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Decatur DUI Lawyers

1. Lynch, Andrew: DUI Laws In the state of Georgia, it is illegal to drive or be in control of a motor vehicle while intoxicated. DUI arrests and prosecutions are not simply limited to people driving a car with a blood alcohol content above .08. DUI arrests and prosecutions can be based on driving while under the influence of many substances including alcohol, illegal drugs (such as marijuana or cocaine), and even legal medications prescribed by your physician. Per Se vs. Less Safe: In Georgia, a DUI prosecution can be based on two types of evidence. Many people are familiar with what is known as DUI Per Se, where the prosecution's evidence is based on the results of a chemical test of your blood, breath, or urine. The State also will pursue a DUI Less Safe conviction, where the evidence is based on your driving, interaction with the arresting officer, and the results of any field sobriety testing. Field sobriety tests include the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, walk and turn test, and one leg stand test (see field sobriety section). Sentencing: Georgia law requires stiff penalties after a conviction for a DUI including jail time, supervised probation, large fines, suspension of your driver's license, ignition interlock device, alcohol evaluation and treatment, and community service. Many of these penalties are mandatory. This means the judge in your case must impose a certain level of punishment if you are convicted, regardless of the facts of your case. If you are convicted, the indirect costs of a DUI can follow you for years. The price of your insurance coverage will increase. You may be prevented from purchasing insurance altogether. Employment can be harder to find and keep with a DUI on your record. If you drive for a living, a DUI can destroy your career altogether. The penalties for a DUI grow increasingly more severe with each arrest and conviction for DUI. People with multiple DUI's often face increased jail time, larger fines, and extensive periods of license suspension. If you have one or more prior DUI's on your record it is critical to make sure you understand the seriousness of the potential penalties you face. DUI Defenses Potential DUI defenses can exist from the moment the Police turn their attention to you. Before police can stop you, they must have probable cause to believe you are committing a crime. For instance, driving with an expired tag or speeding. After the police stop you, they must also have a legal reason to detain you, remove you from your car, and pursue their DUI investigation and arrest. If these requirements are not met, any and all of these issues can be raised in a pretrial motion to suppress. A motion to suppress challenges the officer's ability to detain and investigate you. If the judge agrees with your motion to suppress, he or she may rule that your constitutional rights have been violated. This can prevent the State from using any of the evidence the officer collected against you. With no evidence, the State's prosecution can be stopped long before a trial. Once you are under arrest many officers forget, ignore, or refuse to tell you your Miranda rights. The Constitution gives you the right to remain silent. This right protects you from making your situation worse. Even where you have admitted to being DUI or to drinking, the admission can be kept out of court if the State cannot establish it was given legally and not in violation of your Constitutional rights. Officers often attempt to collect a sample of your blood, breath, or urine for testing. Before you submit to any of these tests, the arresting officer is required by Georgia law to read you an Implied Consent Notice. It tells you the consequences of refusing the officer's request. If the Officer does not comply with Georgia law any blood, breath, or urine provided, or even the refusal to provide them, can be prevented from being used as evidence by the State in their prosecution of you. In a DUI prosecution the State often has little evidence to show beyond a reasonable doubt that you were the driver. In many cases, the officer is responding to an accident and did not witness you driving and no one else witnessed you driving. It always important to remember the State has to prove more than the fact that you may have consumed some alcohol. In some cases the State is incapable of proving you were even the driver. In cases where a judge finds the evidence an officer allegedly collected against you is allowed to can be used against you at trial, the quality or value of the evidence and the credibility of the officer providing the evidence can be investigated and attacked. In our legal system, the weight or the value of this evidence is for your jury to decide. Everything from the road side field sobriety tests, the arresting officer's training and disciplinary history, the maintenance of the the Breathalyzer machine, to the conditions during the blood or breath sample can be attacked. Being charged and prosecuted for a DUI is a terrible experience. If you are convicted of a DUI it is something that can affect you for years to come, long after the days in jail are over, the time spent on probation has ended, and the loss of your privilege to drive has passed. At the Law Office of Andrew R. Lynch we prepare every case as if it is going to trial. This trial-ready mentality often provides us with the leverage necessary to resolve cases favorably, long before they reach a jury. Refusing the Breath, Blood, or Urine Test Under Georgia's Implied Consent Law anyone driving on the road in the state is presumed to have consented to a chemical test of their blood, breath, or urine when requested by an officer during their investigation of a DUI. If you refuse the chemical test, the arresting officer will likely attempt to take away your privilege to drive. Often, people who have refused to take the State's test during a DUI investigation will loose their license for a full year with no possibility of a limited driving permit. In such cases, your options are severely limited. Often, the only way to get your license back is to get your charge reduced to something other than a DUI or to take your case to trial and get found not guilty. Administrative License Suspension To protect your license you must request an administrative license suspension hearing within ten business days after your arrest for DUI. This is a civil, not criminal, hearing. At this hearing we will do one of two things: either negotiate with the arresting officer about resolving the DUI case with a reduction of the charge to something less serious than DUI or go forward with the hearing to try and save your privilege to drive in the state of Georgia. This hearing is also the first opportunity you have to confront the arresting officer while he is under oath and force the officer to answer your questions. This opportunity is the beginning of the legal proceedings that build the legal and factual defense that may lead to your case being dismissed by the State, reduced to a lesser charge, or a jury finding you not guilty at trial. Field Sobriety Tests Prior to the officer arresting you for a DUI they typically request that you attempt several field sobriety tests. These tests are regulated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Most of Georgia's DUI officers are NHTSA trained and certified. Most officers will ask you to complete a minimum of three field sobriety tests: the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test (HGN), the one-leg stand test, and the walk and turn test. With the administration of each test, the arresting officer is attempting to build a case against you. With each passing test they are collecting information they hope to justify your arrest for DUI. Their reasoning is the worse you perform on their field sobriety tests, the less likely you are to be capable of driving safely. These tests can be attacked from a technical performance approach and a common sense approach. NHTSA requires officers to perform the field sobriety tests according to strict guidelines. Frequently, officers are untrained or poorly trained and the tests rresults are not worth the paper the police report is printed on.
