Parker v State- Proffers can be hearsay
Parker v. State, S14G1005, Feb. 16, 2015. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that Georgia’s new Evidence Code allows hearsay evidence in determining whether an out-of-state person is a material witness to a Georgia criminal proceeding under our State’s Uniform Act to Secure the Attendance of Witnesses from Without the State, OCGA 24-13-90. Under § 24-1-2 […]
Read MoreChernowski v State – what do you do with a problem like Fulton County
Chernowski v. State, A14A2151, February 12, 2015. Dora Chernowski appealed her DUI conviction resulting from a 2004 single-car accident in Fulton County. She claimed that her Due Process rights were violated by a seven-year delay in the transmission of the trial court record to the Georgia Court of Appeals. She was tried and convicted by […]
Read MoreTwo NHTSA Marijuana Studies find there is no real evidence of danger
Feb. 10, 2015. Denver Colorado’s Channel 9 reports on two National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) studies that find that there is no evidence of any impairment that correlates with THC or the active intoxicating ingredient of Marijuana. Another study found that while alcohol DUI drivers are 400% more likely to have an accident than […]
Read MoreMacon Telegraph reports DUI convictions down 26 percent since 2008
February 4th, 2015. The Macon Telegraph reports that DUI convictions are down from 44,017 DUI convictions in 2008 falling to 32,514 in 2013. The causes are debated. Some suggest more people are refusing the test which makes convictions more difficult. Some suggest that is a reporting problem. Others claim that it is because of budget […]
Read MoreWolfe v Georgia Department of Driver Services – judgment from afar in time and space
Wolfe v. Georgia Department of Driver Services, A14A2286, January 26, 2015. In 1987 and again in 1989, Wolfe was convicted of a DUI-related offense in Illinois. Wolfe had never been a resident of Illinois and had never been issued a driver’s license by Illinois. In 1999, Wolfe moved to the State of Georgia and obtained […]
Read MoreUber.com and the free market beat police at DUI reduction
Entrepreneur.com reported on August 25th, 2015 that Uber has a bigger impact on DUI deaths than law enforcement. Imagine a world where market forces make the world safer than police, courts, and incarceration. According to researchers at Temple University, a study saw a 3.5 % to 5% reduction in one year in cities where Uber.com operated. […]
Read MoreWSB reports that Atlanta Police are Disbanding their HEAT Unit – DUI Taskforce
Friday, January 23, 2015: WSB Reports that the Atlanta Police Department (APD) is disbanding its DUI Taskforce and spreading the six officers on the Unit across the department to train more officers. Rumors on the street are that responsible APD officials actually forgot to timely file the grant paperwork necessary to fund the DUI Unit with […]
Read MoreThe U.S. Supreme Courts Massive Blind Spot
Radley Balko writes in the Washington Post on January 22, 2015, about the massive blind spot of experience on the U.S. Supreme Court on how criminal justice actually works on the street and in the courtroom. The reality is that most Judges have never worked as Defense Attorneys, stared into the desperate eyes of the […]
Read MoreCawley vs State – Constitutional Speedy Trial – Third Time is the Charm
Cawley vs. State, A14A0996, November 21. 2014. The Georgia Court of Appeals remanded this case, a second time, again to the trial court to properly weigh the Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 415 (92 SCt 2182, 33 LE2d 101)(1972) factors on its second appearance on interlocutory appeal. Defendant, Cawley, was arrested for DUI and speeding on February […]
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