Cobb County Multiple DUI Offense Lawyer
Georgia law imposes harsh penalties on first-time DUI offenders. These punishments are much worse for repeat offenders. The law basically presumes that anything, or almost anything, can happen once and that first-time DUI offenders can be scared straight. The law also presumes that subsequent offenders are scofflaws or problem drinkers who should not be driving. So, in addition to mandatory incarceration and longer sentences, these offenders could face vehicle forfeiture and drivers’ license revocation.
Another, and stronger, legal presumption states that suspects are innocent until proven guilty. That proof must be so convincing that the fact finder has no reasonable doubt about the defendant’s guilt. Therefore, a tough-minded Cobb County multiple DUI offense lawyer, like Andrew Schwartz, aggressively challenges the state’s evidence, the defendant could walk free. Procedural defenses are often available in these cases as well. DUI prosecutions have a lot of moving parts.
Procedural Defenses
Police officers aggressively enforce drunk driving laws in Georgia. A multiple DUI offense lawyer often uses that aggression against them in court.
DUI patrol-related stops are a good example. During these heightened enforcement programs, supervisors pull officers off their normal duties, send them to specific parts of Cobb County, and tell them to make as many DUI arrests as possible. Officers often take shortcuts to pad their arrest totals in these situations.
Reasonable; suspicion for the stop is often weak. Basically, reasonable suspicion is an evidence-based hunch. Officer Frank sees evidence of alcohol use, like erratic driving, and pulls over Mike to confirm his suspicions. Officer Frank cannot get the cart before the horse. He cannot have a hunch and find evidence to support that hunch.
Incidentally, under the Fifth Amendment, people must comply with basic “license and registration please” commands. But they don’t have to answer questions or even roll down their windows.
Probable cause for the arrest could be weak as well. Many times, officers are in such a rush to make arrests and resume patrols that they don’t properly administer the walking-a-straight-line test and other field sobriety tests. Other times, they skip the FSTs altogether.
Substantive Defenses
Trial evidence in a DUI usually consists of the FST results chemical test results. Both kinds of evidence have flaws.
We mentioned the walking-a-straight-line test above. A subject with any mobility impairments cannot possibly pass this test. Other subjects usually cannot pass this test in cowboy boots, flip flops, or anything other than athletic shoes. Additionally, they must complete this test while disorienting strobe lights on top of a police vehicle flash in the background.
As for chemical tests, police technicians drone on and on about all the advanced features of a modern Breathalyzer. The more bells and whistles a gadget has, the more maintenance it needs. In 2017, a Massachusetts judge ruled that, because of improper calibration, the machines produced unreliable results. This one ruling could affect over 25,000 DUIs in Massachusetts alone. Usually, Georgia law enforcement officers use the same devices.
Connect With a Thorough Cobb County DUI Lawyer
Criminal cases have procedural and substantive defenses. For a free consultation with an experienced multiple DUI defense lawyer in Cobb County, contact Andrew L. Schwartz, P.C. Convenient payment plans are available.
