In a must win case, Skip Sullivan and Bob Chestney were able to avoid an administrative license suspension for our CDL holder while his DUI case was pending and got a Not Guilty verdict from a judge in Fulton County State Court. Our client was asleep in his vehicle alongside a roadway in Sandy Springs. While on patrol, a Sandy Springs police officer came upon our client’s vehicle parked on the side of the road with the two driver’s side tires over the solid while fog line. Our client was asleep in the back seat of his car with throw up in the back of the car as well as outside on a door handle and on the ground. Once awoken and out of his car, client was very disoriented and showed visible signs of impairment. During the course of the investigation, the Sandy Springs officer had client sit back in his car. Client then proceeded to start up his car and revved the engine multiple times. The officer then turned off the car, grabbed the keys and got the client out of the car. As Sandy Springs DUI officer was called to the scene to assist in the DUI investigation. After performing field sobriety, client was arrested for DUI in Sandy Springs, Improper Parking, and Failure to Change Address within 60 days. At trail, Mr. Sullivan crossed examined the officers on their observations and argued the the judge that the prosecution had not met its burden of proving that defendant moved his vehicle at any point and if the prosecution was able to prove that the vehicle moved at some point, the prosecution had no evidence whether client was impaired at the time the vehicle was parked at that location. The Fulton County State Court judge agreed and found our client Not Guilty of DUI, Not Guilty of Failing to Change Address within 60 Days, but Guilty of the Improper Parking charge (Georgia DDS assesses no points for this offense). Client was able to save his Georgia CDL and his career.
Recent DUI Defense Successes in Georgia Courts
Atlanta DUI (two car accident), reduced to Reckless Driving
Our client ran a red light in Atlanta and struck another vehicle. Atlanta Police responded to investigate. Our client admitted to drinking and after an investigation, was arrested for DUI in Atlanta. He agree to take the state’s breath test at the jail, but after an unexplained two hour delay, his alcohol level dropped to a .077. The Fulton County State Court prosecution had the ability to present evidence that our client was over .o8 at the time of driving as well as being DUI less safe. Mr. Sullivan was able to persuade the prosecution that they would still have a difficult time proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The Atlanta DUI and Red Light charges were dismissed in exchange for a negotiated plea to Reckless Driving.
Union City DUI (dismissed), plea to Reckless Driving
Our client was stopped by Union City Police from a call of a disturbance at a gas station (client got into a heated argument with the clerk). Officer also noticed a headlight out. Client showed signs of drinking and impairment and was arrested for DUI and No Headlight. Client also lived out of state and missed his court appearance for his Union City DUI in Fulton County State Court and a bench warrant was issued. Mr. Sullivan was able to get the bench warrant lifted in Fulton County State Court and negotiate a dismissal of the Union City DUI charge in exchange for a plea to Reckless Driving.
Forsyth County 2/5 DUI Reduced to Reckless Driving
Client arrested in Forsyth County for DUI, and he refused the state-administered breath test. He has a 2012 DUI conviction, so this would have been a 2nd in 5 years, subjecting him to about six months in jail and a lengthy license suspension if convicted again. Bob Chestney was selected as lead counsel, and several motions were filed, including a Motion to Suppress his Refusal on Georgia Constitutional grounds (based on the recent Olevik v. State decision by the GA Supreme Court). At the motion hearing, the State agreed to reduce the DUI to Reckless Driving with no jail.
Although we had lost the ALS hearing, resulting in a 12-month license suspension for the refusal, that suspension will be immediately terminated and deleted from his driving record.
Roswell Fleeing and Attempting to Elude: Reduced to Reckless Driving
Our client was clocked doing 92 in a 65 mph zone on Georgia 400 south by Roswell Police. The Roswell police officer attempted to catch up to our client to initiate a traffic stop. Our client took a quick turn onto a side street and ran through a stop sign while the officer was pursuing him with his emergency equipment on. Client eventually stopped and was placed in an investigatory detention and charged with speeding, fleeing and attempting to elude, and reckless driving. Fleeing and attempting to elude carries a very harsh statutory mandatory minimum penalty of 10 days in jail. Mr. Sullivan was able to convince the prosecutor in Roswell that this particular case did not warrant the prosecutor pursuing the fleeing and attempting to elude charge or the speeding charge (a 4 point offense) and negotiated a plea to only the reckless driving charge, avoiding jail time for our client.
