Atlanta Jury Acquits Client of DUI – DUI Dropped

By: William C. Head, DUI Lawyer

Prosecutor in Atlanta Rejected A Reckless Driving Plea

The Atlanta prosecutor rejected a reckless driving plea instead of a DUI, and jury acquits Client of DUI – Fulton County State Court, Atlanta, GA

The client, a teacher’s aide whose goal was to become a full-time teacher, was arrested for DUI in Atlanta, near Georgia Tech, where she was a college student. Her parents contacted DUI lawyer Bubba Head, through a contact at Mr. Head’s daughters’ school.

The parents wanted to hire the most experienced DUI lawyer in Atlanta, for clearing their daughter’s record. Mr. Head offered the parents his fee as senior partner, and two other legal fee options (lower than Mr. Head’s cost) for Atlanta criminal defense attorneys who were in his DUI law firm, a partner, and an associate. Of all the best DUI attorneys in Atlanta they considered, they selected Mr. Head, based on his extensive trial experience as an Atlanta lawyer.

After the case could not be worked out to a lesser charge, the case proceeded to the State Court of Fulton County. Despite the arrest date, the Fulton County State Court more than a year to draw up an accusation for the DUI offense. Mr. Head filed a statutory speedy trial demand based on the fact that the Client’s employment opportunities were being limited by this pending Atlanta DUI case, which she had to report to all prospective employers.

At the time of her arrest, the Client refused to submit to the official breath test after she was placed under arrest for driving while intoxicated. This is the test given back at the station or jail and administered by an Intoxilizer 9000. This large machine is different than the portable breath tester my client was asked to blow into while she sat in her car. The official breathalyzer test would almost certainly have resulted in the drunk driving case being dropped since she had very little to drink on the night of her arrest.

She also foolishly attempted to perform each field sobriety test offered by the officer. She thought that she HAD to do these roadside evaluations until Bubba Head later explained to her that all sobriety tests, done at the roadside, are 100% voluntary. These tests include the horizontal gaze nystagmus or HGN, the walk and turn or WAT, and the one-legged stand or OLS. All tests are designed for failure so they are damaging to your case.

The Prosecutor at the State Court of Fulton County reject all efforts for a reduced plea to reckless driving, despite the Client’s clean driving record, 4.0 GPA, and an extreme need to keep her criminal record free of a DWI conviction.

Attorney Head Decimates a Key Witness Leading to an Acquittal

Predictably, the Atlanta police officer claimed that she did not do well on these highly subjective evaluations. The speedy trial motion was not successful at getting the case dismissed, so the driving under the influence case went forward as a jury trial at the Fulton State Court. The client was then acquitted of DUI by the jury after Mr. Head decimated the poorly trained officer on errors he made in giving the field sobriety test battery.

The Atlanta officer’s performance and scoring of the HGN were especially poor and did not comply with the requirement of exact compliance in Session VIII of the Standardized Field Sobriety Test practitioner’s manual.

The DUI acquittal protected the Client’s ability to seek employment as a teacher later. However, after her court experience in this case, the Client decided to attend law school and is now a practicing Georgia attorney. Even though she has started law practice, she is not one of the attorneys in Atlanta handling DUI defense.

Our Atlanta criminal law office never recommends talking to police, either at the scene of the crime or back at the station. If arrested don’t talk about your case with other inmates. These inmates may tell a guard if you tell them something damaging to your case like, “Man, I’m lucky the cops didn’t look under the back seat where I hid the drugs.” Anyone is a snitch when they want to get out of jail ahead of you.

The overwhelming majority of our clients are released from jail earlier than planned, usually within hours of being booked in and processed. Always be alert in jail. Do not make fast friends. Try to be with a group of inmates and not be alone at all times. Respect your “phone time” and ask another inmate for help if using a code is too difficult at the moment. Do not argue with anyone even if you are right. Try to get out the word that you are in jail and need help bonding out. Jail phones are not party lines. You will have to make several calls to coordinate who is picking you up, and when. Then you have to arrange to get your car out of the impound lot. A long night is ahead. We can help correct this nightmare.

We Can Help With All Misdemeanor and Felony DUIs

Drinking and driving do not mix well, but we are not here to judge. Sometimes drinking and driving overlap even when you don’t want that to happen (sleep-driving). What we can do is step in and do our job like we have done for over 40 years in Fulton, Gwinnett, DeKalb, Forsyth, Cobb, and Clarke Counties. We drive to your court locations and meet you before court starts. Once you are called up to the bench your criminal defense attorney, the prosecutor, and you approach the judge and begin answering the judge’s questions. You should remain silent unless directly asked a question.

The judge may order everyone back to their tables and then call a recess, or he may confer with only the lawyers. Practice patience in court, and courtesy. Your demeanor can tell the judge and the prosecutor a lot about your willingness to right your wrongs. Again, this is not the time to be right. It is time to be prepared.

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