Heard v State – consent to search is no good where reason for stop is wrong
Heard v. State, A13A0853, Court of Appeals of Georgia, Decided: November 22, 2013. James Heard was stopped by police in Franklin County because the Police Captain had told the Officer that a vehicle matching his car’s description had been involved in drug activity and because no tag validation sticker was visible. It turned out that the […]
Spragins v. State – when is a one man roadblock legal
Spragins v. State, A13A0941, November 20, 2013. John Spragins has stopped a roadblock in Coweta County and was arrested for DUI. He appeals arguing that the roadblock was illegal in that vehicles were waived through because there was only one officer available to check them. A Lieutenant verbally instructed officers to conduct a DUI roadblock […]
State v. Hughes – the seige on standard of review continues and de novo wins again
State v. Hughes, A13A1399, Court of Appeals of Georgia, November 21, 2013. The Court of Appeals reversed the Trial Court in Columbus after granting a motion on probable cause that suppressed a blood test in a felony vehicular homicide. This case represents another in a long line of recent cases where traditionally an erroneous or any […]
The law of unintended consequences never goes out of style
The San Francisco Gate reported a story about a man who went to jail for life for forging an $83.00 check. The story focuses on how prosecutors threaten people with extreme sentences to coerce them into pleading guilty to crimes in which they believe they are innocent. What this highlights is the law of unintended consequences […]
American Bar Association creates criminal collateral consequences database
The American Bar Association has developed a search engine for collateral consequences of criminal convictions. You can search the consequences of criminal convictions by keyword or consequence such as employment or driving privileges. You can also search by type of criminal offense. It searches state and federal laws as well as administrative regulations. Using the keyword […]
Smith v. State – outsourcing the Constituitional Responsibilities to Kentucky
Smith v. State, A13A1282, DO-048 C., Court of Appeals of Georgia, Decided: November 15, 2013. Jason Smith was involved in an automobile accident in Atlanta, Georgia, and Fulton County and arrested for DUI. He was treated by paramedics. Sergeant Teague of the Atlanta Police Department DUI task force was dispatched to the scene. Sergeant Teague met […]
Phillips v. State – when a live witness is not testimonial – still searching for the Source Code in the Cold Kentucky Rain
Phillips v. State, A13A0991, DO-036 C, Court of Appeals of Georgia, Decided: November 15, 2013. Just as Elvis sang in Kentucky Rain, Georgia lawyers are still searching for the Intoxilyzer 5000 source code while Kentucky rain keeps pouring down And up ahead’s another town that they’ll go walking thru with the rain in their shoes still searchin’ […]
Texas Judge angry because Jury did not believe a DUI breath test
The website Slate.com recently reported that a Texas Judge “lost” his mind after a jury refused to accept the results of an alcohol breath test in a Texas Driving Under the Influence Trial. Not only did the Judge fuss at the jury but he accused them of violating their oath and jury nullification. In Georgia, the Jury does possess […]