DUI - Alcohol

Driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol is a serious offense in the state of Georgia and can result in severe legal consequences, including jail time and license suspension. If you have been charged with DUI, it’s important to understand what your charges mean and how an experienced attorney can help protect your rights. This article will provide an overview of DUI alcohol charges in Georgia, discuss the possible consequences of a conviction, examine potential defenses against these types of charges, and explain how working with an attorney could benefit you.

What is a DUI Per Se

Driving under the influence of alcohol per se in Georgia is the act of operating a motor vehicle when the driver's blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is 0.08 grams or higher within three hours after driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle. Georgia has adopted the “per se” law, which makes it illegal for anyone to operate a motor vehicle on Georgia's roadways with a BAC at or above 0.08%, regardless of how good or bad you were driving.

Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is a measure of the amount of alcohol in a person's body. It is typically measured through breath, blood and urine tests. BAC levels can range from 0.00%-0.40%. While the roadside breathalyzer test given by police does show a BAC number, that number is not accurate enough to convict you of a DUI Per Se from alcohol - it does, however, prove to the police that you have consumed alcohol, and they will likely increase their DUI investigation if it comes back positive.

For the actual test of your BAC, the police will ask you, upon being arrested for DUI, if you will submit to a state-administered test of your blood, breath, urine, or other bodily substance - usually, either a breath or a blood test, if they suspect you are under the influence of alcohol. This is the "implied consent" law, which says that by driving on Georgia roads, you are assumed to agree to this test - however, at this point and time, you can say "no" to the test request, and the result is that the State of Georgia takes away your right to drive for a time (the length depends on the circumstances of your case). If you say yes to the police, then you will taken somewhere to get your blood drawn or breath taken, usually the police station for breath, and that test will become part of the evidence against you in your DUI case.

When your test shows 0.08 grams of blood alcohol concentration or higher, you will get charged with a DUI per se. Since there is a test the state prosecutors can use against you in your case, it is an uphill battle to fight the charges - though not impossible. If the police officers did anything wrong in their DUI investigation, you can challenge the test results, or even the whole arrest in the first place.

For drivers under the age of 21, the per se level is 0.02 grams of alcohol concentration in your blood. This is basically a "no-tolerance" alcohol policy - which is in line with the Georgia laws stating you must be 21 years of age or older to legally consume alcohol.

For drivers pulled over for DUI while driving a commercial motor vehicle (CMV), the per se limit is 0.04 percent blood alcohol concentration. Additionally, during the time from the CMV driver's arrest until their DUI case is heard, they will lose their CDL in the meantime.

What is a DUI Less Safe

In the state of Georgia, drivers may also be found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol if they are deemed to be “less safe” to drive due to their consumption of alcohol. A person can be charged with this crime regardless of their BAC level. This is confusing, as Georgia does not have a "zero tolerance" policy for alcohol and driving - you are allowed to consume alcohol and then drive a vehicle - but this allows police and prosecutors to treat it like such, as, if you drive even a little poorly and have only a small amount of alcohol in your system, you can still get arrested for a DUI less safe.

In order to prove that you were less safe to drive because of alcohol for a DUI, prosecutors will have to establish certain evidence obtained from the officer's observations. This may include physical signs of intoxication such as having glassy or bloodshot eyes, emitting an odor of alcohol on their breath, slurred speech, poor balance or coordination when performing field sobriety tests and/or displaying impaired driving behavior. Additionally, if there is video footage from the arresting officer’s body cam or dashcam that can corroborate these claims it may be used as further evidence against you in court.

An attorney can challenge any inconsistencies found within the prosecution’s case and seek a favorable outcome on your behalf. If there was a test and it was under the per se limit for your age or driving group, that is a good argument to make that, if you otherwise looked and sounded sober on camera or audio, even though you had alcohol, you were not a less safe driver and thus did not break Georgia law. If you did not provide a state-administered test and you did not admit to drinking alcohol to the police, then not only do the prosecutors have to prove you had alcohol, but also that it made you less safe to drive.

License Issues after DUI Alcohol Arrest

When you're arrested for a DUI Alcohol in Georgia, whether DUI per se or DUI less safe, you immediately face issues with your driver's license. It is important to take action right away, as you only have 30 days from your arrest date in order to protect your ability to drive while you're waiting for your DUI case to go to court - a process that could take up to two years, depending on the jurisdiction.

If you said "yes" to the implied consent test, and the alcohol amount was over the per se limit for your age group or license group, then you are eligible for a limited driving permit (allows you to go to a limited group of places, such as work, school, and court) while your DUI case is pending. You'll pay $25 to the Georgia DDS (Department of Driver Services) and you'll get your limited permit. In certain instances, you can get your full driving privileges reinstated after 30 days by completing a DDS-approved DUI Risk Reduction Program and paying a reinstatement fee. However, contact a lawyer before you do this, as you may be better of waiting it out on your suspension with a limited permit, depending on the facts of your case.

