Rolland v. State: Intoxilyzer 5000 – Judicial Comment – Appointment of Experts
In Rolland v. State, A13A0081, April 30, 2013, the Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed the Athens Georgia jury’s finding of Guilty as to a DUI per se and DUI less safe. Defendant Rolland had argued that the Judge had improperly commented on the evidence in violation of OCGA 17-8-57 by discussing the history of the use […]
Read MoreMitchell v. State – A13A0035 – Roadblocks: safety concerns are okay
In Mitchell v. State, A13A0035, April 30, 2013, the Georgia Court of Appeals held affirming the Dublin Georgia Laurens County Trial Court ruling in this Marijuana case that “for safety reasons and sobriety purposes” is a legitimate primary purpose for a Roadblock under Georgia and Federal law which had previously been limited to license checks, sobriety […]
Read MoreWaldron v. State – Search and Seizure – DUI – Closed Business
On April 5th, 2013, the Court of Appeals affirmed the DeKalb County State Court’s denial of the Defendant’s Motion to Suppress in Walden v. State A13A0116, holding that the Police Officer had a reasonable suspicion to stop the Defendant’s vehicle. The Police Officer responded to a burglary in progress after a real estate agent found several […]
Read MoreMissouri v. McNeely, SCOTUS rejects warrantless DUI Blood tests
On April 17, 2013, in Missouri v. McNeely, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) rejected a per se rule allowing warrantless, non-consensual blood tests in DUI cases. The State of Missouri had argued that because blood tests dissipate at .015 to .020 an hour there should be an exception to the warrant requirement […]
Read MoreACREE V. STATE – A12A2057: When Video Evidence Isn’t Enough
Acree v. State (2013) – Georgia Court of Appeals On the night of April 19, 2008, an officer in Forsyth County pulled over William Garrett Acree for failure to maintain a lane. At a motion to suppress evidence the officer testified that before he activated the camera in his patrol car, he observed Acree cross the […]
Read MoreHINTON V. STATE (2013) Direct Evidence and the Reasonable Hypothesis Defense
HINTON v. STATE – (2013) – Georgia Court of Appeals Around 11:50 p.m. an Atlanta Police Officer who had served on the APD DUI task force for over seven years, and had made 600 DUI arrests, observed a car traveling toward him that appeared to be speeding. With a laser-speed detection device, the officer determined that […]
Read MoreJOHNS V. STATE – A12A1794: The Importance of Court Reporters
Johns vs. State (2013) – Georgia Court of Appeals On March 23, 2010, Brian Louis Johns, Jr. got into an argument with his live-in girlfriend in his girlfriend’s apartment and damaged some of her clothes. She called the police. Johns left, and when the police showed up at his girlfriend’s apartment, she told them that Johns […]
Read MoreSUTTON V. STATE – A12A2223: Measuring the Reliability of Anonymous Informants
Sutton v. State (2013) – Georgia Court of Appeals In late 2010, an informant by the alias “It” contacted the Flowery Branch Police Department with allegations that Eric Sutton was using and distributing illegal drugs. “It” claimed to have received his information from “Source A” as identified in the affidavit. “It” had a personal relationship […]
Read More