DUI

One of the most serious misdemeanors in Georgia is a DUI. The punishment for DUI Charges often include license suspension and possible jail time. It affects your ability to drive going forward and can have serious implications on your job, insurance, and life. If you are looking for a DUI Lawyer in Marietta, The Freedom Lawyers are here to help.

When charged with a DUI, there are both immediate and long-term consequences. First, the Department of driver services automatically suspends your license. Second, you face criminal prosecution in the municipality or county in which you were arrested. 

Our attorneys represent clients accused with DUI all over the Metro-Atlanta area including Fulton County, Cobb County, Cherokee County, Bartow County, and Dekalb County. We also represent clients accused of DUI in Municipalities like City of Kennesaw, City of Acworth, City of Marietta, City of Smyrna, City of Atlanta, and City of Woodstock.

License Suspension

The first thing most people need to worry about is the license suspension. After a DUI arrest, your license is automatically suspended 45 days after the arrest. However, everyone has a right to appeal what they call an administrative license suspension placed on the licenses by department driver services. Department of driver services is an administrative body, which means they don’t answer to the courts and a criminal judge cannot order them to reinstate a license. 

You have 30 days after your DUI arrest to appeal the license suspension. If you miss the 30-day window, your license is suspended. Additionally, you lose the ability to appeal the suspension. To avoid you license suspension, file an appeal within 30 days. You must include a $150 filing fee. This can extend your license until the scheduling of your hearing. 

At the hearing, you have options that an experienced DUI lawyer can explain. They can either negotiate the suspension be lifted, or potentially get the suspension dismissed completely. If there is a hearing, it provides an experienced DUI attorney with an opportunity to cross examine the police officer. This occurs prior to the police officer reviewing any videotape or evidence, in most cases. This also includes questioning the Officer prior to a prosecutor providing prepping them to testify. Doing a good job at the administrative license suspension hearing through DDS can oftentimes create a winning DUI case going forward. 

DUI Case and Administrative License Suspension Are Different

The administrative license suspension (through DDS) and the actual criminal case are two separate processes. When you file the license suspension appeal, you create a process in court dates through department of driver services. 

Separate from that usually on the criminal citation. A court date is listed for either the small city municipality or the county court. Those are the criminal court dates. In the criminal case, you face jail time, probation, and a DUI conviction on your record that will not go away. The DUI conviction can affect your ability to change jobs, and will increase insurance deductibles. Officers will always be able to see that you’ve had a DUI in the past. 

DUI Law

The DUI law in Georgia states specifically that a person shall not drive or being actual physical control of any moving vehicle while under the influence of:

  • Alcohol to the extent that it was less safe to drive. 
  • Any drug to the extent that it’s less safe to drive. 
  • Glue aerosol or other toxic vapor to the extent that is less safe for the person to drive.
  • Two or more substances to the extent that it’s less safe for that person to drive.
  • Person’s alcohol concentration is  .08 grams or more at any time within three hours of such driving or being an actual visible control from alcohol consumed before the driving began.

You are considered under the influence, or DUI, if you drive with any marijuana-based substances in your blood or under the influence of any prescription medication.

It is not a defense that you have a prescription for that drug. If it caused you to be under the influence and incapable of driving safely according to the law, it is a DUI. Any amount of controlled substances in your blood is enough for the State to convict you of DUI. Also, if the State has a blood, breath or urine test, and the results show a blood alcohol concentration of 00.08 grams or more is enough, it is enough for the state to convict you of DUI. 

DUI Punishment

Also, every time you get a DUI the punishment gets much worse. The punishment for DUI is listed in the law itself. 

DUI Per Se

DUI per se is the charge when a person accused of DUI or driving under the influence gives a blood or breath or urine screen and the amount of alcohol in the screen comes back at a level of 0.08 grams or more. If there is a test and the test is 0.08 grams or more, that can be enough for the jury to find you guilty. 

Even if there is a blood test in the case, there are ways to get the blood test ruled out or still win your case. Specifically, if the officers read the implied consent warning wrong, if they arrest you in the wrong order, or if they delay reading you the implied consent they cannot use any tests they obtain against you.

Blood cannot be used against you when it is not preserved pursuant to the proper chain of custody. If it is not tested and sealed at the lab it cannot be used against you. If the witnesses are not available to any aspect of the blood collection, they cannot use the blood results against you.

A seasoned and experienced DUI attorney can get the blood ruled out and greatly help your chances of winning your case. Expertise and knowledge in these problems will increase the possibility the blood will be suppressed. That’s why it’s so important to have an experienced attorney who understands how the state’s going to attack you and try to convict you of the DUI. Our attorneys are all trial season and have tried cases from DUIs all the way up serious felonies including murders and armed robberies. We are the best choice to defend your DUI. Call The Freedom Lawyers today.

