State Representative Arrested for DUI in Atlanta

State representative John Andrew (Kip) Smith was arrested for DUI in Atlanta last Friday.  Officer Z.A. Kramer pulled over the lawmaker after he ran a red light at the intersection of Peachtree and Pharr Road in Buckhead. According to the AJC, the police record indicated that Smith admitted to having one beer 45 minutes before he was pulled over after the officer allegedly noticed the scent of alcohol and Kip’s watery eyes.

Rep. Smith initially refused the field sobriety test (walk-and-turn or one-leg-stand test) and breath test when the officer requested and instead asked to be taken to a hospital for a state chemical blood or breath test, but then consented when the officer told him that they only did that if he were arrested for DUI.  According to reports, Smith then blew a .091 (over the legal limit of .08) on the officer’s breathalyzer test and was placed under arrest for DUI.

Two additional officers then arrived on the scene where Smith completed two more breath tests rendering results of .099 and .100 respectively. Kip Smith has been charged with three offenses:  two DUI charges and one charge for failure to obey a traffic control device.

The intention of this post is not to exploit the wrongdoings of a public figure, but to reiterate the importance of knowing your Georgia driver rights.  Smith initially followed my suggestions of “what to do if stopped for DUI” by refusing the field sobriety test and requesting a state chemical test; however, he did himself a disservice by eventually consenting.

As you can read, the results of different breathalyzer test equipment can vary significantly depending on the age of the machinery and even the experience of the officer administering the test.  While the other details of this case will certainly surface as Smith goes to trial, the event serves as an ideal opportunity to reiterate what you should do if you’re pulled over for DUI regardless if this is your first DUI or third DUI in Georgia:

1.)  Take your DUI seriously

2.)  Hire an experienced DUI attorney

3.)  Don’t delay your DUI hearing

4.)  Don’t rely on advice of friends

5.)  Don’t base the hiring of an attorney on money alone

Of these tips, the most important is hiring an experienced DUI attorney to handle your case if you find yourself in this situation.  Visit my website to learn more about my experience as an Atlanta DUI, Georgia vehicular homicide, and commercial driving offense attorney.  You can also connect with me on Facebook and Twitter for more tips on defending your driver’s rights.

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Whose Dog is That Sniffing Around my House?

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take a case out of Florida which asks the question:

Does a police dog’s sniff outside a house give officers the right to get a search warrant for illegal drugs, or is the sniff an unconstitutional search?

On the morning of Dec. 5, 2006, Miami-Dade police detectives and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents set up surveillance outside a house south of the city after getting an anonymous tip that it might contain a marijuana grow operation. The cops brought Franky, a K-9 drug dog . The dog quickly detected the odor of pot at the base of the front door and sat down as he was trained to do.

That sniff was used to get a search warrant from a judge. The house was searched and its lone occupant, Joelis Jardines, was arrested for drug possession after trying to escape out the back door. Officers pulled 179 live marijuana plants from the house, with an estimated street value of more than $700,000.

The 4^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution forbids government searches of persons and property without probable cause.

The U.S. Supreme Court has approved drug dog sniffs in several other major cases. Two of those involved Read more »

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Rates of Female DUI Increase throughout the Last Decade

A recent study published by The Century Council and the Traffic Injury Research Foundation shows that the number of females arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol has increased 36% over a decade. The report, which will be available in full later this month, states that while men are often seen as the primary offenders in drunk driving cases, the number of women involved has increased steadily since 1980 and was up 29% from 1997 to 2007.

Researchers examining the phenomenon offer various explanations for this spike in female DUI statistics. One theory is that more women are drinking and then driving than in past years. Some researchers believe that the spike in women’s arrests is due to changes in the legal system including fewer male arrests and changes to the DUI law enforcement policy that bring more attention to women whose blood alcohol content levels are more affected by alcohol consumption.

The study indicated, Read more »

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Designed to Fail? MR GA DUI Advises Against Submitting to Field Sobriety Tests

If you own a MR GA DUI koozie or read his blog, you’ve probably heard that he suggests not submitting to field sobriety tests when stopped by the police for driving under the influence. While experienced DUI attorney Mickey Roberts has been advising clients and Georgia drivers not to submit to field sobriety tests for years, an investigative reporter for Atlanta’s Channel 2 Action News, Richard Belcher, further solidified Robert’s advice in a recent news story.

Belcher spoke with police officers, as well as Dr. Spurgeon Cole, a retired psychology professor from Clemson University, who has been studying field sobriety tests since the 1980s shortly after the tests were first instituted. Cole told the Channel 2 reporter that when these tests were designed, police incorrectly identified 47% of the drivers as intoxicated during trials. However, Read more »

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4 Simple Rules Explained: Rule 3

The 3rd Simple rule is not so simple.  Should you take the State blood, breath, or urine test after you are arrested for DUI?

