Defenses to Georgia DUI Charges

To be convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) in Georgia, a person must have been intoxicated and in control of a vehicle at the time of arrest. However, drivers who have been accused of driving under the influence can avoid conviction by casting doubt on either of these two elements, or even on the reason for the stop itself. To learn more about the kinds of defenses that an experienced attorney could raise on your behalf, feel free to reach out to our DUI defense legal team today.

Reason for the Stop

 Law enforcement officers aren’t permitted to pull people over for no reason. In fact, in order to do so legally, they must have reasonable suspicion that a traffic offense or other unlawful act has occurred. In a DUI scenario, this means that an officer must have noticed reckless driving, such as weaving or driving with no headlights. Alternatively, an officer could pull someone over for speeding, running a red light, or driving with expired tags and only become suspicious of the driver’s state of mind upon encountering the person. If, however, an officer didn’t have a valid legal reason to pull someone over and that person was subsequently charged with a DUI, any evidence from that stop, like BAC test results, could be suppressed by the court.

Evidence of Intoxication 

It’s also possible to defend oneself against unfair DUI accusations by casting doubt on the accuracy of the test results. For instance, law enforcement officers often use roadside breathalyzer tests to calculate the amount of alcohol in a driver’s body. If a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) registers at .08 percent or more, the driver can be arrested for driving under the influence. However, breath testing can be problematic, producing inaccurate results because of improper calibration and a lack of maintenance. These tests must also be administered in a specific way and an officer who fails to abide by these rules could skew the results of the test. By proving that an officer failed to comply with the proper regulations when administering the test could result in the results of those tests being thrown out by the court.

Physical Control of a Vehicle

To be convicted of a DUI, a driver must have been in control of a vehicle at the time of arrest. This is actually not as straightforward as many assume. For instance, even when a car is running, but not being driven, a driver could be found to have been in control of a vehicle (for DUI purposes). Drivers who weren’t in the driver’s seat, or didn’t have the keys in the ignition can, however, often escape being unfairly convicted of driving under the influence by establishing that they weren’t actually in control of the vehicle at the time of the arrest.

Set Up a Meeting with an Experienced Roswell DUI Defense Lawyer 

If you were arrested for driving under the influence in Georgia, you could be facing significant penalties. For help crafting a strong defense against your own charges, please call experienced Roswell DUI defense lawyer Andrew L. Schwartz, P.C. at 678-853-2500 today.

Sources:

 law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-40/chapter-6/article-15/40-6-391

gahighwaysafety.org/impaired-driving-laws/