Attorney Patrick Applegate Kunes's Legal Cases

DUI and DWI

State v. F.D.

Dec 08, 2011

OUTCOME: Reduction to Reckless Driving

F.D. wrecked his vehicle into a mailbox a block away from his house. He fled the scene and was found hiding in his backyard. He was tackled and put in handcuffs by a Sheriff's Deputy. When a Georgia ... State Trooper arrived shortly thereafter, he noticed a strong odor of an alcoholic and read him the Georgia implied consent notice. On video, F.D. admitted to driving and refused to blow at the jail. I alleged that F.D. was already in custody before the trooper arrived, so F.D. should have been advised of his Miranda rights and the implied consent notice was late, requiring suppression of the refusal and the admission to driving. F.D. received a reduction to reckless driving and the failure to maintain lane and hit and run charges were dropped.

DUI and DWI

State v. B.W.

Dec 08, 2011

OUTCOME: Reduction to Reckless Driving

B.W. was pulled over for speeding 82/70 on I-75 by a Sheriff's Deputy. He had an odor of an alcoholic beverage and admitted to drinking the night before. The Deputy noticed no slurred speech, bloodsh ... ot eyes, or unsteadiness on his feet, but had him blow into a hand held alcosensor that registered above the legal limit. He was arrested without performing any Standardized Field Sobriety tests and provided a beath alcohol sample at the jail. Before a motion to suppress, B.W. pled to Reckless Driving because the officer lacked probable cause to arrest B.W for DUI based on recent Georgia appellate law.

DUI and DWI

State v. T.C.

Aug 17, 2011

OUTCOME: Reduction to Reckless Driving

T.C. had a single vehicle accident on a dirt road when he fell asleep while driving late in the night. A sherrif's deputy was called and detained him for some time until a Georgia State Trooper arrive ... d to make an accident report. He noticed T.C. had an odor of an alcoholic beverage and he admitted to drinking several scotches earlier in the evening. The trooper only had him perfom the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test due to the loose sand on the road. The trial court judge suppressed the HGN test becuase the trooper didnt know how long T.C. had been held, while T.C. testified it was at least an hour. The judge ruled that a reasonable person wouldn't think they were free to leave and that he was in custody before the Trooper arrived, requiring a Miranda warning before conducting field sobriety tests.

DUI and DWI

State v. A.L.

Mar 04, 2011

OUTCOME: Not guilty on a .124 and .137 BAC

A.L. was pulled over in the middle of the night near Lake Blackshear in Crisp County. She admitted to having a few glasses of wine while she was out on the lake. She submitted to field sobriety tests ... and was arrested by a Georgia State Trooper. After the trial court judge refused to suppress her breath test results of .124 and .137 we decided to hire an expert witness to attack the reliability of the machine as well as the trooper's methods for administering the field sobriety tests. Expert testified that the HGN test was performed improperly and there was operator error on the breath test. Not Guilty verdict in 9 minutes.

Criminal defense

State v. S.W

Feb 18, 2010

OUTCOME: Not guilty on 17 felony counts.

S.W. was a 16 year old juvenile being tried as an adult. He was charged with 8 counts of armed robbery, 8 counts of false imprisonment, and 1 count of burglary. My cross examination revealed that of a ... ll the victims, the only ones who claimed they could make a positive I.D. of my client were all related. The victim/mother broke down and admitted that she didnt know who my client was other than his name. Her husband who also made I.D. was in jail in Alabama. Victim's son "L" changed his story many times during cross-examination and was actually held in contempt by the Court. Other victims testified that "L" was behaving strangely that night and suspected he had a part in orchestrating the robbery. Defense also introduced into evidence a certified copy of "L"'s prior conviction for theft by deception. When the investigator later admitted he did nothing to corroborate "L"'s story and "just didnt follow up on that one," a look of disgust was seen on many juror's faces. The jury took less than one hour to find Woods Not Guilty on all 17 felony counts.

DUI and DWI

State v. M.A.

Dec 02, 2009

OUTCOME: DUI dismissed, conditional discharge on marijuana

M.A. was driving home from work when he encountered a road block performed by the Georgia State Patrol. A trooper noticed the smell of burnt marijuana and M.A. admitted to just putting a joint out whe ... n he saw the roadblock. M.C. was arrested for DUI/drugs and misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Due to the lack of bad driving and no field sobriety tests being performed, I was able to get the DUI charges dropped becuase Georgia law requires a showing of impairment for a DUI marijuana conviction. I negotiated a conditional discharge for his M.A.'s possesion of marijuana charge.

Patrick Applegate Kunes's Legal Cases (6)

State v. F.D.

State v. B.W.

State v. T.C.

State v. A.L.

State v. S.W

State v. M.A.