Wyatt is a top-level Gulfstream Engineer and he needed to beat this DUI to keep his job. He was charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI) – 40-6-391, and Speeding.  We were ready for the jury trial. The field sobriety test expert witness came to Savannah, Georgia the night before. This case had been rescheduled several times, and Wyatt wanted this case to end. When I walked into the courtroom that day, the police officer was not there. The Assistant District Attorney asked the judge for a continuance. The judge looked at me and asked if I had any response.

I objected to a continuance, because Georgia law says that a continuance shall not be granted to the State, except upon a reasonable showing therefore. The State must first show that they filed a formal and proper motion. The Chatham County Assistant District Attorney in this case didn’t file anything. My client hired an expert witness to show the jury why the field sobriety tests in this case were bad. Our expert is from Atlanta, Georgia and he came to Savannah last night for this trial. If this case is continued Wyatt will have to hire and pay the expert witness all over again. That would be a total waste of money. We are ready for trial. We object to continuance. We ask you to dismiss this case for lack of prosecution.

The Chief State Court Judge dismissed the DUI charge and the Speeding charge. We won.  It was 10:00 a.m. and this case was over.  Wyatt and I walked out of the State Court of Chatham County and went and ate a nice breakfast.

Judgment – State Court DUI Dismissed for Engineer

“I’m so nervous,” he said. “They have a verdict in one hour…Is that good?” “I don’t know,” I said, “I’ve seen it go both ways.” The Clerk of the Chatham County State Court read the verdict: “For the charge of DUI less safe, we the jury find the defendant, Mr. B not guilty.” He grabbed my arm. I looked him in the eye. They looked red and watery. I was glad for him.

Mr. B is from Jamaica. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife and child. He works for Delta. The night that this happened he was working in Chatham County. He had worked from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. He went out, had two beers, and headed back to the Condo on Tybee Island. He got pulled over on Butler Avenue for Speeding by a Tybee Island police officer.

The police officer asked him, “Do you know why I stopped you?” Mr. B said, “Because I was going too fast.” The police officer asked him if he wanted an accuracy check on the radar, and Mr. B said “No.” The Tybee officer smelled alcohol and saw that his eyes looked sleepy and told him to get out of the car. The cop asked how much he had drunk. Mr. B told him two beers. He asked him to do some field sobriety tests and within nine minutes he handcuffed Mr. B and arrested him for DUI less safe alcohol 40-6-391(a)(1) and Speeding 40-6-181.

I needed to prove that the police officer gave the field sobriety tests wrong, and invalidated them. The thing was that this police officer was straight and true. He is a good man, and I rather liked him. So there I was; I had him on cross-examination and I knew he gave the field sobriety tests wrong. Half-way through, I decided to stop challenging him face to face. I called in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration DUI Detection & Standardized Field Sobriety Tests Instructor. He testified that the Tybee police officer did not do the field sobriety tests correctly which made them invalid and unreliable.

There was no video, so I called an investigator to the stand and he showed the jury photographs of where all of this happened on Tybee Island.

We started at nine in the morning and finished around eight in the evening. It took the jury one hour to decide to let Mr. B go home not guilty to DUI less safe, and guilty of Speeding. I am grateful because the Judge of Chatham County State Court gave us a fair trial, and that to me is a square shake.

Judgment: Not Guilty to DUI in One Hour

In the State Court of Chatham County Georgia, the jury gave the verdict: Not guilty to DUI, less safe (alcohol) 40-6-391(a)(1). The charge for no headlights was dismissed.

Calvin was asleep when the phone rang. Kat and Mike needed a ride home. He had been with them earlier. He had gone downtown in Savannah around seven that evening. He had three beers and went home at ten because he was tired and had to work the next day. Now it was three in the morning and Calvin got up. He drove back downtown to Savannah. He picked them up and headed back to Pooler when he got pulled over by the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police for no headlights.

The cop saw that Calvin wore a wristband from a bar in Savannah. He ordered him out of the Infiniti. On I-16 he had Calvin do some DUI field sobriety tests. He found Calvin’s attempts to be wrong. He arrested him for DUI, less safe (alcohol) 40-6-391(a)(1); and no headlights. He locked him in handcuffs. He put him in the back of his car. Then he asked Calvin to take a breath test at the the Chatham County Georgia jail. Calvin said “No,” because he had done everything else the cop asked and look where that got him.

We hired a DUI field sobriety expert instructor.  He testified that the police officer did the One Leg Stand wrong as well as the Walk and Turn, and invalidated both of them.  We also hired an investigator to take pictures of the location in Chatham County Georgia. He testified that the shoulder of I-16 was not flat and level and was in bad condition.

In the end the jury gave the verdict: Not guilty to DUI, less safe (alcohol) 40-6-391(a)(1) in Chatham County Georgia. The violation of the headlights requirement charge was dismissed.

Judgment: DUI Not Guilty in Chatham County

In the Pooler Municipal Court of Chatham County, Georgia my client (we’ll call him Joe) was charged with DUI less safe – 40-6-391(a)(1), and Failure to maintain lane – 40-6-48. He pleaded guilty to Failure to use due care.  The charges of DUI less safe – refusal, and Failure to maintain lane disappeared.

From the Pooler police officer’s video, you can see that Joe never crossed a lane line.  Joe didn’t even touch the lane line.  But, the video shows that the police officer did cross the right lane line when he was behind Joe.  When the police officer puts the blue lights on, Joe pulls over fine.  But, the police report says Joe almost hit the curb.  Didn’t happen — Did Joe almost speed?  Did Joe almost throw something out the window?  The report doesn’t mention that Joe braked properly, used his turn signal, switched off his turn signal, pulled over correctly, came to a complete stop, put the Mercedes in park, turned off lights, shut the Benz off, and had his license in hand before the police officer walked up.

The Pooler police officer asked Joe if he had been drinking and Joe said he had three drinks over the past four hours.  The cop then ordered Joe out of his car.  The cop asked Joe to try the Walk and Turn field sobriety test.  Joe told the police officer he couldn’t do that because of medical reasons.  The police officer then gave Joe a preliminary breath test, and then arrested Joe and asked him to take a breath test at the Chatham County police station.  Joe said “No.”

I prepared Joe’s case the same way I always do; as if it will be a jury trial in the State Court of Chatham County.  But, then a wonderful opportunity came along the way.  The police officer agreed to let Joe plead guilty to Failure to use due care instead of DUI.  What a marvelous thing.

Judgment: DUI Down to Failure to Use Due Care