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McDonough DUI Lawyers

• Clay Davis: In the State of Georgia, it is not illegal to drink and drive. It is illegal to be intoxicated and drive. If you have been charged with drunk driving in Georgia and have a Class "C" orCommercial Drivers License (CDL), you have 10 business days to request an administrative license suspension hearing. Failure to do so will result in an automatic one-year license suspension. If you are arrested for drunk driving and refuse to take a blood, breath or urine test which measures your alcohol content (BAC) test, or if your BAC result is .08 or higher, you will be faced with an administrative license suspension. You may appeal this suspension but you have only 10 business days to do so. If you do not appeal the suspension within 10 days you lose all rights to an appeal, and your license will be suspended automatically. If you are an under the legal drinking age, such as a student at Clayton College and State University, different BAC limits apply to your drunk driving or DUI charge. If you contact our law office right away, there are ways we can help in your drunk driving defense. For example, the arraignment is a critical point because motions must be filed at or before arraignment. If our law office believes you have a solid legal issue that could dispose of your charge, we'd schedule a motion hearing with the court. A good DUI defense begins with a detailed dissection of the facts and details of the case, before memory fades. Some examples of drunk driving defense are: an officer must have a reasonable articulable suspicion to make a stop (stops can not be random); roadblocks must be well identified & marked with cones or flashers (roadblocks can not violate your 4 th amendment rights); field sobriety tests have to be conducted properly (many rules apply); Implied Consent Warnings must be read (one for those over 21 years of age and one for those under 21 years of age); and a Miranda warning may apply. DUI convictions hold up when the arresting officers follow all of the rules and regulations, and the BAC is over the limit. In the case of a conviction, actions you undertake could help mitigate any penalties you may receive, such as undergoing AA treatment, starting a program to understand use of alcohol, or completing a Risk Reduction Course (driving school). Georgia will seek to suspend your driver's license (for those licensed to drive by the State of Georgia) or your privilege to operate a car anywhere within the State of Georgia for a period of one year if you refuse a failed sobriety test. All drivers who SUBMIT to the State's test and yield a blood alcohol result 0.080 or higher, a suspension under Georgia's Administrative License Suspension Law (ALS) will be applicable. Your license (Georgia licensees) or your privilege to drive in Georgia (licensees from other states) will be administratively SUSPENDED for one year if you are a first time offender. Habitual offenders, who have a history of driving under the influence, will be given harsher penalties.