State v. Eliot Green
Mar 04, 2010OUTCOME: DUI reduced to Reckless Driving on day of trial
Mr Green weights 350 pounds or more. He was stopped after allegedly failing to maintain his lane near one of the major interchanges on I-85 in Gwinnett County. Mr Green had been watching "March Madne ... ss" basketball at a buddy's house, fallen asleep and was now heading home to Mrs Green at about 2 in the morning. Inasmuch as Mr Green had in fact consumed alcohol within the last 5 or 6 hours, the police officer was able to (probably) truthfully say that Mr Green had a "moderate" odor of alcohol. Mr Green agreed to let the police officer "check [his] eyes." Predictably, this is reported as a 6/6 HGN test -- clearly showing Mr Green was not just drunk but, and this is the scientific term, ZOINKED! That is, if the reported results are in fact accurate. Normally, I would look at the video that most police keep in their keen squad cars; but this particular Johnny Law was at large without a video camera so he could show a court just how professional he was and how accurately he administered the HGN test. Reckon that knowledge is lost to history. Anyway, remember when I told you Mr Green weighed 350 pounds? This is important because Your Federal Government, At Your Service (tm) has developed these "standardized," scientifically-reliable field sobriety test (SFSTs) that involve physical agility and balance that can inform the test administrator's opinion about whether the "subject" (that's YOU) is impaired by alcohol or some such intoxicant or another and thus whether to place the subject in JAIL. Well, turns out the Government itself disclaims the validity of these agility and balance tests for those who are more than 50 POUNDS OVERWEIGHT. How tall would Mr Green have to me NOT to be 50 pounds over? I don't know for sure the exact measurement, but he ain't that tall! At the motion to suppress hearing, I questioned Officer Fife about his training in those certain balance and agility exercises he asked my client to perform before my client was taken to jail. I showed him the very same training manual he used at police school and had him read aloud, "people who are overweight by 50 or more pounds" were not good subjects for a valid "test." Oh, and Mr Green did not consent to blow into the Intoxilyzer 5000 so they had no "score" for an alleged blood alcohol level. While there can be serious ramifications as concerns your license and/or privilege to drive in this State, sometimes refusing to blow into the State's gizmo can be quite helpful at trial. We were set over to the following morning for trial. I was looking over my notes and talking with Mr and Mrs Green when I saw the solicitor / supervisor come in and instruct the assistant solicitor to offer us a reduced charge of Reckless Driving, which we accepted. Instead of entering a plea on a case with thin evidence or even risking a jury trial where anything can happen -- good and bad -- Mr Green was able to dispose of the entire matter with 4 points on his 15 point Georgia Driver's License and a fine. I admit it's not as glamorous as playing Perry Mason to 6 distracted jurors, but when you achieve your client's objectives and get the reduction needed without the risk of trial, that's a pretty good outcome!
