Atlanta Braves pitcher, Derek Lowe, was stopped and arrested for an Atlanta DUI on April 28, 2011. Lowe was stopped by a Georgia State Patrol trooper on Thursday evening at about 10:00 pm in Atlanta.
The trooper smelled an odor of alcohol and had Lowe perform standardized field sobriety tests such as the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, Walk and Turn, and One Leg Stand. Lowe was arrested.
He was charged with DUI, reckless driving, and improper lane change. Lowe refused to take a state-administered breath test on the Intoxilyzer 5000 for his Georgia DUI arrest. He may be subject to an administrative license suspension for his refusal under Georgia DUI law.
Lowe, a 37-year-old right-hander, is in his third season of a four-year, $60 million contract with the Braves in Atlanta. He has pitched the opening-day game for the past three years. Lowe was a star on the Boston Red Sox before coming to Atlanta and is 2-3 with a 3.21 earned run average.
Under Georgia DUI law a first time DUI offender must serve 24 hours in jail, 40 hours of community service, 12 months of reporting probation, a minimum fine of $300, and a license suspension for which he may be eligible for a work permit if assisted by a qualified Atlanta DUI lawyer. Remember in America all DUI defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Further, Lowe’s DUI will likely be reduced to Reckless driving if he is represented by a qualified and experienced Atlanta DUI Attorney. It is very difficult in Georgia to prove a driver is less safe DUI or drunk as the legal limit is very low and often results in persons over the legal limit but still clearly sober being arrested for DUI. In the ’80s the legal limit was .12 and in the ’90s the legal limit was .10. The legal limit is about politics and not about practical application by police in the field. Alcohol affects different people differently and very few people are impaired at the .08 level which is less impaired than talking on a cell phone hands-free in an automobile according to University studies.