Client was stopped by the Dunwoody Police Department for driving 83 in a 55 mile per hour zone. The report had many of the usual manifestations of impairment: bloodshot and glazed eyes, strong smell of alcohol, admission of drinking, evasive answers when questioned by the officer, and a poor performance on the field sobriety evaluations. Client was arrested and taken to jail, where he submitted to a breath test on the Intoxilyzer 5000. He blew a .172, but asked the officer if he could get a second test of his blood. The officer told him that he would need to bond out before he could get a test of his blood. The Court of Appeals had excluded a breath test on this very same issue in State v. Terry, 236 Ga.App. 248 (1999). The State agreed to dismiss the Dunwoody DUI. Client entered a plea to Reckless Driving. His driver’s license was saved, he never returned to jail, and he avoided a DUI conviction!
Tagged: Intoxilyzer 5000
Fulton County State Court: .222 Breath Test and Accident – DUI Dismissed
Client was pulled over after failing to maintain her lane and not using her turn signal while turning onto Piedmont Road in Atlanta. As the officer approached her, she accidentally backed into his patrol car! She was charged with Failure to Signal, Failure to Maintain Lane, Reckless Driving, Improper Backing, DUI Per Se, and DUI Less Safe. At the jail she blew .222 on the Intoxilyzer 5000. Her case began in the City of Atlanta Municipal Court but we decided to transfer it to the State Court of Fulton County for trial. A year and a half after her arrest, her case was finally accused in Fulton County. We knew that there were extenuating circumstances with one of the police witnesses and that the State may have trouble getting him to come to court to testify. The State offered to dismiss the DUI and the client entered a plea to Reckless Driving. Excellent result for a .222 accident case!
Smyrna Municipal Court: .141 Breath Test – DUI Dismissed
Client was pulled over in Smyrna, Georgia for making an improper turn and driving with no headlights. The report noted that client smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech, and admitted to drinking three beers that evening. Client agreed to perform field sobriety evaluations and the video showed a mediocre performance on those evaluations. A breath test was administered at the scene and the result showed positive for alcohol. Client was subsequently arrested for DUI. When the officer read Georgia’s Implied Consent Notice, he gave our client some misleading information that led our client to submit to the state-administered breath test. At the City of Smyrna jail, our client blew a .141 on the Intoxilyzer 5000. We fought hard to convince the Prosecutor that the incorrect and misleading information persuaded our client to submit to the breath test. The Prosecutor eventually agreed and we resolved the case with a plea to Reckless Driving. Client’s license was saved, he stayed out of jail, and he avoided a DUI conviction!
Roswell Municipal Court: .163 Breath Test Case Reduced
After being stopped for Failure to Maintain Lane and Failure to Stop at Stop Sign, client agreed to take Field Sobriety Tests. Officer administered these tests very poorly, and otherwise our client looked and acted completely sober. Despite blowing .163 on the Intoxilyzer 5000, the prosecutor agreed that with the poor administration of FSTs and lack of manifestations, it was questionable that probable cause could be established. Reduced to Reckless Driving.
DeKalb County State Court: .232 Breath Test, Under-21, Accident – DUI Dismissed
Under-21 client was involved in a car accident in her neighborhood. As she was looking at the damage to her car, her passenger climbed into the driver’s seat, put the car into reverse and hit her! The Dekalb County Police Department was called to the scene and immediately arrested her for DUI, without doing any investigation or checking her for injuries. At the jail, she blew a .232 on the Intoxilyzer 5000. During a pre-trial hearing, it was clear that the officer did no investigation before deciding to arrest her. The Solicitor then requested a recess and offered to reduce her case to Reckless Driving. We were able to reset the case until the client turned 21 to save her driving privileges. Client entered a plea to Reckless Driving and was thrilled with the result.
Fulton County State Court: Milton DUI Dismissed
This client was arrested by Milton Police in August 2011 for DUI, Failure to Maintain Lane and Open Container. She blew a .161 on the Intoxilyzer 5000. Two months later, her case was bound over to State Court. Incredibly, the case was not accused until days before the statute of limitations would run, in August 2013. It was finally set for a motions hearing in January 2014, and we argued that our client’s constitutional right to a speedy trial had been violated. Because it had been 29 months since her arrest, and she had suffered from related anxiety to the point of being prescribed medication, the state court judge dismissed the entire case.