Attorney Lawrence Abram Kohn's Legal Cases

DUI and DWI

Cobb County Passed Out

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OUTCOME: Case Reduced to Reckless Driving after cross examination of the police officer

My client was passed over the stop line in a busy Cobb County intersection. The police officer had to bang on the hood of the car and eventually open the car door to wake him. He testified that my cl ... ient had slurred speech and a jacket over his face. He stated that my client told him that he was waiting on a friend. The officer eventually got my client out of the car and walked him across the street where he asked for field tests. The Defendant refused the field sobriety tests and the officer misread the implied consent notice. The misreading of the warning caused confusion. I was able to bring out various inconsistencies in the officer's actions and following the hearing, the Solicitor recognized that the case might be better as a Reckless Driving rather than a DUI. My client walked out of court without a DUI, but in order to get the deal, he was required to serve a few days in jail. This is not uncommon in some places depending on the facts. It sounds crazy not to go back to jail on a DUI but to go to jail on a lesser charge. However, it was a win/win, the State got a conviction to something and the Defendant walked out of court with a traffic offense on his record and no license suspension.

Criminal defense

Vehicular Homicide Not Guity 3 deaths

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OUTCOME: Not guilty after 7 day trial

The worst type of criminal case is one where a mother has to tell a jury that your client killed her 3 children ages 3,4, and 6. Our client was facing 45 years to serve. The pre trial offer was 15 year ... s in prison. We turned the offer down and risked a trial. Truth be told had the state made a little more reasonable offer, we would have accepted. The underlying case involved the defendant in her car, and the other defendant in another car traveling over 80 miles an hour in a 45 mph zone. A woman turned left in front of our client and a horrific accident took place. One child was ejected from the car and thrown down an embankment. Two other children were tossed about in the car and were killed. As a parent, this is your worst nightmare. The defense in the case was that the woman who turned left did not have her children propely restrained, turned left improperly, and another vehicle struck the car and that is what caused the Children’s deaths. The jury agreed and found our client not guilty of the three felony counts. The jury did convict her of reckless driving and she was given a year to serve. The co-defendant who was tried with our client was found guilty and given 30 years to serve in prison. This case took months to prepare. Many lawyers in the community have told me that this was a career win. We fortunately saved our client from a life altering sentence. But I never for a second forget the loss the mother that I had to question suffered. If you are reading this and are charged with a crime, be aware that the majority, probably 99 percent of the lawyers you read about or call have NEVER tried a case of this magnitude. This trial made me so much of a better lawyer and hopefully will help my other clients down the road.

DUI and DWI

Vehicular Homicide

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OUTCOME: Not Guilty

Client killed a man standing in the roadway and was charged with DUI. After a three day trial he was found not guilty.

DUI and DWI

Avondale Estates Case Moved to Dekalb State Court .120

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OUTCOME: Motion to Suppres Granted, Case Dismissed

Defendant an Emory student was coming back to campus with several students in his truck. He was stopped by an Avondale Estates officer for a noise violation. The officer performed field tests and arres ... ted my client for DUI. He was taken to the station and blew above the legal limit. The prosecutor in Avondale Estates would not agree to reduce the case to a reckless driving, so we moved the case to State Court. The officer sent notice to Emory University that he had arrested the student for DUI. Defendant was sanctioned by the school before his case was resolved. On the stand I HAMMERED the cop about why he notified Emory University. Q: Did you treat my client differently than you treat other people you arrest A.: No, of course not Q.: When you arrest people who work for Bell South or Home Depot, do you notify their employers? A.: No, of course not, well I see where you are going with this. I notified Emory that evening because I wanted to be certain that they knew where this student was that night and would not report him missing. Q.: Did you think that any of the 5 other students crammed into the Ford Explorer were going report him as missing. A.: I don't know Q.: When you walked up to the 5 students in the car and told them that he was on his way to the Dekalb County jail, did you think there was going to be a misunderstanding as to where he was headed. A.: I don't know The officer had been a student at the Oxford campus for Emory, just like my client. He also was not able to graduate Emory, and was jealous of my client. Perhaps that is why he called the University. At the motion hearing, the State was unable to establish that the noise ordinance which enabled the traffic stop was valid. Thus, the Judge was obligated to exclude all evidence after the illegal stop

DUI and DWI

Cobb County Under 21 .06 beath test

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OUTCOME: DUI dismissed

Defendant under 21: .061 breath test Defendant is an under 21 college student. On the evening before he was going to enter the national guard, his car ran off the road into the bushes. Defend ... ant left the scene of the accident and returned with his mother. The vehicle was not capable of being driven. When Defendant arrived, the police were already at the scene. Defendant spoke with the police and was handcuffed. Defendant submitted to a hand held breath test at the roadway. He was driven to the station and submitted to a breath test revealing an alcohol level three times above the limit for someone his age. Defendant's mother was present during the investigation. The state was not willing to drop the DUI, so the case was set for trial. On the eve of trial, I allowed the prosecutor to speak with Defednant's mother about the sequence of events. Interestingly, the solicitor had a run in with one of the officers a few hours earlier. The prosecutor's experience with the officer confirmed that my client's mother was telling the truth about misleading statements given by the officer. Defendant entered a plea to too fast for conditions and had the alcohol possession by a minor discharged and dismissed without an adjudication of guilt.

