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Armentrout v State- No SOP Not a Constitutional Roadblock

ARMENTROUT v. STATE, A15A0093, Court of Appeals of Georgia, May 15, 2015.  Renee Armentrout was stopped at a police roadblock implemented by the John’s Creek Police Department in Fulton County. She was ultimately arrested and charged with DUI. Armentrout challenged the Constitutionality of the Roadblock. The State bears the burden of establishing the Constitutionality of the […]

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Taser Danger

Tasers are essentially electric shock guns. They are aimed with a laser target and shoot metal barbs attached to wires into a person and the gun then sends electric impulses that disable muscles temporarily. They are officially classified as non-lethal weapons. Police like them because they are less likely to be injured when taking down […]

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Man charged with DUI for letting his 15 year daughter drive when he was drunk

May 14th, 2015: Aol news reported that 43-year-old Jason Phipps was arrested for DUI after letting his sober 15-year-old daughter drive him and his wife who were intoxicated using her learner’s driver’s license after the Zac Brown Band Concert in Alpharetta at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater.  The argument posed by police is that you have […]

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Rodriguez v US – no such thing as a de minimis expansion of traffic stop under the 4th Amendment

Rodriguez v. the United States, No. 13-9972, United States Supreme Court, Vacated and Remanded, April 21, 2015. Officer Struble, a K-9 police officer, made a traffic stop after observing Rodriguez driving on the highway shoulder. After checking Rodriguez’s license, tag, and insurance and the licenses of the passengers, Struble issued Rodriguez a warning for driving […]

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Chavez-Ortega v State – by their deeds you shall know an arrest

Chavez-Ortega v. State, A14A2188, Reversed, March 24, 2015. By their words, they will deceive, but by their deeds, ye shall know them.  Jonathan Chavez-Ortega was charged with DUI. Chavez was arrested by Cobb County Police.  He was initially questioned and then he was detained, placed in handcuffs, and put in the rear of a police […]

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Hughes v State- Probable Cause for DUI if reasonable cops can differ

DUI Probable Cause Hughes v. State, S14G0622, March 16, 2015. Jack Hughes was required by police to submit to a blood test at the request of police after a fatal accident. Hughes moved to suppress the blood test result after he was charged as a result of there being no probable cause that he was DUI. […]

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State v Barnes – Not not rescinded but rather fair and reasonable

State v. Barnes, A14A1915, Court of Appeals of Georgia, March 27, 2015.  The State appealed the Fayette County State Court’s order suppressing a DUI alcohol breath test result because Barnes’ refusal to take the test was not rescinded.  Barnes was pulled over and, after an investigation including a portable breath result, was arrested for DUI. She […]

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California Supreme Court – DUI Field Sobriety Tests do not predict impairment

DUI Law Appellate Quote of the day: Coffey v. Shiomoto, No. s213545, California Supreme Court (April 6, 2015);— P.3d —-, 2015 WL 1514610 (Cal.): “National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released the results of a study in 1998 that evaluated the accuracy of the standardized field sobriety test (SFST) battery at BACs below 0.10 percent. (Stuster […]

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Williams v State – the Constitution is not a loophole or a technicality

Williams v. State, S14A1625, March 27, 2015. A legal earthquake is shaking things up in Georgia’s DUI law. John Williams was convicted of driving under the influence of drugs. He moved to suppress the state-administered blood test on the basis that Georgia’s Implied Consent Statute does not amount to the required voluntary consent under the […]

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