopped for rather sloppy driving near Perimeter Mall by Dunwoody Police, and arrested for DUI. Her previous attorney had the case bound over to DeKalb State Court, and filed some boilerplate motions, which were all denied. The Court held that both prior DUI convictions could be used by the State at trial. Client retained Bob Chestney at the last minute, with the case set for trial. We were able to convince the judge to allow us to file an out-of-time motion to suppress the prescription drugs found during a search of her purse, and which she was alleged to be impaired from. Prior to a hearing on this motion, the prosecutor who had a long history with Mr. Chestney offered to drop the Dunwoody DUI charge with a plea of Nolo Contendere to Reckless Driving.
Recent DUI Defense Successes in Georgia Courts
Hall County DUI Reduced (.134 Blood Test)
Client was stopped for speeding in Hall County, did poorly on field sobriety tests and was arrested for DUI (his second). He agreed to a blood test at the jail, resulting in a BAC of .134. Bob Chestney argued that the test results were inadmissible because the state did not prove the blood test was administered in a reasonable manner under the Fourth Amendment. The judge agreed, and suppressed the test results. Without those results, the assistant solicitor agreed that the DUI case would be difficult to prove, so the case was closed with a plea to Reckless Driving.
Douglas County DUI Refusal/Search Warrant for Blood: Dismissed
Mr. Sullivan successfully avoided an administrative license suspension and a Douglas County DUI conviction for his client. Client was stopped for following a truck too close. After an admission of drinking and performing field sobriety evaluations, our client was arrested for DUI in Douglas County, red the Georgia Implied Consent Notice and refused the state’s chemical test. The officer initiated an administrative license suspension action for the client refusing the state’s test and obtain a search warrant for blood. Blood was drawn over an hour later and sent to the GBI toxicology department to be tested. The administrative hearing was set before the toxicology report came back and the Douglas County Sheriff’s department blocked all efforts to release the video of the stop and full police report to Mr. Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan used the power of the court’s subpoena process to compel the sheriff’s depart to comply. They did not, but the officer ultimately decided not to go forward with an administrative hearing – saving our client’s driving privileges. The toxicology report came back with a result well under .08 and Mr. Sullivan and the prosecution negotiated a dismissal of the DUI charge and entered a plea to Following Too Close only.
Athens DUI (Under 21) reduced to Reckless Driving
Under 21 student at UGA was stopped by Georgia State Patrol Nighthawks late at night for hitting the curb on a right turn. Although the trooper smelled the odor of alcohol, our client denied drinking. He reluctantly agreed to field sobriety tests (mistake), and was arrested for DUI in Athens, Underage Possession of Alcohol and Improper Turn. He wisely refused to submit to any breath test.
The charges were filed in Athens State Court. Although the judge ruled that the trooper did have reasonable grounds for the traffic stop, prior to trial Bob Chestney was able to persuade the prosecutor to drop the Athens DUI charge, in return for a plea to Reckless Driving and a conditional discharge on the Underage Possession charge. This saved our young client’s driver’s license and criminal record.
Atlanta DUI Refusal – Reduced – No conviction or License Suspension
Client was stopped for Speeding (53 mph in a 35 mph zone) and Laying Drags. Client agreed to perform field sobriety evaluations and looked great on video. Client’s speech was not slurred. After being arrested for DUI, the Trooper read the Georgia Implied Consent Notice and client refused the breath test. Mr. Sullivan was able to negotiate reduced charges in Atlanta Municipal Court where client avoided an Atlanta DUI conviction and also avoided a 12 month license suspension.
East Ellijay DUI, Failure to Maintain Lane: Reduced to Reckless Driving
Client was stopped for Failure to Maintain Lane in East Ellijay, Georgia. Client agreed to perform field sobriety evaluations and scored 6 out of 6 clues on the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus evaluation, 3 out of 8 clues on the Walk and Turn evaluation and 1 out of 4 on the One Leg Stand evaluation. Client was arrested by the East Ellijay DUI officer and refused the state breath test. Mr. Sullivan was able to negotiate a reduced charge and client never had to appear in court.
Johns Creek – Under 21 DUI .056 Breath Test Reduced
Our under 21 client was stopped by Johns Creek Police while trying to exit a parking lot without his headlights on. Our client declined field sobriety evaluations but agreed to take the State breath test resulting in a .056 result. The legal limit for someone under 21 is .02. The Prosecutor acknowledged there were issues with the stop and admissibility of the test result and decided to reduce the under 21 Johns Creek DUI charge to reckless driving.
Smyrna DUI Refusal: Reduced
Client was stopped for speeding in Smyrna. The Smyrna DUI officer smelled a strong odor of alcohol and asked our client to perform field sobriety exercises. Client agreed, but only did the horizontal gaze nystagmus evaluation because client had a sore back. Client looked reasonably well on the video, but was arrested for DUI. The Smyrna DUI officer read the Georgia implied consent notice but read it wrong where the substance of the notice changed. Client refused to submit to the state’s breath test. The prosecutor acknowledged the issue with implied consent notice and Mr. Sullivan was able to negotiate a dismissal of the Smyrna DUI charge and our client entered a plea to reckless driving.
DeKalb County DUI Refusal – reduced
Client was found asleep in the car in the middle of the road with the engine running. A DeKalb DUI Officer observed vomit on client’s clothes and that client had slurred and slow speech. Client admitted to drinking and was unsteady upon exiting the car. Client refused to do field sobriety evaluations and refused to submit to the state’s breath test and was arrested for a DeKalb County DUI refusal. At a motions hearing the charges were reduced after Mr. Sullivan successfully negotiated a Reckless Driving plea with the prosecutor and the judge.
Roswell DUI Refusal: Not Guilty
Client was stopped for Speeding 60 in a 40 mph zone and Failing to Maintain Lane. Roswell DUI Officer J. Ott with the Roswell Police Department conducted a DUI investigation. Client admitted to having a few beers and agreed to perform field sobriety evaluations. Client scored all 6 clues on the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus evaluation, 5 out a possible 8 clues on the Walk and Turn evaluation, and 3 out of 4 possible clues on the One Leg Stand evaluation. Client looked reasonably well on the Walk and Turn evaluation, but not as good on the One Leg Stand evaluation. Client’s speech was clear, stopping sequence was fine, walked fine, and was standing fine when communicating with the officer. Client refused the roadside breathalyzer as well as the State breath test after client was placed under arrest. We were not able to reach a non-DUI resolution in Roswell Municipal Court through negotiations, so the case was sent to Fulton County State Court for trial. Mr. Sullivan elected to trust a judge in Fulton County State Court to decide this case over a jury and the judge found our client Not Guilty of the DUI and Not Guilty of the Failure to Maintain Lane, but convicted our client of Speeding (we did not dispute our client was speeding). The judge gave a nominal fine on the speeding charge that our client was more than happy to pay.