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An attempt by U.S. senators to restrict the use of downloadable applications that alert motorists of DUI checkpoints has put the spotlight on just how effective road blocks are in catching drunk drivers.

Despite concerns about apps steering offenders away from checkpoints and the cost-effectiveness of setting them up, law enforcement officers in Carroll County say road blocks do work. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, checkpoints reduce alcohol-related crashes.

Although the Supreme Court ruled in 1990 that sobriety checkpoints are constitutional, some states don’t allow them.

“The main goal of sobriety check points is to try to catch those who are violating the DUI/open container laws,” Georgia State Patrol Cpl. M. L. Stewart said. “Not to mention, it sends a proactive message to those who might think about drinking and driving.”

While statistics on how many DUI arrests were made last year are unavailable, the Villa Rica state patrol post conducted somewhere between 50 and 75 checkpoints in 2010, if not more.

“In today’s times with the steep gas prices, it is most definitely cost-effective to have a road check versus having troopers or officers ride around,” Stewart said. “While at a road check, you can leave your car shut off most of the time while you are at that location.”

Post personnel average between 25 to 35 DUI arrests a month, which includes drug and alcohol arrests during road checks and rolling patrols. Stewart said some checkpoints lead to many arrests while others net hardly any.

“Usually there are a few locations that you know you will get several quantity arrests (for seat belt and child restraint violations),” he said. “But you may not get the quality arrests (for DUI, drugs and suspended or revoked licenses) that you had hoped for. In my personal experience on road checks that do not usually net many arrests, it has been because the road checks have been heavily publicized.”
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Should even first-time DUI offenders be forced to install an ignition interlock device in their car to make sure they don’t drink and drive? The issue has been debated at the state capitol with powerful lobbying groups on both sides of the bill.

Mothers against Drunk Driving says requiring ignition interlocks for first time offenders would save lives. A huge restaurant trade association, says it would treat people who made one mistake like hard core offenders.

LifeSafer Interlock of South Georgia owner Dennis Irby installs another interlock breathalyzer device, and because of so many DUI offenders in Georgia business is booming. “If you are drinking, you will not drive. That is all there is to it. And it keeps our roads safe.” Irby said.

Proposed legislation that passed a state Senate committee would require every DUI offender, even first offenders, to have an interlock ignition device put on their car. If it detects more than a low threshold level of alcohol, it will not allow the car to crank, and it keeps testing.

“Every 2 to 20 minutes while you are driving down the road, it is going to make you blow in the machine again. You must continue to pass the test. You can not drive, stop and get a beer, and keep driving around. It will not let you do that,” Irby said.
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Running back Ronnie Brown of the Miami Dolphins was arrested in Atlanta  for suspicion of driving under the influence on Friday.

Brown, who has no previous arrest record, was initially pulled over by police for failing to signal during a lane change. He was given a field sobriety test which he did not perform well and he was taken into custody late Friday night for DUI. He was released from jail early Saturday morning.

The Miami Dolphins are aware of the incident, but the team did not have a comment on Sunday. The team will continue to monitor the legal process. Because of his impeccable record as a player and a citizen, they are not believed to be overly upset with Brown.

Brown has hired an attorney and he is very upset over the arrest.

The Dolphins are scheduled to begin their off-season voluntary training program on Monday. Brown’s legal situation will not keep him from attending. Brown, a Pro Bowl running back who made the Wildcat offense popular in 2008, is among the most popular players on the team’s roster.

At 28, Brown is still expected to be the main running back for the Dolphins’ next season, while Ricky Williams and Patrick Cobbs will serve as his backups.

Brown was the Dolphins second overall selection in the 2005 NFL draft and his entire NFL career has been with Miami.

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The Georgia General Assembly is considering requiring ignition interlock devises for those convicted of a first lifetime DUI offense, according to Forsythnews.com. Currently Georgia required ignition interlock for repeat offenders.
According to Forsyth County DUI Lawyer Richard Lawson, “an ignition interlock is a breath-testing devise that is attached to your vehicle.  A person must provide a breath sample before the devise will allow the vehicle to start. Private companies supply the interlock for a fee of approximately $125 a month.”
Lawson explained that “Ignition interlocks, while a good idea for repeat offenders, have had several problems. Once a driver starts his car, the interlock requires the driver to submit to several breath samples throughout the drive. Attorneys have reported that this can cause safety issues to the driver of the vehicle. In addition, most interlocks do not use infra-red technology, and as a result, are not as accurate as the breath-testing devises used in Georgia DUI arrests.  As a result, substances other than ethyl alcohol can cause the devise to report a positive test.”

Georgia law-makers have added additional penalties to the DUI Laws at almost every general assembly. In recent years, Georgia has added Felony penalties for a 4th lifetime DUI, and has changed the mandatory “look-back” on prior DUIs from five to ten years. Lawson warns that “these additional penalties can have actually cause some people on DUI probation to simply not comply with the orders of the court. There becomes a point when people simply do not have the means to comply with their court orders. After serving time in jail, getting probation, community service, payment of fines, DUI school, alcohol and drug treatment, and all the other court fees, people may not have the ability to pay for an interlock.”

We will update this story with a supplement as the Georgia General Assembly gets closer to resolving this issue. Other states such as Arizona and New Mexico already mandate ignition interlock devices for first time DUI offenders, so the proposed law has precedent as well as political momentum.

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Hartwell Mayor-elect Jennifer Sudderth says her arrest over the weekend in Greenville is all a misunderstanding.

