Puckett v. State – A13A0264 – Expert Witness – Rule of Sequestration
Puckett v. State, A13A0264, May 17, 2013. This case deals with DUI Expert Witnesses and the Rule of Sequestration during a DUI jury trial in Cobb County State Court located in Marietta, Georgia. Under O.C.G.A. 24-9-61 repealed on Jan 1st, 2013 by the new Georgia Evidence Code, either party has the right to have the […]
Read MoreAppling v State – A12A2137 – 4 Officers not Custody for Miranda during DUI stop
In Appling v. State, A12A2137, March 14, 2013, the Georgia Court of Appeals held that when Officers do not tell you that you are drunk, they intend to arrest you, put you in a police cruiser, handcuff you, wait in a specific location for a more experienced officer then you are not in custody for purposes […]
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 MoreGA Legislature Passes Internet Mugshot dot com law
The Georgia Legislature passed a law prohibiting the publication of Mugshots on websites for commercial gain. Many websites that publish mugshots data mined from Sheriff’s department websites have set up a system where they charge the arrested person $150 or more to remove their picture. The websites are very adept at optimizing their website so […]
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 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 MoreCOGHLAN V. STATE – A12A2388 – The Nature of Evidence in a DUI Investigation
Coghlan v. State (2013) – Georgia Court of Appeals Around 2:00 a.m. on September 16, 2006, Donna J. Coghlan was pulled over for driving on the wrong side of the road. The officer approached the vehicle and noticed a strong odor of alcohol. When he took Coghlan’s license and walked back to his patrol car to […]
Read MoreSome Perspective on the New Year’s 2013 DUI Season
In the 78 hours from 6:00 p.m. Friday, December 28th, to midnight January 1st, the associated press reported that Georgia state troopers made 321 Georgia DUI arrests, up from 262 reported last year. According to the most recent statistics, in 2008 Georgia had around 25,000 DUI arrests. Taking this as a general average, we can […]
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