Carrollton Driving While License Suspended: Dismissed
Our client was stopped by a City of Carrollton police officer and cited for driving while license suspended. The license was suspended prior to the stop due to our client paying a speeding ticket on line and not realizing that it caused a $200 assessment by Georgia Department of Driver Services for super speeder. The assessment went to an old address and caused the license to be suspended for failing to pay the $200 DDS assessment on time. Mr. Sullivan was able to assist his client in clearing up what was causing the license suspension, which in turn helped Mr. Sullivan negotiate a full dismissal of the driving while license suspended charge in Carrollton Municipal Court.
Covington DUI Refusal: Reduced to Reckless Driving
A concerned citizen was following our client and called in to Georgia State Patrol that our client was failing to keep the vehicle in a single lane. A Georgia State Trooper spotted our client’s vehicle and also noticed it failing to maintain the vehicle within the lane. The trooper initiated a traffic stop in Covington, Georgia and after a brief conversation, allowed our client to drive off. The Trooper then saw our client drive off onto the shoulder of the road and stopped the vehicle again. A DUI investigation began, where our client performed field sobriety evaluations and tested high on a portable alcosensor (almost twice the legal limit). Our client was subsequently arrested for a DUI in Covington. Mr. Sullivan was able to convince the prosecutor that the client performed well enough on field sobriety evaluations that a jury might not convict on the DUI charge. The prosecutor agreed and a plea to reckless driving was negotiated.
Cobb County DUI Breath Test .173: Reduced to Reckless Driving
Our client was charges with a Cobb County DUI after being stopped for failing to maintain his lane. Marietta Police conducted an investigation for DUI where our client agreed to submit to field sobriety evaluations. Our client was subsequently arrested for DUI and took the state breath rest with a result of .173. The case began in Marietta Municipal Court, but the Marietta DUI charge was sent over to Cobb County State Court to preserve our client’s right to a jury trial. Mr. Sullivan conducted a motions hearing to exclude the .173 breath test from being admissible at trial. While the judge was deciding the motions, Mr. Sullivan was able to persuade the prosecutor that the test would be inadmissible at trial. Subsequently, Mr. Sullivan negotiated with the prosecutor to dismiss the Cobb DUI charge and our client enter a plea to reckless driving.
Johns Creek Underage (Under 21) Alcohol Possession: Dismissed
Our seventeen year old client was involved in soliciting a person to buy alcohol for him and a friend in Johns Creek. At the same time of the purchase, Johns Creek Police Department was conducting a sting operation to catch people who buy alcohol for kids who are under 21. Once the sale of alcohol was complete and our client and friend received the alcohol, Johns Creek moved in and detained our client and friend. Our client was then charged with underage alcohol possession in Johns Creek. Mr. Sullivan was able to get his client into a pretrial diversion program, which our client completed successfully. This resulted in the charge being dismissed by the court. This also saved our young client from having a criminal history, let alone a conviction for underage alcohol possession.
Woodstock DUI: Reduced to Reckless Driving
Our Woodstock DUI client was observed by Woodstock Police throwing up besides her car in a parking lot. Our client then drove off not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign exiting the parking lot. The Woodstock police officer initiated a traffic stop and client pulled back into the same parking lot. A DUI investigation was conducted after the officer smelled a strong odor of alcohol coming from our client, observed bloodshot, watery eyes, and observed our client vomiting. Our client performed field sobriety evaluations and scored the maximum clues on the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus evaluation, 5 out of 8 possible clues on the Walk and Turn evaluation, and 1 out 4 clues on the One Leg Stand evaluation. She was then arrested and charged with DUI and running a stop sign. Mr. Sullivan was able to successfully negotiate with the Woodstock solicitor (prosecutor) to drop the DUI charge in exchange for a plea to Reckless Driving.