If you said "no" to the implied consent test, then you've got two options: fight the suspension or get an IID (ignition interlock device) limited permit.

To fight the suspension, you must file a notice to the DDS along with a $150 hearing request fee within 30 days of your arrest. You'll be able to drive until your hearing, using the temporary license the police officer gave you upon your arrest. Once you go to court on this ALS (administrative license suspension) hearing, you will know what happens to your license - if you lose, your license is suspended for a year and you have no way to get a limited permit; if you win, your license won't be suspended. It is highly recommended to hire an attorney to file the hearing request for you and also fight for you at the hearing, as it is a technical matter. Usually, if you hire an attorney for your underlying DUI alcohol case, you can hire that same attorney to represent you for the ALS hearing as well - just make sure to move before that 30 day window is up, or else you lose by default and your license will be suspended for one year.

If you know that your DUI case won't be heard for a long time and you need to be able to drive during that time - and you don't want to risk losing at the ALS hearing, you can apply for the IID limited permit. This means you have to have a licensed IID provider install and maintain a car breathalyzer on your car for 12 months - no exceptions, no take-backs. This means if your DUI case gets rushed to the front and dismissed after 3 months, you still have to finish out the remaining 9 months using your IID limited permit. So only do this if you have to drive, don't mind having the cost and inconvenience of a breathalyzer on your car for a solid year, and don't think your DUI case will be heard for at least 12 months after your arrest. Once again, it is highly recommended that you talk with an attorney immediately after your arrest, so you can weigh which options will be best for your specific case.

Consequences of a DUI Alcohol Conviction

If convicted of DUI - alcohol, the penalties are severe and may include jail time, fines, license suspension or revocation, community service and/or other court-imposed sanctions. Additionally, your insurance rates may increase significantly - or your insurance company can drop you altogether - and you may be ineligible for certain jobs due to the criminal record associated with a DUI offense.

Here's a brief overview of what it would look like for someone 21 or older who got a DUI alcohol (either DUI per se or DUI less safe), for the first time in their life. Any subsequent DUIs only go up in punishment - especially if they happen within 5 years of each other.

License Suspension - first DUI

Everyone convicted of a DUI gets their license suspended for at least some period of time. If your license was previously suspended under the ALS suspension, then the time spent in the ALS suspension will count towards the DUI conviction suspension time. For a first-time DUI alcohol conviction of a driver 21 or older, your license is suspended for 120 days. In most cases, you can get a limited permit right away, good for one year after it's issued. You'll need to get a ride to the DDS in order to get this permit, since you won't be able to drive at all after conviction of a DUI alcohol, and then submit the paperwork you got from court along with $25 fee.

Once the suspension time is up, you will need to show the DDS proof of your completion in a DDS-approved DUI Risk Reduction Program and pay a reinstatement fee.

Fines, Jail Time, Probation, Other Requirements - first DUI

A first DUI alcohol is considered a misdemeanor in the state of Georgia. You cannot plead nolo contendere or no contest in order to avoid any of the following penalties or license suspension - however, for liability issues, if a judge accepts your no contest plea, you could enter such a plea.

The fines for a first DUI alcohol are a minimum of $300 and a maximum of $1,000, not including court costs. Court costs usually add 50% to 100% of the underlying fine.

The minimum jail time is 10 days and maximum time is 12 months - however, if the judge allows it, you can have the minimum time reduced to 24 hours in jail. Any time you spent in jail when you were arrested should count towards your jail time after conviction. You will also have to be on probation for 12 months, minus any time spent in jail. Probation comes with a monthly supervision fee, you have to report to your probation officer as directed, you'll turn in proof of completion of all your court-ordered requirements to probation, and you cannot move or travel without letting probation know first and getting approval.

You'll have to do a minimum of 40 hours of community service. You must complete a DDS-approved DUI Alcohol Risk Reduction Program - which you have to do anyway to get your license back. You will also have to complete a licensed substance abuse evaluation and follow any and all treatment recommended by the evaluator. You will also be subject to random drug screens that you must pay for. Probation will direct you when to take the screens. If you break any laws while on probation or fail to do any of your requirements, you could be thrown in jail for up to the remainder of time you have left on probation.

Defenses Against a DUI Alcohol

The most common defense against DUI charges is that the driver was not actually under the influence at the time of arrest or was arrested without probable cause. Additionally, drivers may also attempt to establish a legal defense based on faulty breathalyzer equipment or an unreliable field sobriety test. An experienced attorney can determine the most appropriate defense strategy to use in your specific case. Make sure you call a local attorney as soon as you get out of jail for your DUI, so any and all evidence, including witnesses, can be preserved.

How a Lawyer Can Help

If you have been charged with DUI Alcohol (DUI per se or DUI less safe) in Georgia, it’s important to seek legal counsel as soon as possible. A skilled lawyer will be able to review the facts of your case and determine the best defense strategy to use in order to obtain a favorable outcome. They can also provide valuable guidance throughout the legal process, ensuring that you fully understand your rights and options as you navigate through the court system.