Mr. Sullivan represented a client who was camping in Gilmer County. His vehicle got stuck in the mud and a tow truck was called. A 911 call was placed and a Gilmer County Sheriff’s Deputy went to the tow truck company and followed our client. It was raining and our client did not have his head lights on. A traffic stop was initiated and a DUI investigation took place. The deputies were very friendly, but were not proficient in field sobriety evaluations and also did not place our client under arrest before the Georgia Implied Consent Notice was read. Our client did agree to take the state breath test and the result was .143. The legal limit in Georgia is .08. He was charged with a Gilmer County DUI. Mr. Sullivan was able to persuade the prosecutor that the deputies did not follow training protocol for standardized field sobriety evaluations and the results are compromised. Also, the breath test was inadmissible because our client was not under arrest when the implied consent notice was read. The prosecution still could have proceeded on a DUI “less safe” charge, but agreed to dismiss the DUI charges and our client entered a plea to a lesser traffic offense of Reckless Driving.
