Avoiding a New Year DUI Charge in Georgia

During the holidays, Georgia law enforcement were on the hunt for drivers who they believed to be intoxicated. In many cases, a driver may not be intoxicated while operating a motor vehicle and yet be profiled and arrested for a DUI charge despite the lack of intoxication. You can fight these wrongful charges to protect your constitutional rights.

If you or someone you care for has been arrested for DUI in Georgia over the New Year holiday, a Georgia DUI defense attorney can defend your case and protect your rights. You do not have to face this process alone.

How to Defend Your Georgia DUI Case

While every case is different and your case will have specific defenses that fit, some common DUI defenses can show you that the situation is not hopeless.

No Valid Reason for Initial Stop

A Georgia law enforcement officer must have a valid reason to pull you over from the beginning, not just general suspicion that a crime may be being committed. Valid reasons include failure to maintain a lane, significant swerving, or speeding.

If the officer did not have a valid reason to stop you in the first place, any findings as a result of that stop may be suppressed.

Field Sobriety Tests

Field sobriety tests are notoriously inaccurate, and the results of those tests can be challenged. You may have a medical condition which threw off the results of the test, making you appear intoxicated when you were not. These tests must also be conducted in a certain way and according to certain procedures. If they are not, the results of the field sobriety test may be invalid.

Implied Consent Warning

Under Georgia law, law enforcement is required to read the Georgia implied consent warning when requesting that drivers submit to chemical testing. If this implied consent warning is not read, not read in its entirety, or is not read correctly, the warning may be ineffective. This could provide a defense to the choice to take or not take a blood or urine test, and it may invalidate the results of the chemical test.

Chain of Custody for Chemical Tests

After a blood or urine test is conducted, the sample must be properly handled at all steps and must be properly accounted for by each department among whom it changes hands. If any department fails to properly account for the sample, any results which come from it may be invalid and not able to be used against you in court.

Cause of Accident

If you are arrested for DUI as a result of an accident, you may also be charged with another vehicular crime. In those cases, you can present evidence to show that you were not intoxicated, or even if you were, your intoxication was not the cause of the accident. You can do this by proving that another driver was the cause of the accident.

Consult a Georgia DUI Defense Attorney

If you have been arrested for DUI, you do not have to face this process alone. An experienced Georgia DUI defense attorney can defend your case and protect your rights. Contact us today for a free consultation.