She was a foreign national student at the Savannah College of Art and Design (S.C.A.D.) She was charged with DUI unlawful blood alcohol level as a minor – 40-6-391(K)(1); Driving without tail lights; and No permit. She had a DUI breath test of .061% blood alcohol level and the Georgia DUI law says if she had .02 blood alcohol level or more, she’s guilty.

She was pulled over by a Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Officer for No taillight.  He let her go.  He didn’t even bother writing her a warning.  Minutes later, she was pulled over again by a Georgia State Patrol DUI cop and got arrested for DUI, and was taken to the chatham county jail.  She blew in the breath apparatus two times.  The first DUI breath test showed her blood alcohol level at .063 and the second showed her blood alcohol level at .061

We went after the cop who stopped her first. Obviously, the first stopping officer wouldn’t have let her go if he thought she had alcohol in her body.  She was pulled over for a broken taillight. She pulls over normally. She uses her emergency flashers. No slurred speech noted. She exits her car normally. She didn’t have a drivers license because she is from another country.  She told the cop she had one drink about three hours ago.  She is well spoken….Articulate. The observation period for the breath test was violated. The government broke their own rules. And the machine’s records that we subpoenaed showed a broken breath apparatus.

So we filed a Demand for Speedy Trial and and went for them fast. Of course, we told them nothing.  At the Pre-Trial Conference Hearing, one week before the trial, the Prosecutor gave my client an offer to plead guilty to something other than DUI. She said Yes.

It is only in doing it that it can prove to be impossible. How do you know it is impossible until you have tried it? If everybody said it is impossible where would you be? Where would we all be if you just said “Impossible?”

I have seen enough lawyers to whom all DUI blood alcohol level test trials were impossible. In the State Court of Chatham County in Savannah, Georgia she plead the DUI breath test down to Failure to use due care, and No Permit.

Judgment: DUI breath test win for SCAD student

 

In the Bulloch County Superior Court, she was charged with DUI and Failure to maintain lane.  She had breath apparatus readings of .108 and .099. She plead the DUI down to Failure to use due care. What a relief.

She had never been arrested before.  She went to her friend’s house for a girls night, and she drank 3 glasses of wine from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.   She’s driving home on I-16 alone.  She’s pulled over for Failure to maintain lane.  She does the field sobriety tests because she thought she’d go to jail if she didn’t.  She goes to jail.

How did she get rid of the DUI?

The prosecutor is a good man.  He was a pleasure to work with.  I drove to Statesboro for her Administrative License Suspension hearing to begin the fight.  I had a certified court reporter meet me at the courthouse.  We were ready to have a hearing and lose if need be, because we’d get a good transcript to use in the DUI case in the Bulloch County Superior Court Jury trial.  But the plan changed.  The officer is also a great guy.  I had a feeling that this case could get resolved from the cop’s attitude and the way the prosecutor sounded when I spoke to him on the phone.  I was meeting the prosecutor after the license hearing.  So,  I gave the police man a chance to pull out of it.  He pulled out the license suspension and I met the D.A. after lunch.

I walk in his office and there are all the DUI manuals on his desk.  I’m thinking this is going to be fun.  I showed him the arrest video on my iPad.  He pointed out that my girl never failed to maintain lane.  This was a bad stop he thought.  I agreed.  He offered a negotiated plea that would kill the DUI.  So we took it.

Judgment: DUI .108 dropped for student in Statesboro

Josh was charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI) 40-6-391 (a)(1-5), and had a DUI breath test of .132 %; and Failure to maintain lane 40-6-48. At the preliminary hearing in the Chatham County Recorder’s Court in Savannah, Georgia, the Failure to maintain lane charge was dismissed. Josh plead guilty to Reckless Driving and the DUI breath test went away.

DUI Police Report

I was on I-16 at the mile marker 165 operating stationary radar. I observed a vehicle traveling westbound with no tail lights on. As I approached the vehicle I noticed the vehicle was failing to maintain lane. I stopped the car at the 164 mile marker on I-16. I walked up to talk to the driver. At the window I smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage in the car. I noticed that Josh’s speech was slow and slurred. I also noticed the driver’s eyes were watery and bloodshot. I also noticed an open container of what looked like beer in a styrofoam cup in the center console. I asked Josh to get out of the car with his driver’s license and talk to me. I asked him about the beer and he said it was a beer he didn’t finish at the restaurant. I took his license. I noticed that he smelled strongly of an alcoholic beverage. I asked him how much he had to drink tonight, and he told me one beer. I performed standardized field sobriety tests (SFST’s) on Josh and the results are on the DUI part of this report. I checked Josh on the Alco-Sensor preliminary breath test and got a positive response for alcohol. I arrested Josh for DUI. I placed him in my patrol vehicle. I read Josh the Georgia Implied Consent Notice for Suspects over the age of 21. Josh agreed to take the breath test. I took Josh to the Chatham County Jail. I set up the Intoxilyzer 5000 breath test and Josh gave breath test samples of .132 grams blood alcohol content and .141 grams. Josh then asked to take it again. I set it up again and Josh gave samples of .143 grams blood alcohol level and .145 grams.

Judgment: DUI .132 down to reckless for jet engineer