Dekalb County can be a difficult place to be charged with a DUI. Even if the case is horrible for the State, they seldom agree to negotiate. At the motion to suppress hearing, the officer could not t...estify properly on how he performed the HGN. He then was unable to articulate whether my client actually agreed to the State test. The judge and prosecutor tried to ask questions that would prompt a better response from the officer. However, the cop was honest and would not answer the question in a way that would allow the breath test to come in. Despite driving on the median, having slurred speech, and failing other dexterity tests, the state agreed to reduce the case to a reckless driving.
DUI and DWI
Dekalb County 2/5 Rear Ending a Cop Car .202
N/A
OUTCOME: Plea to Following too Close, DUI Dismissed
Defendant was travelling on Ashford Dunwoody road. She rear ended a police car. The officer was not very pleased. She then called a more experienced officer to the scene to investigate my client for... DUI. Defendant was given field sobriety and read the implied consent at the scene. She initially refused the state test. The officer tesitifed that at the station he re-read the warning and she changed her mind and agreed. Unbeknownst to the officer, the testing officer had informed me that no implied consent was read at the station. The arresting officer clearly lied on the stand. The solicitor who was probably the most uptight prosecutor in Dekalb did not know this. After I crossed examined the officer, I told him to go outside and speak with his next witness. I told him that he was going to have a perjury problem. He went outside, walked back inside and looked like a pale ghost. He then told my client that he was dropping the DUI if she would plead to following too close and pay a fine. She gladly accepted.
DUI and DWI
Cobb County .05 Under 21 DUI dismissed after motion hearing
N/A
OUTCOME: Guilty Reckless Driving, DUI dismissed
Defendant was stopped at a roadblock by a Kennesaw State University Officer. The arresting officer tesitified that Defendant would not have been arrest expect for the fact that she was under 21. He t...estified on cross examination that my client was not less safe to drive. At the scene, she refused the test. However, at the station, she changed her mind based upon a Cobb County officer's (who was in the intoxilyzer room) statements. He told her to quit crying and if she took the test, at least she could get a permit. Defendant testified and did a great job. The judge did not throw the test results out, rather he gave us the impossible task of finding the officer, bringing him to court and seeing if he confirmed her story. Good Luck! Anyway, the arresting officer did remember my client speaking to another cop, but did not hear what was said. By chance, a Cobb County officer was in the jury box and heard the case. He then told me that he thought he knew who the cop was who spoke with my client. I eventually found the cop and he told me that my client was falling down drunk (b/s) and he would tell the judge just how drunk she was. I already had the arresting officer under oath saying she was sober. I told the prosecutor of what took place and she confirmed with her boss that the cop at the station was a blowhard and a liar. She agreed to drop the DUI and my client went back to college without a DUI on her record.
DUI and DWI
Fulton County .126 Trial
N/A
OUTCOME: Not Guilty to DUI
Defendant moved his case from Alpharetta Municipal to Fulton County for a jury trial. Fulton can be a silly jurisdiction. They will not dismiss a DUI even in cases where there is absolutely no proof.... Defendant was at the Buffalo Wild Wings on Mansell Road. He was passed out in a car with the engine running and the lights on. He was the only car in the lot since the restaurant was closed. Defendant was woken up by a police officer. He was given field sobriety, and arrested for DUI. He did make some statements such as he drove there to wait on a friend amongst other incriminating comments. He took the breath test at the station and failed. However, Defendant ws NOT GUILTY of anything. He had a receipt indicating that he had been at the restaurant and showed that he had consumed alcohol. He testified about his evening and stated he was too drunk to drive, left the restaurant and slept. The state could not show he ever drove the vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Defendant was found not guilty of DUI.
DUI and DWI
Floyd County .05 Under 21
N/A
OUTCOME: Not Guilty DUI
Defendant was a student at Berry College in Rome. She was pulled over for weaving. The officer did not give her any field tests. He did give her an alco-sensor which showed positive for alcohol. Si...nce she was under 21 he arrested her for DUI. SHe was taken to the station and blew a .05. She was charged with having an alcohol level above the limit for a minor. At trial, I used an expert witness to show that the breath test ws not given according to the rules set out by the GBI. The expert witness was a former DUI task force officer with over 900 DUI arrests. Defednant was found not guilty.
