While damage to Mrs. Hand’s vehicle was slight, and she did not require immediate medical attention, she did go get checked out the next day.  Fortunately, her injuries were relatively minor, soft tissue injuries common in low speed collisions and required less than $900.00 in medical treatment.  However, under Georgia law, DUI drivers are subjected to possible punitive damages designed to punish and deter dangerous, willful and unlawful conduct.  Clearly, by awarding a large punitive damage award, Mrs. Hand’s jury sent a message that DUI drivers are a threat to Georgia’s roadways and will be punished.  In practice, cases similar to Mrs. Hand’s frequently settle for much, much less under circumstances where a Defendant’s conduct does not rise to a level justifying punitive damages.

The point is clear: DUI in Georgia is a crime that subjects you not only to harsh criminal punishment, but to extreme civil liability as well.   In this case, the punitive damage award was nearly 25 times the amount of all other damages combined.

Other serious traffic violations that may allow Plaintiff’s to sue for punitive damages include Reckless Driving charges, excessive Speeding charges, texting while driving in violation of Georgia’s law, and Aggressive Driving.

According to the AJC, Arcade with four police officers generated $192,000 or 28% of its $675,000 annual budget from fines and forfeitures in 2009.  In 2008, the percentage was 40%.

Local business owners complain that Arcade’s zealous traffic enforcement prompts drivers to steer clear of the town, thereby hurting private business.

If successful this private lawsuit could be turned into a class action and Arcade could face punitive damages.

Here is a link to the Georgia section of the site.

Users can vote “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” as to whether a listed location is still an active police surveillance location.

Some may disagree with putting this type of information on the Internet but I don’t think it is any different than using speed indicators to display your speed and whether you are speeding 0n a particular road.  I think everyone wants to drive safely and to avoid expensive tickets, so I don’t see a problem with identifying where police with radar are located.   Traffic enforcement should be about safety not about revenue enhancement by a city or county.

Persons accused of driving under the influence garner little sympathy, especially those with multiple offenses.   How can any lawyer want to get a repeat offender off on a technicality?

Here is how I respond:

First, the goal of any reputable criminal defense lawyer is to investigate to determine whether the state (in the form of the police officers and the prosecutors) have done their job according to the law.  In the American system, criminal prosecutions are adversarial in nature, meaning that the state’s attorneys (the prosecutor) and the defense attorney are on opposite sides.

Our founding fathers recognized that representatives of the state have significant resources and built in authority when appearing before juries.  Such power can be abused if not held in check.   Unfettered police power can turn a free society into an authoritarian one.   History has shown that when agents of the state can enter people’s homes at will, detain them indefinitely, and incarcerate without critically analyzed evidence, personal freedom disappears.  We can both support the hard work and bravery of policemen and women while at the same time demanding that these officers take care to collect and store evidence properly, advise the accused of certain constitutional rights and engage in a certain baseline of appropriate conduct.

How does all this apply to a DUI case?  Take a look at this informative article about blood alcohol testing kits in Georgia from respected Newnan, Georgia DUI defense attorney Alan Trapp.   Alan discusses the blood collection kits used by state and county police forces in Georgia and the potential for false results because of stale preservative or a defective seal.  Now imagine that you consumed one beer at dinner and were randomly stopped at a DUI checkpoint.  Further assume that the DUI kit used by the local police officer was contaminated with a yeast called Candida albicans that began to ferment when blood was added.  Further assume that there was insufficient preservative in the test kit.  A properly calibrated kit might have shown your blood alcohol content at .03, well below the legal limit, but the contaminated kit yielded a result of .09.

In this scenario, a DUI conviction would wrongfully land you in jail for two or more days, a fine of up to $1,000, a possible loss of your full driving privileges for up to a year, 40 hours of community service, probable loss of insurance coverage, and dramatically increased insurance renewal rates.

