 Michael Hawkins |
CITY OF ATLANTA - REFUSAL - ROADBLOCK State v. W.C. Defendant was stopped at roadblock in the City of Atlanta. The officer accused him of not stopping properly and ordered him out of the vehicle. The field sobriety evaluations were videotaped, showing that Defendant did not look nearly as impaired as the police officer described in his report. Defendant was arrested and asked to submit to a breath test. Feeling that he was not properly arrested, he refused to blow and the officer filed a Notice of Suspension for one year. At trial the jury saw the videotape. After deliberating for less than 20 minutes, the Jury found Defendant Not Guilty of DUI. COBB COUNTY - .17O BREATH - ACCIDENT State v. A.G. Defendant was involved in an accident when he rear-ended the car in front of him at an intersection in Cobb County. He was questioned by the police about where he had been and how much he had to drink. According to the arresting officer, he was unable to successfully complete field sobriety evaluations. The officer read the implied consent warning asking for a breath test. A wrecker was called to tow Defendant's car, and the officer attended to other duties associated with the accident. Some time later, Defendant was advised he was under arrest for DUI. The breath test resulted in a .17. The judge ruled at a pretrial motions hearing that implied consent warning had not been read at the time of arrest, which is required, and excluded the breath test from evidence. The prosecutor reduced the charge to Reckless Driving and dismissed the DUI charge prior to trial. DEKALB COUNTY - .12 BLOOD - ACCIDENT State v. S.J. Defendant stuck a DeKalb County police car which had parked on the shoulder of the ramp from I-285 East to I-85 South. The officer was investigating a previous one-car wreck that occurred on the wet roadway. According to the officer, when asked why he hit the car, Defendant responded "because I've had too much to drink." Several officers became involved with the arrest of Defendant and he was asked to submit to a blood test, which resulted in a .12 blood alcohol level. At a pretrial motions hearing, the State failed to produce any officer to testify that Defendant was read his implied consent rights prior to taking the blood test. The judge excluded the blood test result from evidence. The jury acquitted Defendant of all charges. GWINNETT COUNTY - REFUSAL - SPEEDING State v. S.A. Defendant was stopped for speeding 72 in a 55 MPH zone. The officer testified that he smelled alcohol when he spoke to Defendant. Field sobriety evaluations, including the horizontal gaze nystagmus (eye test), 9-step Walk & Turn, and One-Leg Stand tests were administered. The defendant was arrested and asked to submit to a breath test. Defendant asked to speak with a lawyer before deciding whether to submit to the test. The arresting officer advised Defendant that he did not have the right to a lawyer at that time and Defendant "refused" to take the test. Defendant testified at trial that he would have taken the test if he had been able to speak with a lawyer to find out what his rights were. On questioning by the prosecutor, Defendant admitted he had four beers at a sports bar earlier that night. The jury found the Defendant Not Guilty of DUI and Guilty of Speeding. COBB COUNTY - .14 BREATH - WIDE TURN State v. J.P. Defendant was stopped by Georgia State Patrol for making a wide left turn, given field sobriety tests, and arrested for DUI. Subsequent breath test registered .14. At the motions hearing, no evidence was suppressed, but it became clear to the prosecutor that the arresting officer was very inexperienced and would not be a strong witness at trial. The State dismissed the DUI charges, and J.P. pled guilty to Reckless Driving.
CITY OF ATLANTA - .14 BREATH - FAILURE TO SIGNAL AND WEAVING State v. A.G. Early New Year's morning, Defendant was stopped for weaving and failure to use his signal when turning into a gas station. After submitting to field sobriety evaluations, he was arrested by a member of the DUI Task Force. Defendant was taken to a nearby roadblock where a Batmobile was located and blew a .14. The entire incident was recorded on a video camera in the officer's police car. Defendant brought Dr. Francis Gengo, a pharmacologist from New York, to testify that based on the video he was not impaired and that his performance on the field tests, his speech, behavior, and conversation were inconsistent with a person with a blood alcohol level of .0 or higher. In addition, the defense was able to provide evidence to the jury that the breath machine had not been properly inspected under the law. The jury found Defendant Not Guilty of DUI and Weaving. He was found Guilty of Failure to Use Signal and given a fine. CARROLL COUNTY - .09 BREATH - SPEEDING State v. R.S. Defendant was stopped by Georgia State Patrol for speeding, given field sobriety tests, and arrested for DUI. Subsequent breath test registered .09. At the motions hearing, no evidence was suppressed, but it became clear to the prosecutor that the arresting officer was very inexperienced and would not be a strong witness at trial. The State dismissed the DUI charges, and R.S. pled Guilty to speeding. DEKALB COUNTY - REFUSAL - IMPROPER LANE CHANGE State v. H.S. Defendant was stopped for crossing 5 lanes of traffic without using a signal. While the officer was trying to explain the field sobriety tests, Defendant became verbally abusive with the officer and used profanity. Defendant was arrested for DUI. On the way to the police station, Defendant urinated in the backseat of the patrol car. Defendant refused to submit to a breath test. Although the jury felt that the Defendant's behavior may have shown he was impaired, they felt the State had not proven the case beyond a reasonable doubt. He was found Not Guilty. |