DUI and DWI
Cobb County .152 breath test
N/A
OUTCOME: Reckless Driving
Defendant was urinating next to his car in a bar parking lot. A police officer approached him and advised him not to drive. Defendant did not listen to the officer and after five minutes drove off. The... officer allegedly saw my client run a stop sign and change lanes several times without using a signal. He was pulled over and told the officer he would not take field sobriety tests. The officer observed unsteadiness, swaying, bloodshot eyes, and a strong odor of alcohol. The Defendant was read the implied consent warning and took a breath test. He blew .152 and .155. Initially, it looked like a loser case. However, after getting copies of all of the breath tests given on the Intoxilyzer 5000 in that area on the night of the arrest, I learned that there were problems with my client's test. My client blew several times before the machine printed out a result. The State did not even have this information in its file. I went to the prosecutor three weeks before the case was set for a hearing and showed him the deficiencies in the case. The prosecutor agreed and reduced the case to a reckless driving and consented to let my client mail in his guilty plea to the lesser charge so he would not have to return to Georgia.
DUI and DWI
Cobb County 2/5 5th lifetime
N/A
OUTCOME: Plea to Reckless Driving
Client was a multiple offender DUI. He was advised to get into an alcohol treatment program, which he did. He was stopped outside of a Kroger Shopping center near a cemetary. The officer observed th...e Defendant travelling on a road that led to a cemetary at around 2 a.m. My cross examination of the officer established that he had not violated any traffic laws. I submmitted photographs of the scene depicting our side of the story. Before the judge ruled, he called both the solicitor and I to the bench and asked if a lesser plea disposition had been discussed. There was no lesser offer on the table based upon my clients horrible record. However, the solicitor could sense that she was going to lose the hearing and the Defendant would walk with nothing. She agreed to dismiss the DUI if he plead to a reckless and got treatment. Everyone was satisfied with the result.
DUI and DWI
Gwinnett County 2/5 Jury trial with Head of the DUI Task Force and No video
N/A
OUTCOME: Not guilty DUI, Not guilty FTML, Guilty of speedin
I'll start backwards. After the verdict, the judge stated: Mr. Kohn, you may have fooled the jury, but you did not fool me and gave my client ten days to serve on the speeding. Defendant did not spea...k english very well. He was stopped on 316 and given field sobriety. He failed the tests according to the officer and was allegedly pretending to blow into the machine at the station. Through a careful jury selection, I chose jurors who would be sympathetic to my client's problem of not understanding Englsih. The case was very hard fought and we presented evidence of a jail video that showed my client looking and acting normally. The jury agreed that the state did not prove my client's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. I did not think I fooled anyone, the Judge wanted to hammer my client if convicted and felt like he was let off the hook. My client was ecstatic with the victory because it saved his license and his job.
DUI and DWI
Fulton County Jury Trial .098
N/A
OUTCOME: Not Guilty DUI
Defendant was stopped for speeding on Georgia 400. He was given field tests and allegedly failed. He was taken to the station where he blew .098. There was no videotape of the arrest. I was able to... use the officer's manual and cross examine him about the field tests. Futher, the jury felt like the officer had misled them on his testimony. The breaht result was below the legal limit at the time and they found Defendant not guilty.
DUI and DWI
One of My Favorite Cases Fulton County Refusal
N/A
OUTCOME: Case Dismissed at trial
My client was parked on Birmingham Highway with some of her vehicle sticking out into the roadway. Two Fulton County officers pulled up to her and determined that she was DUI. Theu gave her field tes...ts that were done totally wrong. In addition, the officer read the implied consent prior to arresting her, so her refusal to take the test was suppressed. The officer did such a poor job, that during my cross examination after the facts came out, he could not explain why he arrested her. He then stated I arrested her because she had open beer in the car. I then reminded him on the stand that he found the open container after the client had been arrested. He then stated well she had a cooler in the car. I asked him if he had ever put soda or even sandwhiches in a cooler. He stated yes. The judge should have dismissed the case. However, he was a part time judge sitting in for the full time judge and did not want to get rid of a DUI. When we appeared for trial, to no surprise the officer did not appear. There was absolutely no way the State could have won that case after the motion hearing. My client returned to her job and was glad that this nightmare was over.
