George C. Creal, Jr., P.C.
DUI Trial Lawyers
Email Consultation: firm@georgialawyer.com, or
Phone Consultation: (770) 961 5511, or
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Atlanta DUI Lawyers
George C. Creal, Jr., P.C. is a law firm representing those charged with DUI or driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Our firm has advised thousands of DUI clients primarily in Metro Atlanta: including the City of Atlanta, Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Cherokee, Forsyth, Henry, Clayton, Fayette, Rockdale, Spalding and Coweta Counties. We know the Court system, the Judges, the Prosecutors and how they work. I was a staff attorney for a Superior Court Judge in Clayton County in 1993-1994.
Offices conveniently located across the Atlanta Metro Area for consultations by appointment, at a location near your home, online, on the phone, via email in consideration for your time and convenience.
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Dowtown Atlanta
on Freedom Parkway
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Southside in Forest Park
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Duluth, GA
on the Northside
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DUI Georgia: Tough New Laws
The toughest DUI laws in Georgia history went into effect on July 1, 2009. These laws require jail time for all DUI convictions, increased look back for mandatory sentencing from five years to 10 years, felony treatment for a fourth DUI in ten years, license suspensions, twelve months of reporting probation, and extensive community service. Some Georgia DUI offenders will have all of their license plates confiscated and be required to perform 30 days or 240 hours of community service!
In your Georgia DUI, you will face two courts: a criminal court and a driver's license court. Further, if you do not request a hearing with in ten business days, your license will be suspended thirty days after your arrest for as much as five years in some cases, usually before you even go to court for your DUI.
DUI Georgia: New Laws Make Legal Representation Essential
Georgia's Tough New DUI penalties make legal representation essential. If you do not contact us, please contact another attorney. Do not go to court unrepresented. If you can't afford to miss work for a year, you can't afford not to hire an experienced Atlanta DUI attorney.
Hire Experienced Metro Area Atlanta DUI Attorneys | DUI Georgia
We take all major credit cards and have payment plans for qualified applicants. We are an established law firm here to help you. We will not plead your case guilty unless you tell us you do not want a trial. Call us at (770) 961-5511 for a free consultation, email
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or fax us a copy of your tickets or police report at (770) 961-5544.
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Closing Argument Quotables
"I consider [trial by jury] as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution." --Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Paine, 1789. ME 7:408, Papers 15:269
"A lawyer without history or literature is a mechanic, a mere working mason; if he possesses some knowledge of these, he may venture to call himself an architect." -Sir Walter Scott
Most Commonly Asked Question:
What do I do if I am arrested for DUI? Click here for the Answer.
Georgia DUI Myths:
 Myth: Driving at 0.08 is dangerous or a driver is impaired.
Fact: A University of Utah study found that drivers talking on cell phones with and without earbuds were more dangerous than drivers who had consumed enough alcohol to be in excess of the 0.08 legal blood alcohol limit for most states. See blog link Strayer, D. Human Factors, Summer 2006; vol 48: pp 381-391. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: “DUI/DWI Laws.” News release, University of Utah.
Myth: Mouthwash or breath spray will help you beat a DUI.
Click here to find out more about Atlanta DUI Myths.
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The Fayette County Georgia Sheriff's Department announced a DUI crackdown in Fayette County, Peachtree City, Tyrone, and Fayetteville. County Sheriff's and local City Police will be teaming up for an "Over the Limit, Under Arrest" weekend for Labor Day 2010. Read about the Fayette County DUI crack down. |
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In a Georgia DUI arrest, even if there is no probable cause to arrest for a traffic or other offense, the Fourth Amendment allows police to stop a vehicle to investigate a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. Vansant v. State, 264 Ga. 319, 320, 443 S.E.2d 474 (1994)(holding improper a traffic stop based on information that a vehicle described only as a “white van” had been involved in a hit-and-run accident in the area. The Court reasoned the lack of specific information precluded a finding of articulable suspicion.) To meet the reasonable suspicion standard, police must point, under the totality of the circumstances, to "specific and articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, ... [provide] a particularized and objective basis for suspecting the particular person stopped of criminal activity." Id. at 320, 443 S.E.2d 474; Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968).
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Atlanta Police Chief George Turner admitted to using unconstitutional roadblocks for general crime deterence at a Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Community forum last week. The Atlanta Police Chief's dialogue went as follows:
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A Rockdale Superior Court Judge has put a halt to illegal DUI license suspensions with a Temporary Restraining Order on the Georgia Department of Driver Services. The petitioners, all persons arrested for DUI, have asserted that the forms initiating their administrative DUI license suspensions were not sworn before a notary public as to the truth of their contents as required by law but that notaries were simply signing off on forms when they had never even seen the DUI poilce officers initiating the DUI license suspension process. This appears to be a violation of the law and of the notaries oath of office. For more on the story click here. |
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Damon Evans, widely honored Athletic Director at the University of Georgia, was arrest for DUI by the Georgia State Patrol Wednesday night, June 30 , 2010. All Georgia DUI defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a jury of their peers beyond a reasonable doubt. Read the article. |
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Arresting the Innocent and assassinating political enemies. DUI Field Sobriety Tests pass the test. Gwinnett Commission Chairman fails DUI field sobriety tests for and blows 0.000.