DUI Refusal

There’s a reason to always refuse the state’s request for a breath blood or urine test. 

For breath and urine tests, the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that your refusal cannot be used against you at trial. So, if you refuse the State test, in many cases state will not be able to have enough evidence to prove your case. The more States test you refuse, the better your chances of winning the case at trial. 

The same rules do not apply for a blood test. They can say they asked you to take a blood test. However, if your blood comes back at 0.08 grams or more, you are considered DUI per se. According to the law in Georgia, the score of a .08 blood alcohol concentration or more is enough to find you guilty of a DUI. But the test is voluntary – meaning you can refuse to take it.

There are many ways that an experienced DUI attorney can get a blood test ruled out or considered inadmissible. This means the state cannot bring it up in a DUI trial. That greatly increases your ability to fight your case and win.

You only want an experienced DUI specialist working on your DUI case. Contact us for a free DUI consultation. 

DUI Less Safe

DUI less safe alcohol is generally charged when the officers do not have a blood or breath test as part of their DUI investigation. When the officers are charging a DUI less safe, they must prove that you are a less safe driver due to the influence of alcohol or drugs. They do that through the three phases of their investigation.

To do that they’re training tells them there are three parts to a DUI investigation.

  1. Vehicle in motion or some type of traffic offense.
  2. Personal contact with you – what do they see, smell, and hear when they arrive at the window.
  3. The field sobriety evaluations. 

Vehicle in Motion

Committing a traffic offense or having some type of equipment/lighting violation is enough for an officer to stop you. Once stopped, the officer can ask for your license and registration and confirm you are not a danger. They do this by requesting a copy of your license, registration, and insurance.

The best thing to do is avoid getting pulled over. Do this by making sure your headlights and taillights are on and working before leaving your location. Make sure all tag lights work. Make sure you have no distractions on the drive. If you do not have a traffic violation or equipment violation, the police cannot stop you. 

An Officer cannot stop you for no reason unless it’s a road-block. It is important to ensure there are no distractions and you are complying with all road laws. Doing this can prevent the Officer from stopping you for DUI.

Personal Contact

When pulled over, the officer will ask for your license, insurance, and identifying documentation. You have a right to refuse all other questioning. 

An officer can ask you to get out of our vehicle if they smell alcohol. They can also do this if they believe that you have drugs or alcohol in the car. At this point, any tests, or questions that they ask are voluntary. 

You have a right to not take any test and not answer any questions. If you do that, the evidence against you in the DUI case will be minimal. With minimal evidence, you have a good chance of succeeding. All tests and interactions are on camera. When you refuse a test, the only evidence are the words and answers you give to the Officer. The less communication and information you give to the Officer the higher your chance of winning your DUI case. 

We use the footage from the investigation against the officers to point out the issues in their investigation. We also use it to show the differences between what they did and what their training requires. Lastly, we use it to show inconsistencies in their testimony and reports.

Field Sobriety Evaluations

There are 3 Nationally Certified Field Sobriety Evaluations the Officers are trained in administering. They are the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus or HGN test (eye test), the Walk and Turn Test or Walk the Line, and the One Leg Stand.

Each test has multiple steps and multiple clues or parts to the test that the Officer in many cases must do exactly right. When the Officers don’t comply with their training or don’t comply with the steps outlined in their Field Sobriety Evaluation Manual, it hurts their credibility and the validity of their investigation. 

The intricacies of DUI less safe cases and the evaluations that are required and go into the final determination of whether somebody is DUI or driving under the influence is very factually based. You need an expert attorney in this field to be able to see the nuances in the case and defend you to the fullest extent in the law. 

HGN

The HGN is the eye test. This is considered a scientific test and must be done exactly right. If the Officer doesn’t do the evaluations and medical qualifications correctly then they cannot use the results of the Test against you. This test has over 10 independent steps and the Officers routinely makes mistakes. 

If the Officers mess this test up, they cannot use the results and it greatly hurts their chances of convicting you at trial. If you fight your DUI alone or use an attorney who is not a specialist in this field, it will hurt your chances of success. 

Our attorneys are trained in the steps of the HGN evaluation and use the manual at all hearings. We use it as a weapon against the Officers and the State because they often don’t follow their own training. If they don’t, you can win. But you need someone who knows the difference. The Freedom Lawyers are the best choice.

Walk and Turn and One Leg Stand

These tests are considered divided attention tests and dexterity tests. They are not scientific in the same way the HGN test is. That is because they are based on balance and a person’s ability to follow complex directions.

Many times, the Officers don’t give the proper or complete directions. The failure to do so disobeys their training and hurts their credibility on the witness stand. It undercuts their investigation and greatly increases your ability to beat the DUI charge.