The answer is: it depends.

Under Georgia’s Implied Consent law, once you are arrested for DUI, you must submit to the officer’s request for a test of your blood, breath, urine,  or other bodily substance.  If you don’t, you face having your license suspended for a year with no work or school permit available.  After you submit to the officer’s test(s), you are then entitled to independent tests of your blood, breath, urine or other bodily substance. Read more »

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Drivers Who Use Marijuana Reportedly Twice as Likely to have Accidents

When most people think of DUI, they think about driving under the influence of alcohol. However, driving under the influence of illegal drugs is also driving under the influence. Marijuana is the most commonly detected drug in drivers, but whether or not marijuana causes an increased number of accidents remains a question. A recent study from Columbia University found that drivers who use marijuana are more than twice as likely to be involved in car accidents as those who do not.

Using a meta-analysis of nine epidemiologic studies, the researchers found that the risk of an accident increases in people with a concentration of marijuana-produced compounds found by chemical test. Furthermore, the risk of a crash also increases with self-reported marijuana-users. In fact, eight out of nine of the studies determined that the risk of an accident significantly increases among drivers who use marijuana.

This research is likely to cause debates about driver’s rights and medical marijuana in states that allow it. In Georgia, however, Read more »

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How Does a Sobriety Checkpoint Work?

Now that summer’s over, more holiday festivities are approaching which means more food, more fun, and a lot more alcohol. The best option when it comes to drinking is to designate a sober driver to make sure that everyone gets home safely. Because police know that this advice isn’t always followed around the holiday season, there are typically more DUI checkpoints along the roads.

Sobriety checkpoints are temporary roadblocks set up late at night, early in the mornings, on weekends, or on holidays when police expect people will be drinking. At a sobriety checkpoint, police may stop every car or just a few based on a pre-determined pattern to determine if the driver is impaired. Usually police ask a stopped driver to perform field sobriety tests to ensure he or she hasn’t been drinking.  These tests may include the horizontal gaze, walk-and-turn, and one-leg stand tests; the same tests used if you were to be pulled over under the suspicion of DUI.

If a driver fails the field sobriety test, he or she will be asked Read more »

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Case of Month: When the System Works

This month’s case is an example of how sometimes our criminal justice system can work.  My client, who takes prescription drugs for anxiety and depression, was arrested for DUI prescription drugs.  He was found by a passing motorist, slumped over at the wheel of his car on the side of the road. The engine was off. No one had witnessed him driving the car.

When the police arrived on the scene and were able to wake him, he admitted that he was driving home, had an anxiety attack and took a prescription drug.  He decided to pull over when he began to feel the affects of the drug and call his family for help; he subsequently passed out.

In Georgia, a person commits a DUI when Read more »

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About Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)

The best way to avoid DUI is to understand the effects that alcohol has on your body and how much you can drink before becoming legally impaired.

Blood alcohol content or concentration (BAC) is the measure of the amount of alcohol in the bloodstream. The legal limit for BAC in Georgia is .08 for adults and .02 for individuals under 21. There are many factors that affect an individual’s BAC including the following:

• The strength of the alcohol one is consuming. According to the CDC, a standard drink equals the amount of alcohol found in one of the following: 12 oz of beer, 8 oz of malt liquor, 5 oz of wine, or 1.5 oz (or a shot) of distilled spirits or liquor.
• The number of drinks you consume and the amount of time during which you consume them. If you have three drinks within one hour, your blood alcohol level will increase more than if you consume two drinks over the period of three hours.
• Whether or not you’ve eaten. Drinking on an empty stomach means your body will absorb the alcohol more quickly than if you’d had a large meal before a drink.
• If you’re a woman. Women’s bodies generally have more fat and less water than the male body and because fat cells do not absorb alcohol as well as other cells, more alcohol is left in the body when women drink.
• How much you weigh. The more you weigh, the more water is present in your body to help dilute the alcohol in your system.
• How old you are. Older people’s bodies do not process alcohol as easily as younger adults do.

Once you drink alcohol, it is absorbed Read more »

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4 Simple Rules Explained: Rule 2

Rule 2 is: DON’T SUBMIT TO ANY ROADSIDE FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS

Once the officer has asked you to step out of your car, he is going to then ask if you would mind doing some “field sobriety tests.” Sometimes the officer will phrase it this way: “Do you mind taking some roadside evaluations to make sure you are ok to drive?”

My experience is that MOST people agree to take the roadside evaluations because they believe that by Read more »

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