DUI STOP
So you’ve been stopped by the Police. What do you do? If the police suspect you have been drinking, or are under the influence of a drug of some sort (including legally prescribed medication), they will ask you to get out of your car. This will be your first clue that you are under suspicion. At this point, their job is to collect sufficient evidence to arrest you and obtain a conviction against you. They do not care whether you are in fact guilty of DUI; their concern is an arrest that will stick. So how do the police usually collect such evidence? From you, of course. Do not give it to them. When they ask you if you’ve had anything to drink, no matter what you answer, they will believe you’ve had a substantial amount to drink. So simply decline to answer. You cannot be forced to give testimony against yourself.
Next, the police will request that you submit to a series of “Field Sobriety Evaluations.” Again, participation is up to you, and unless you ask, they will not tell you that you have a right to decline. But you do have such a right, and, remembering that these “evaluations” are designed to ensure that you fail, you may wish to consider refusing to perform them. Simply tell the officer, in as clear a voice as you can maintain (remember, assume everything you say and do is being videotaped), that you would prefer not to do these tests. These tests, should you choose to perform them, usually consist of a “Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus” test (in which the officer asks you to follow a pen or flashlight with your eyes - don’t think that just because you can follow the pen means that you’ve passed the test…you haven’t), a walk and turn test, a one leg stand, and sometimes a portable “alcosensor” test. This last test is a small breath testing machine in which the officer has you blow into a tube and the machine registers a fairly inaccurate and inadmissible amount of alcohol in your breath (they can, however, testify to whether the test was positive or negative for alcohol, just not to the amount). These little machines are wildly unreliable and you may wish to decline this test as well.
Lastly, even though you have declined to give the police any evidence to use against you, they may still decide they have sufficient probable cause to arrest you. At this point you are under arrest and no amount of trying to talk them out of it, or taking any further tests, is going to set you free. If this happens, they will request that you provide samples of your breath, blood, or urine to test for the presence of alcohol or drugs (both illegal and lawfully prescribed). Again, the decision to take this test is yours, and there are consequences to refusing this test, but you should know that the breath or blood test is the single most difficult to overcome piece of evidence against you. Unless you’ve had nothing to drink in the previous several hours, and consumed no controlled substances in the last 30 days, taking this test merely hastens your conviction.
If you choose to refuse to submit to this test, or if you take the test and your alcohol level is over .08%, the officer may ask for your license to be suspended. If he or she does that, your license will be confiscated and you will be given a yellow “1205” form which both acts as your license temporarily and gives you directions on how to appeal this administrative suspension. This is important: You have 10 business days from the date of your arrest to file this appeal. For this reason it is vital that you contact this office as soon as you can after your arrest so that we may begin this process. Failing to do so gives the police a huge weapon to use against you in the court case. Your driver’s license is very important to you, and they know it, and will use that fact against you, so we have to deal with that problem immediately.
DUI PENALTIES
The severity of the sanctions for a DUI conviction depends in large part on your prior record. For your first DUI in the preceding 5 years, there are certain minimum penalties of which you must be aware:
24 hours in jail
12 months probation
40 hours community service
Risk Reduction School, also known as the DUI School
$300.00 - $1000.00 fine plus statutory surcharges
License Suspension: one year (Temporary work Permit available with Certificate of 1st Conviction, if you are over 21)
The maximum penalty for DUI is, at this point, 12 months in jail.
For a second DUI conviction within five years, the minimum penalties grow much harsher:
10 days in jail (all but 72 hours of which may be suspended)
12 months probation
30 days of community service
Risk Reduction School, Level II, including a 17 week outpatient treatment program
$600.00 – $1,000.00 plus statutory surcharges
Photo and Case Disposition Publication in the local newspaper
License Plate Confiscation
Ignition Interlock Device must be installed on your vehicle before you will be permitted to drive
License Suspension: 3 years (Temporary work permit available after 1 year for drivers over 21)
The maximum penalty again, is 12 months in jail.
For a third and subsequent DUI conviction within a 5 year period, big trouble lies ahead:
Jail time: 120 days to 12 months, though the judge may suspend all but 15 days of actual incarceration. Don’t get too excited, they usually don’t.
12 months probation
30 days community service
Risk Reduction School (must be completed prior to license reinstatement), including a 17 week treatment program
$1,000.00 - $5,000.00 fine plus statutory surcharges (about 20-25%)
Photo and Case Disposition Publication in the local newspaper
License Plate Confiscation
Vehicle Forfeiture in certain cases (4th or subsequent DUI in a 5 year period)
License Suspension: 5 years as a “Habitual Violator” with no work permit for at least 2 years for over-21 drivers. Note: Driving while under a “Habitual Violator” suspension is a felony in Georgia, punishable by up to 5 years in the state penitentiary.
The bottom line? Don’t drive if you have been drinking or using drugs. If you have been drinking or using drugs find a designated driver. If you have the misfortune of finding yourself in a DUI situation, please contact this office immediately. It can get better and we can help!