DUI cases are so factually specific, and training based that the more your attorney knows, the better your chance of success. We fight and win cases where mistakes are made during the Walk and Turn and One Leg Stand all the time. Make the right choice. Hire The Freedom Lawyers.

DUI Over 21

You have certain rights when charged with a DUI. You have a right to:

  • Refuse any testing.
  • Decline a breath test.
  • Turn down a blood test.
  • Refuse a urine test.
  • Be treated fairly.
  • Have officer comply with their training.
  • Be read implied consent correctly.
  • Medical treatment and evaluation after a crash.
  • Not answer any questions not related to your license, insurance and identity.
  • Not take any Field Sobriety Evaluations
  • Due process in the DUI arrest
  • If they take a test, to an independent test from a physician of their choosing (from neighboring county).

You do not have a right to refuse to give the officer your license. You also must get out of the car if they ask. But every time you exert a right, it’s an opportunity for the Officer to make a mistake. An Officer’s mistake can be the difference between winning your DUI case and a DUI conviction on your record. It’s important to both know your rights as a driver accused of DUI. It is also important to hire one of our Freedom Lawyers who specializes in fighting these DUI cases. We fight and we fight to win for you.

DUI with a CDL License

Blurry car headlights on a street at night

A person is driving a commercial vehicle and their blood alcohol concentration is over 0.04 grams or more they are guilty of DUI and face the same punishments as someone convicted of DUI Less Safe or DUI Per Se. 

Additionally, they face losing the CDL License permanently with and DUI Offense. Because the ramifications are so great for CDL Drivers, it’s important to know your rights in any DUI Investigation and to hire a qualified and experienced DUI attorney to fight your case all the way to trial if the State is not willing to change the Charges. At the Freedom Lawyers, that’s what we do.

DUI under 21

If the person is under the age of 21 with a blood alcohol concentration is 0.02 grams or more, they are DUI. If you are under 21 and are arrested for DUI, you are not eligible for a limited drivers permit and your license will be suspended. Further, even after the conviction you are not eligible for a limited drivers permit. 

These restrictions stay in place until they expire, or you turn 21 years of age. In some cases, the resolution can be delayed to a point where the conviction will not suspend your license. That’s why an attorney experienced in fighting Under 21 DUI cases can make all the difference.

People charged with DUI under 21 have the same rights as those over 21. They have a right to:

  1. Refuse any testing.
  2. Decline a breath test.
  3. Turn down a blood test.
  4. Refuse a urine test.
  5. Be treated fairly.
  6. Have officer comply with their training.
  7. Be read implied consent correctly.
  8. Medical treatment and evaluation after a crash.
  9. Not answer any questions not related to your license, insurance and identity.
  10. Not take any Field Sobriety Evaluations
  11. Due process in the DUI arrest
  12. If they take a test, to an independent test from a physician of their choosing (from neighboring county).

You do not lose these rights because of your age. Officers cannot treat you differently because you are under the age of 21. You have the same rights as someone over 21 during the evaluation process and court process. It’s always best to be respectful but decline any questioning or evaluations. Except for a blood test, refusing these tests cannot be held against you. It also limits the evidence the State has. It helps experienced DUI Trial Lawyers to fight and win your case.

Child Endangerment by DUI

Further if a person has a child in the vehicle, at the time they’re charged with DUI alcohol or DUI drugs, it’s considered a separate offense of endangering a child by driving under the influence. It shall not be merged or combined or any other offense like the DUI – meaning you will have a separate punishment for both. A person convicted for driving endangering a child while driving under the influence faces punishment of:

  1. A minimum shall be fined not more than $1,000.
  2. Should be prison what not more than 12 months or both.

DUI Specialist

Because DUI conviction cause such serious consequences it’s important to have an experienced DUI lawyer who knows the ins and outs of the law and DUI investigative technique. Our attorneys are former DUI prosecutors, and we go to annual trainings on updates in the DUI law and procedures that the officers are trained to follow. 

The DUI testing is nationally standardized. Whether in Georgia or anywhere in the United States, the test is performed the same exact way. It’s a nationally standardized manual put forward by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through the federal government. The officers are trained in the exact way to perform the test and have to pass special training to administer the test. 

DUI Lawyer in Marietta, Cobb County

Any mistakes or deviations from their training can affect the accuracy of the DUI test that they administer. Our attorneys use the NHTSA field sobriety evaluation manual in our cross examinations. With it, we highlight any mistakes the officer made, and why when they deviate from their training the validity of the tests deteriorates.

We use our knowledge of the officer’s manual and processes to our advantage. This expertise helps us to win your case. Contact The Freedom Lawyers for a free evaluation of your DUI case.