James is a Banker in Savannah, Georgia. He was charged with Driving under the influence (DUI) and he took a breath test which showed .152%.
James left downtown Savannah and got pulled over. The officer asked James to exit the vehicle with his license. The officer smelled a very strong odor of some type of alcoholic beverage coming from James breath. The police report said James was swaying, had red, bloodshot eyes, and slurred speech. James told the cop, “I only had two beers.” The officer gave James the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus field sobriety test and saw six clues. James did the One Leg Stand field sobriety test and the the cop saw two clues. James did the Walk and Turn test and the cop saw four clues. James then tested positive on the Alco-Sensor FST at .157.
“Turn around,” the police officer said. James did as commanded, and felt the cold hard metal of cuffs going on his wrists. He was arrested and charged with DUI/alcohol, Failure to maintain lane, and Following too closely. He was taken to the Chatham County Jail and gave a breath test of .152 on the Intoxilyzer 5000.
We got ready for the Preliminary hearing by sending off a subpoena to the arresting police agency demanding the Police reports, statements by defendant, audio and video tapes, repair and service records of video cameras, photographs of defendant, independent test forms, CAD printouts, mobile data terminal printouts, police dispatch records, Intake forms, chemical test results, log sheets, technical data on intoxilyzer, repair and calibration records on intoxilyzer, inspection certificates, and gas chromatograph printouts.
In the Garden City Municipal Court of Chatham County, Georgia the court agreed to drop the DUI and the Failure to maintain lane and the Following too closely charges to Failure to exercise due care.
Judgment: Banker’s DUI down to Failure to use care