Greenville police spokesman Jason Rampey said Sudderth, 36, a Hart County middle school teacher, was arrested Saturday morning inside the city limits and charged with driving under the influence.

Rampey said the arrest was made at 3:51 a.m. at Laurens Road at Henderson Road.

Sudderth at first declined to comment today, then called back and said, “The entire incident is a misunderstanding and will be cleared up this week.”

Sudderth said she had retained an attorney, but would not explain further how it was a misunderstanding nor how it would be cleared up and declined to say anything more.

According to Greenville police officer J.M. Plonk’s incident report, he saw Sudderth’s maroon Mitsubishi Montero swerving over the white lines. Plonk said he followed the car and saw it swerving over the white lines three more times before heading onto I-85 southbound. In his report, the officer said he followed Sudderth off the interstate to a Mauldin Road gas station where he pulled her over.

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Officer involved in hit and run accident while driving drunk.

Lt. Robert McGee, with the Cobb County Police Department, was charged with driving under the influence in Georgia after he was in a hit and run accident. The accident occurred on October 26 at Chastain Road and George Busbee Parkway in Kennesaw.

McGee turned himself in and was booked at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on charges of GA DUI, hit and run and following too closely.

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Georgia police are searching for a handcuffed DUI suspect who slipped out of the backseat of a Duluth police car and stole the cruiser after being arrested for DUI.

Duluth Maj. Don Woodruff said the officer realized the driver was intoxicated, put on handcuffs and put him in the backseat of the patrol car. He said the man managed to kick out, pry open or open the lock on a divider between the front and back seats.

Dashcam video from the stolen police car show the suspect driving about 20 miles to southeast Atlanta.

At one point he stops, raises the hood and searches for something in the engine compartment. Police believe he was looking for a GPS tracking device, hoping to disable it.

The dashcam camera recorded the suspect bragging about escaping.

“Showing people his handcuffs and telling people he got away from police,” said Woodruff.

The suspect abandoned the police car behind a church.

The car had no damage and none of the equipment was missing, Woodruff said.

Police said the U-Haul the Georgia DUI suspect was driving had been stolen.

Georgia DUI law permits prosecution of persons who are DUI-alcohol in several ways.

In a “traditional” DUI case, the State must prove that the driver was a less safe driver as a result of alcohol consumed. This type of case can be pursued even if no alcohol content test result exists from a blood, breath or urine test. You would be well advised to contact a Georgia DUI lawyer ASAP for a free consultation when arrested for drunk driving in GA.

A Georgia lawmaker is suggesting that New York should use Georgia’s strict penalties on drivers who transport children while under the influence.

State Sen. Gail Buckner said she offered her 1992 legislation to New York Gov. David Paterson as a model as he works for tougher penalties in his state.

The Georgia DUI law carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison if an alcohol-related crash results in the serious injury or death of a young passenger.

Paterson is backing new legislation that would make a DUI in New York  with children in the car a felony. He is responding to the wrong-way crash last month that killed eight people, including the driver, on Long Island.

A teenager who pleaded guilty to hitting and killing a Clarke County woman as she walked along a road with her 3-year-old son has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

At Thursday’s sentencing, prosecutors said Abel Gonzalez-Perez will be held in a youth detention facility until he turns 17 in September, then will be transferred to adult prison.

Prosecutors said the teen is a native of Mexico who was working illegally in the U.S. He earlier pleaded guilty to first-degree vehicular homicide, DUI and hit-and-run.

Nayasheika “Keisha” Cooper, who was 19, died after being hit from behind in the June 14, 2008, accident.

Judge Steve Jones also ordered Gonzalez-Perez to serve seven years of probation after he is released from prison.

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On March 2, 2009, the Georgia Court of Appeals issued a new Georgia DUI opinion reversing the granting of a general demurrer. The court explained that, based on the wording of the charging documents, there could not be any confusion as to what the Defendant was charged with despite the fact that the prosecutor forgot to include the relevant statute.

The case is State of Georgia v. King.

Court’s synopsis:

Jonathan King was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol to the extent that it was less safe to do so (“DUI less safe”)and driving with an unlawful alcohol concentration (“DUI per se”). During the trial, the State Court of DeKalb County granted King’s oral motion for general demurrer as to the DUI per se count. The State appeals, contending that the trial court erred in concluding that the accusation was fatally defective because the State failed to include therein essential words from the relevant statute. We agree and reverse.

Court’s analysis:

Thus, an accusation will survive a general demurrer if it charges an accused with having committed certain acts in violation of a specific criminal statute, notwithstanding the omission of an essential element of the crime.

Here, the DUI per se accusation alleges that King “was in actual physical control of a moving vehicle on Piedmont Road with an alcohol concentration of 0.08 grams or more within three hours after being in actual physical control ended [sic], in violation of OCGA § 40-6-391….” OCGA § 40-6-391(a)(5) provides that “a person shall not drive or be in actual physical control of any moving vehicle while … the person’s alcohol concentration is 0.08 grams or more at any time within three hours after such driving or being in actual physical control from alcohol consumed before such driving or being in actual physical control ended.”

Court’s conclusion:

Although the accusation did not specifically allege that King’s alcohol concentration resulted from alcohol consumed before his driving ended, the accusation was not defective because it alleged that King violated OCGA § 40-6-391 and it was titled “Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol (Per Se).” Thus, there could be no confusion over the crime King was charged with. Under these circumstances, the trial court erred in sustaining King’s general demurrer regarding the DUI per se charge.

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