DUI and DWI

Gwinnett County Refusal Jury Trial

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OUTCOME: Not Guilty DUI, Not Guilty Obstruction

I had represented Defendant on two prior DUI cases. One of them was reduced to a reckless driving, and the other was a not guilty verdict at trial. In this case, the Defendant was parked in a drivewa ... y when the police were called to investigate a woman who was locked out of her house. My client was passed out behind the wheel of his car. The Duluth police investigated my client and had him do field sobriety evaluations. He was arrested, allegedly resisted arrested and was taken to the jail. At the jail, he refused the breath test. There was a video tape depicting the entire event. Using the video, we were able to establish that my client looked reasonable, acted reasonably, and did well on the field tests, despite the officer's testimony. The jury agreed. The State went forward on this case planning on using two similar transaction witnesses from the prior case, however, at trial, the officers from the prior case were not availiable.

DUI and DWI

College Park .133

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OUTCOME: Reckless Driving after trial

I have won a number of cases, but this is as good as it gets. My client was charged with having an unlawful alcohol level in his body. He was involved in an accident and threw up several times. He f ... ailed field sobriety tests as well. In addition, there was no video. We were in a very difficult jurisdiction to win a trial. However, based upon the way the ticket was written, we determined that this was his best chance to win. I had the officers admit that their training mandated them to rinse my client's mouth with water after vomiting. They did not follow their training. The judge still appeared as if he was going to convict my client. I had an expert witness testify about the problem with not rinsing after vomiting. The judge wanted to wait and then issue a ruling. I was able to have the officer's agree to reduce the case to a reckless driving charge. The judge stated in 28 years on the bench he had never accepted a deal on a breath result so high, but agreed that this was a fair case to take a lesser plea. Everybody left the courthouse tht day feeling like justice was served.

DUI and DWI

City of Atlanta .142

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OUTCOME: Not Guilty Verdict

Defendant was charged with DUI less safe and per se. When the officers found Defendant he was slumped over his steering wheel on the side of the road. His car was running. The officer opened the doo ... r and Defednant vomited on his shoes. The Defendant was incoherent and covered in vomit. The officer asked a few questions and determined that the Defendant was DUI. The defense was that the client had not driven to the scene. At trial, we produced a witness who testified that she had driven defednant and had left the scene. The State was unable to prove that Defednant had driven the vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. In addition, Defendant testified and was a credible witness, The judge found Defednant no guilty.

DUI and DWI

.110 Breath Test Gwinnett County

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OUTCOME: Not Guilty

Defendant was involved in a car accident. He was driving a Honda Prelude and lost control of his car. The vehicle spun around and airbags were deployed. When the police arrived, they noticed Defenda ... nt had slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, and was dazed. Defendant was arrested, given a breath test and blew .110. At trial, the arresting officer who was the head of the DUI task force and had trained all other Gwinnett DUI officers testified that he had been hit with an airbag and it was like getting punched in the face. He stated that the manifestations he observed were consistent with an accident as well as with a DUI. An expert witness testified that the results of a breath test could be erroneous based upon the interfering substances in the airbag. Defendant was acquitted of the DUI and found guilty of failure to maintain lane.

DUI and DWI

11th lifetime DUI Superior Court of Dekalb County DUI/Habitual Violator

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OUTCOME: DUI dismissed

Defendant was charged with DUI while being a habitual violator. He lived in Stone Mountain. He was stopped at a roadblock. I went to the scene to investigate where the stop took place. It was clear ... that the police were stopping all people living inside a neighborhood cul-de sac. We filed a motion to suppress. At the motion hearing, the State was unable to provide proof that the purpose of the roadblock was lawful. It is the State's burden to prove the lawfulness of the stop. The judge heard the evidence and determined that the roadblock was not lawful. All evidence that stemmed from the trafic stop was suppressed and Defendant was free to leave.

Lawrence Abram Kohn's Legal Cases (46)

Cobb County Passed Out

Vehicular Homicide Not Guity 3 deaths

Vehicular Homicide

Avondale Estates Case Moved to Dekalb State Court .120

Cobb County Under 21 .06 beath test

Gwinnett County Refusal Jury Trial

College Park .133

City of Atlanta .142

.110 Breath Test Gwinnett County

11th lifetime DUI Superior Court of Dekalb County DUI/Habitual Violator