In truth, because of the contamination neither you, the arresting officer or the prosecutor would really know exactly what your blood alcohol level was at the time of arrest.   That uncertainty is called “reasonable doubt.”

Now imagine that you retained a smart lawyer like Alan who was able to obtain physical evidence and testimony from the arresting officer that convinced a judge or jury that the blood alcohol test kit was contaminated, thereby resulting in an acquittal.

Now this does not mean that every DUI arrest can be successfully challenged, and conversely there may be some guilty drivers who get off because of bad evidence.  If the stakes are your personal liberty and a huge financial burden, don’t you want the state to have to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.  Don’t you want a procedure in place where you can argue against your guilt to an impartial finder of fact?

So, the next time a friend or relative opines that criminal defense attorneys are no better than the defendants they represent, think about how you would feel if you found yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time and your lifestyle was at risk.

The state of Georgia has enacted strict penalties for those individuals arrested of DUI. While criminal laws are designed to serve as a deterrent factor, there will be some individuals who are willing to gamble against the odds of being charged and later convicted. For those individuals who are first-time DUI offenders, the below serves as an outline of punishments and/or consequences to be expected. Noted below are the possible sentences and/or fines for first-time DUI offenders. These punishments do not take into consideration any aggravating factors such as a prior conviction, destruction of personal property other than their own, and loss of life.

Consequences for first-time DUI offenders with no aggravating circumstances

• Suspension of driver’s license for a period of one year.
• Minimum jail sentence of one day. Normal length of incarceration is ten days to one year. If sentence is less than 12 months, the defendant will be sentenced to serve probation for a period of 12 months.
• 40 hours of community service for those individuals 21 years of age and older. Defendants below the age of 21 will be required to complete 20 hours of community service.
• Monetary fines between $300.00 to $1,000.00
• Defendant will be required to pay all court ordered costs to include filing fees and court appointed attorney fees.
• Defendant will be required to complete a certified DUI course at the expense of the Defendant.
• Completion of a Risk Reduction Program
• A lifetime record of a DUI conviction.

A DUI charge of any magnitude is an important matter and should be taken seriously. Any individual charged with driving under the influence should immediately seek the advice of an attorney specializing in criminal law.

In Georgia, the number of alcohol-related fatal accidents has decreased 5 percent from the previous year. According to Hall County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kiley Sargent, the public is finally starting to get the message to make safe decisions and not to drink and drive. It could also be the $10,000 price tag for a DUI in Georgia that deters drivers from drinking and driving.

Each year, Georgia has over 200,000 DUI arrests. According to Century Council, approximately 11,773 people were killed in crashes involving a drunk driver last year. This year, law enforcement officials are cracking down even more on drunk drivers, and with the high-cost of a DUI, drivers are starting to listen.

If you are caught with a Blood Alcohol Content of 0.08 grams or more in Georgia, these are just some of the fees associated with a DUI arrest you need to worry about:

• Bail Cost: $150 – $2,500, depends on how many offenses you’ve had and your blood alcohol level.
• Towing: Cost: $50 – $200, this cost can add up daily. Some cities may auction your car if you can not afford to get your car after 30 days.
• Insurance Cost: $4,500+, one of the biggest hits a drunken driver takes is in insurance premiums, which may affect insurance rates for three to five years. Your policy will be classified as “high-risk” and rates can likely double, triple or even quadruple.
• Legal Fees: $2,000- $25,000
• Other Fines: $300 – $5,000, depends on your offense and if there have been any previous arrests.
• Alcohol Evaluation Cost: $95 – $300.
• Alcohol Education and Treatment Cost: $500 – $4,000
• License Reinstatement Fees: $210 – $410. Once you have completed a state-certified risk reduction program, which costs $287, you can reinstate your Georgia driver’s license for a fee of $210 – $410.

The fees are sobering! Fortunately, data shows that drivers are finding alternative modes of transportation to avoid the high-cost, and potentially deadly, consequences of driving under the influence.