2. Tyler Law Firm: The practice of DUI Defense is one of the most complex areas of law. The review of even a typical DUI arrest involves examining various aspects of the arrest. There are a multitude of ways to challenge a DUI arrest. Often the only difference between your conviction and acquittal is your attorney's knowledge of specific DUI law and police procedure.
3. Shein, Marsha: When you have been arrested for DUI/DWI, it can seem as if your life has been changed in an instant. The change from everyday life to involvement with the troubled waters of the legal system can seem overwhelming. The best chance of restoring life's calm comes from working with an experienced defense attorney.
4. Maloof, Michael: A Driving Under the Influence conviction can have a serious and devastating effect on your life. Under current Georgia laws, an individual with two glasses of wine at dinner might be charged with a DUI without even making a single driving error! If you are faced with a DUI charge, immediately contact an attorney knowledgeable in this area of the law. DUI cases are very complicated to prosecute if the DUI defense attorney holds the prosecution to proper scientific standards. Unlike any other crime in Georgia, this is an opinion crime. In other words, it is the opinion of the officer involved that causes a driver to be charged with a DUI. It involves subjective observations by the officer, which should be challenged aggressively. One officer, predisposed to look for a drunk driver, should be forced to thoroughly explain all of his observations and opinions. Technical points of the law determine whether a traffic stop is permissible, and whether evidence gathered as a result of that stop will be admissible at trial. With years of experience and highly specialized training in identifying the specific legal issues involved with DUI stops and investigations, W. Michael Maloof can provide the expertise to analyze each case thoroughly and with a keen eye for these specific issues. Furthermore, breath and bodily fluid analysis can be flawed. Only an attorney with extensive experience in the scientific principles of the highly technological equipment used for these analyses will provide you the best defense.
5. Scott Pryor: If you have been charged with a DUI or BUI, you need an experienced DUI / BUI lawyer to protect your rights. From the moment you are pulled over, the arresting officers will be collecting evidence to build a case against you. Whether you have been given a breathalyzer, a blood test, or you refused to take a test, an effective DUI / BUI attorney may be able to present evidence to defeat your charge.
6. Smith, Schroeder & O'Connell: Believe it or not, many people who are convicted of a crime and end up in prison were falsely accused. Although the American criminal justice system works in most cases, not all juries get things right, and the consequences can be tragic. An innocent party pays the price for something he or she did not do, while the guilty party roams free. The best way to avoid such an unjust result and ensure the proper outcome when faced with criminal accusations is to immediately seek counsel from the best criminal defense attorneys available. Skilled and knowledgeable defense lawyers know their way around the criminal justice system and can navigate through the complex procedures to ensure the fairest possible conclusion. What to Expect in a Georgia DUI Case A drunk driving arrest almost always starts with getting pulled over. Officers administer field sobriety tests and make an arrest. They bring you to jail. After you bond out, you are given a court date for your arraignment. After talking with your criminal defense lawyer about your options, you may choose to have him work out a plea deal with the prosecutor or enter a guilty plea. But you may also be well advised to fight your case in court. Consequences of a DUI can be serious in Georgia, so it is important that you work with a skilled attorney. A first DUI requires a minimum of 24 hours in jail. For a second DUI within five years, you may be required to spend 72 hours in jail. Georgia law places harsher consequences on a third DUI conviction, but a seasoned DUI lawyer can help you minimize the penalties you may face. Save Your License Ñ Contact Your DUI Defense Lawyer as Soon as Possible When you have been arrested for DUI, contacting an attorney as soon as possible is critical to your success. In Georgia, you have only 20 days from the date of arrest to save your license. If you allow that time period to expire, your driver's license will automatically be suspended for a year.
7. Norman Cuadra: The sworn jury is known as the "Trier of Fact" because the jurors contemplate and decide factual issues, not legal issues. For example, a jury may decide what weight to give a piece of evidence or a person's testimony, but it has no authority to decide whether a statute of limitations has run out, or whether evidence is hearsay.
8. Wystan Getz: People who get cited for traffic offenses or are arrested for dui are not criminals.
10. Conaway, Strickler & Margolis: The criminal penalties for a DUI conviction are severe. A DUI conviction also means higher insurance rates, difficulty renting automobiles and having to say to all current and future job prospects, if asked, that you have a DUI conviction
11. Ellen Gettinger: DUI is shorthand for "Driving Under the Influence." A person is guilty of DUI if he or she drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle and is under the influence of alcoholic beverages or any chemical or controlled substance to the extent that his or her mental faculties are impaired or when his or her blood alcohol level (BAC) is above the legal limit for the state.
12. Johnny Panos: If you are pulled over or are involved in an auto accident and subsequently charged with driving under the influence(DUI), due to drugs or alcohol, you need to be extremely vigilant in making sure you are not wrongly convicted of this offense. In Georgia, there are very severe penalties for driving under the influence. drunk driving, as serious as it is, has been a hot political and emotional issue in this state for some time and unfortunately can cause officials to over step their authority when it comes to enforcing these laws. It is unlawful for a motorist to operate a vehicle in Georgia when a) he/she has 0.08% or more by weight of alcohol in his/her own blood. If an accident occurs and someone is injured, you can also be charged with a felony if you are under the influence. if you are stopped by a police officer for any moving violation, that will constitute probable cause for him to decide whether or not.