Sample Drunk Driving Cases Handled by William C. Head

Case 25
State v. T.M.
Smyrna Municipal Court
Smyrna, Georgia

The Defendant, T.M., had only been back in town for a week, having been relocated to the Atlanta area by his employer.  He had previously lived in the Atlanta area before moving away at his employer’s request.  He was extremely happy to be home and had plans to catch up with many of his old buddies.  One night, he invited some of them over to his newly purchased home.

After visiting a short time, they departed for Chili’s on Barrett Parkway.  At this point, it was about 8:00 p.m.. Over dinner they each consumed a couple of 22-ounce beers and then went to another friend’s house in Acworth at around 10:00 p.m..  There, T.M. had 2 Coors Light beers.  Following that, T.M. went to meet other friends at Player’s Billiards on Windy Hill Road at around 11:30 p.m..  There, he shot a couple of games of pool and drank a couple of beers.  The two men stayed until the pool room closed and even lingered in the parking lot for a while after the closing.

On his way home, T.M. was stopped at the traffic light.  When the light turned green, T.M. had “punched it” in order to get around the truck next to him.  Following the quick acceleration, T.M. saw headlights “that came out of nowhere” right behind him, followed by flashing blue lights.  T.M. knew, at this point, that he was being pulled over for speeding.  When the officer asked T.M. if he had been drinking, T.M. replied he had had about 7 beers over about a 6-hour period.

The officer then had T.M. blow into a hand-held Alco-sensor immediately.  He then asked T.M. to perform a series of five field sobriety tests, and then blow into the breathalyzer once more.  T.M. registered “positive” on the Alco-sensor both times.  The officer then placed T.M. under arrest for DUI.  He blew a 0.108% and a 0.105% on his two breath tests on the Intoxilyzer 5000 at the police station.

The investigation of the case revealed that although one officer made the traffic stop, a different officer had administered the standardized field sobriety tests.  This officer had also attempted to read T.M. his implied consent warnings, but made errors in the reading of the advisements.

When the case was scheduled for trial, the initial arresting officer did not appear.  Because T.M. had a prior history of previous DUI, risking trial was not a desirable option.  After going over some evidentiary issues with the prosecutor, a negotiated plea was entered whereby the DUI was dropped.  T.M. was required to complete a 28-day in-house alcohol treatment program to reduce the DUI charge to reckless driving.  He kept his license, but had to perform community service and pay over $900.00 in fines.

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