Using tear gas and rubber bullets during peaceful protest is illegal
A Colorado Federal District Court ruled on June 5, 2020, that police use of tear gas and rubber bullets was illegal as an excessive force under the Fourth Amendment, the First Amendment as a violation of free speech as the First Amendment bars retaliation, and that protesters suffered irreparable harm. The Federal District Court held […]
Read MoreAre Atlanta Georgia Curfews Legal
The United State Supreme Court has yet to examine civil curfew laws. In Toyoshaburo Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944), the United States Supreme Court professed to apply “the most rigid scrutiny” to the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II but nevertheless found the “assembling together and placing under guard all those of […]
Read MoreElliott v State – Elliott is not a fat kid with glasses who eats paste – Elliott is a constitutional rock star
Elliott v. State, S18A1204, Supreme Court of Georgia, February 18, 2019. In Elliott v. State, the Supreme Court of Georgia held that Art. 1, Sect. 1, Para XVI of the Georgia Constitutional prohibits the admission into evidence of the refusal of a compelled breath test under the Georgia Implied Consent law as an act of self-incrimination. […]
Read MoreState v Council – Court of Appeals concedes refusal nor compelled breath test admissible
In State v. Council, 343 Ga. App. 583, 586; 807 SE2d 504 (2017), on September 15th, 2016, Susan Council was involved in a multi-vehicle automobile collision. Cobb County Police were told by emergency medical technicians that they believed Ms. Council was under the influence of alcohol. Ms. Council was polite, admitted to drinking 2 glasses of […]
Read MoreSpencer v State – clues do not equate to BAC with out a proper Harper foundation
In Spencer v. State, 302 Ga. 133 (805 SE2d 886) (2017), the Georgia Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari in Spencer to consider whether the Court of Appeals erred in holding that the trial court properly admitted a police officer’s testimony correlating the results of a horizontal gaze nystagmus (“HGN”) test with a numeric blood alcohol content […]
Read MoreCan police use blood taken at a hospital against me in a DUI?
Can the police use my hospital records after a car accident for a DUI? The short answer is yes even though there are 25 reasons that they should not. In King v. State, 276 Ga. 126, 577 S.E.2d 764 (2003)(King II), the Georgia Supreme Court approved the use of search warrants as a means of obtaining […]
Read MoreGot a Breath test DUI take an Olevik
Olevik v. State, S17A0738, Supreme Court of Georgia, Decided: October 16, 2017. Prior to Olevik v. State, No. S17A0738, 2017 WL 4582402 (Ga. Oct. 16, 2017), Georgia courts routinely recognized that the right to refuse a state-administered chemical test following a DUI arrest was not a constitutional right: “As we noted, the United States Supreme Court ruled it […]
Read MoreIs the American jury trial an endangered species
The United States is a country founded on the right to a trial by jury. Yet, juries decide fewer than four percent of criminal cases today and fewer than one percent of civil cases. The widespread use and growth of plea bargaining (where prosecutors offer a reduced jail sentence for a plea before trial and […]
Read MoreSmith v State – DUI vehicular homicide must include lesser included option
Smith v. State, A17A1252, September 7, 2017. Quincy Alexander Smith was convicted of first-degree vehicular homicide for causing the death of another with a blood alcohol concentration over 0.08 grams within three hours of driving. After dropping his wife and children off at a friend’s house, he was turning left into his subdivision when he […]
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