Denorris Arlandos Heard

Many have mixed opinions about the APD (Atlanta Police Department); they are crooked, out to get you, good cops, helpful, or trying to meet quota, but no matter what you may believe there are still great attorney's that know the law and will ultimately have your best interest at heart. After personal...ly dealing with the APD for the first time in February 2018 over a misunderstanding that ended up escalating, I felt personally attacked. Young, middle-aged, and old black men of all social status' have significant reasons to be weary of police, especially in the south. It has become very evident that the state of Georgia doesn't take "outsiders" or "visitors" kindly if they come across the judicial system. Being from the north and originally a resident from another state, I quickly was given a wakeup call after my run in with the police back in February 2018. When I was trying to meet up with some friends visiting Atlanta from out of town, I was still unfamiliar with the roads, directions, and traffic laws of the city; just recently moving to Atlanta weeks before this encounter. Instinctively I used GPS to get around, but it was very dark and I accidentally ended up turning down a one way. But when I finally realized my mistake and tried to turn around, an APD cop was already behind me. He ran my license and asked if I was drinking, and it turned out my license was expired so I had to call someone to pick me up. He never gave me the chance to contact someone on the phone from the safety of my car before spraying the car with mace and forcefully dragging me out and arresting me for "drunk driving" even though he never administered a sobriety test. I spent the weekend in jail and got the book thrown at me because I originally was from out of state. But, thanks to my father, I was able to get Mr. Heard on my case. Mr. Heard had a lot of the charges dropped and even the DUI charge reduced to wreckless driving. Other than a weekend in jail and a bunch of fines, I am blessed to have relatively gotten off the way I did. This was my first ever offense, being from a Christian home with both parents and a college graduate, I never had any issues with the law except speeding tickets and traffic violations. But through this encounter I wouldn't have asked for anyone other than Denorris Heard. He's an amazing attorney and I'd recommend him to anyone!