An arrest for DUI (driving under the influence) can wreck your life in several ways. In fact, if you are arrested and either refuse to take the breath test or fail it, your license will be revoked for a period of 1 to 3 years beginning 30 days from your arrest. Your only hope to keep your license is to “appeal” or request a hearing within 10 days of your arrest, and win the hearing. This hearing is with the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicle Safety and has nothing to do with the court date for your criminal case.

Obviously, if you can keep from being arrested by avoiding actions that cause the police to stop you, you'll save yourself a lot of grief. And here are the most common reasons the police will stop you:

        • Speeding
        • Weaving or Swerving
        • Making wide or illegal turns
        • Crossing or straddling the centerline
        • Following too close
        • Braking on and off without cause
        • Almost hitting an object or another car
        • Driving at night without headlights
        • Driving at a slow speed - more than 10 miles under the speed limit
        • Coming out from a local tavern
        • Expired license tag or safety inspection problems

Should you take the breath test?

GA law requires that you submit to either a breath (or blood or urine) test.  If you refuse to do so, the refusal will be used against you in Court.  But, is this really all bad?

4 Things to help you decide what to do:
 

• Simply having an unlawful blood-alcohol level (.08) while driving is enough for the State to prove your DUI charge, even if your driving is absolutely fine.  • If you refuse the test, the state won’t have any actual or real evidence of blood-alcohol level.  (They will have to ask the jury to “infer” or assume that you would have flunked the test if you took it  -- and we all know what happens when you assume). • If you refuse the test, your refusal will cause your driver’s license to be suspended by the Department of Public Safety and you won’t qualify for a limited driving permit for work. If you flunk the breath test by blowing a .08 or above, your license is still suspended, but you can qualify for a work permit if it is your 1st DUI in 5 years.  If you win your DUI case, a license suspension goes away.  • If you are under 21, the laws are even harsher – the legal limit for you is only .02.

Most lawyers agree that you generally have a much better chance of winning your DUI case if you refuse the breath test (and an even better chance if you also refuse the field sobriety tests).  If your DUI charge is dismissed or reduced to a less serious charge, you automatically get your license back.

3 Things you SHOULD NOT do when the police stop you:
 

1.  You should not refuse to be video taped. You cannot refuse to be video taped, but you can and should not take the field sobriety tests.           2.  You should REFUSE the field sobriety tests. You are not required to do so and even if the officer tries to use your refusal against you later in court, it is not conclusive because many people who are totally sober cannot pass these tests. In these tests, the police ask you to perform certain physical tasks (watching a pen move across your eyes, touching finger to nose) which the police will use to justify your arrest.   The police officer can claim to the jury that you refused the tests because you were afraid you would flunk, but the police officers are not qualified to properly interpret these tests. Your refusal to take any of the field sobriety tests has no effect on your driver's license. You are not sure the police officer will accurately report the results anyway.           3.  You should NOT become argumentative or rude to the officers.  Being disrespectful only causes your problems to escalate.  People rarely win physical or verbal fights with officers. Police routinely look only for and report only signs of intoxication, not sobriety, so they overlook signs of sobriety, may fail to report them, and then may not even remember them because that is not what they were concentrating on, not what they cared about at the time. How could they remember such observations weeks or months later after 99 more arrests if no mention was made in their report?

Okay, you're thinking "Gee, it's too late for me.  I've already been arrested and charged. There's nothing I can do.” …Wrong!

I know of several "secret weapons" to fight your charge and here are just 4 of them:
 

1. The Breath testing machine itself has to be tested to make sure that it is working properly.  2. The Breath testing machine can be tampered with.  3. The Breath testing machine can and does malfunction, producing erroneous results. 4. Arresting officers often exaggerate results of field sobriety tests or don’t know the proper way to give the tests.

So you see, even if you failed the breath or field sobriety tests, all is not necessarily lost, but you must have an experienced and capable attorney representing you who knows the ins and outs of your kind of case. Here are some strong reasons for being very careful in your choice:

In Georgia, even if it is your first time and you cooperate and plead guilty to a DUI, you are required to spend time in jail.  Just think about how this will affect your life... what kind of hardship and embarrassment it will cause for you and your family.... what it will do for your ability to keep your job when you have to explain to your employer why you won’t be at work.
A DUI conviction stays on your criminal history forever.

A criminal record, including a DUI, will compromise your future job prospects.  Even if you move out of state, your DUI conviction will follow you.
If your license is revoked or suspended, your insurance rates will go through the ceiling!

Now you may be starting to appreciate how serious the situation is and how important it is to get the right attorney---- and why shopping for the lowest priced attorney can be a big mistake. Just think of how much it can cost you in the long run if you lose your job, or can't get the same kind of job or one that pays as well in the future.

Can you imagine how you'll feel if you have to depend on family, friends or the bus to drive you around? Plus the fact that when you do get your license back, you'll be paying through the nose for a long time just to get insurance.

While no lawyer can guarantee an outcome, the lawyer you choose does make a difference to your case and your future.