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The Oregon Court of Appeals in Bevans v. State, CFH060312, A135890, June 9, 2010 held that the vertical gaze nystagmus portion of the Standardized DUI Field Sobriety Evaluations is not admissible in evidence as there is no evidence of its scientific reliability for its stated purpose for admission. The Vertical Gaze Nystagmus purportedly can detect whether a person has consumed more than the usual dose of drugs or alcohol that that particular person is accustomed. The inference being that if the person has more the substance in their system than they normally consume that is an inference of impairment.
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Approximately four hundred (400) DUI defendants in our nation's capital (Washington, D.C.) were wrongfully convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) based on erroneous DUI breath tests results that mis-calculated blood alcohol levels on average of 20% higher than the person arrested for DUI's actual blood alcohol level.
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DUI; Implied Consent, Multiple State Administered Tests; Miranda. State v. Warmack, 203 Ga. App. 157 (1998). Officer John Helton stopped W. Warmack for DUI in Dalton, Georgia. He arrested him. Warmach blew .064 and .058 at the police station. Based on inconsistency of the breath result and the field tests by the Officer, the Officer re-read implied consent and requested blood. Warmack became angry and refused. The Whitfield County Trial Court suppressed any mention of the request for blood or Warmack's refusal. The Court relied on the plain language of OCGA 40-5-67.1(a) which allowed a blood and urine or a breath and urine only. The legislature later amended the statute to allow police to request an additional blood test after a negative breath test but the Defendant still must be re-read implied consent rights and must be Mirandized as well. See, State v. Coe, 243 GA. App. 232 (2000)("—that, because state law affords greater protection against self-incrimination than the federal constitution," where the driver is already in State custody, as here, the request to undergo further State testing must be preceded by Miranda warnings") |
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 Legislative Update: DUI Arrestee Driver's License Tax. When you are arrested for DUI in Georgia, generally you must send a letter to save your Georgia Driver's license within 10 business days to prevent your license from being suspended administratively for your DUI arrest. This is commonly know as the "10 day letter." This letter used to be free of charge. Not anymore. Starting on May 13, 2010, these letters will have to be accompanied by a $150.00 filing fee. Changes to O.C.G.A. §40-5-67.1 from House Bill 1055 enacted at the 2010 Session of the Georgia General Assembly require payment of a filing fee of $150.00 to appeal an Georgia DUI administrative license suspension or Georgia DUI implied consent suspension (less safe, per se or refusal). The new DUI filing fee applies to any DUI arrest occurring on or after May 13, 2010. The filing fee should be submitted with the DUI license suspension appeal letter within ten (10) business days of incident. Checks and money orders are the preferred forms of payment, and they should be made payable to the Department of Driver Services (DDS). The DDS will be contacting "customers"/DUI attorneys in writing if the filing fee is not sent with the appeal, and the State will be amending the DDS-1205 form to reflect fee requirement on violator’s copy. Our DUI law firm will still send the letter for free of charge but it must by accompanied by a check or money order of $150.00 from the client made payable to the Department of Driver Services.
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on April 28, 2010 that City of Roswell, Georgia DUI police officers working the night shift have been ordered to meet a 25 a year DUI arrest quota or be transfered off the night shift.
The story was based on a memo from a Roswell Police Department shift supervisor in January 2010 setting a quota or "goal" of 25 DUI arrests a year. Reportedly a Roswell DUI Police officer was transferred from the night shift two weeks after the Roswell DUI quota memo was issued for not keeping up with other DUI officers arrests.
DUI arrests in Roswell have increased sharply this year. |
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Newsflash
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COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSE WARNING!!!!
PILOT WARNING!!!!
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION WARNING!!!!
DeKalb DUI Lawyer Recent DUI success stories: The only unwinnable DUI is the untried DUI! Stay tuned for more victories. The wins just keep on coming! Past success does not guarantee future results only a dedication to winning your DUI, hard work and our clients.
1) DUI DeKalb County, I-20, August 26, 2009: Alleged DUI Driver changed lanes without a blinker on I-20 in DeKalb County just south of Decatur, Georgia on April 15, 2009. The other vehicle was in the alleged DUI Driver's blind-spot and probably passing in the right lane. A Georgia State Patrol Officer in the speciality DUI unit called the Nighthawks who had just left a Mother's Against Drunk Driving meeting observed the alleged illegal lane change and stopped the driver on the side of I-20. Further, the trooper admited that his units DUI arrests were down in 2009 from 2008 and there had been discussions about how to increase DUI arrests. Traffic was heavy, it was windy, and the traffic noise was very loud. The trooper approached the vehicle and claimed the driver had slurred speech but the video show otherwise. The driver exited his vehicle properly, walked to the rear of his vehicle properly, produced his license without trouble and did not visibly sway while speaking to the officer on video, although the trooper claimed that the alleged DUI driver swayed. Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test (HGN) or eye jerking test was performed. An effective DUI lawyer cross-examination and the video clearly evidenced that the HGN was not performed according to the trooper's training and even if it had been, the HGN was only 77% accurate. The walk and turn and one leg stand were performed poorly but the state could not prove that the unreasonable conditions on the side of I-20 were to blame as opposed to alcohol. The alleged driver tested positive for alcohol consumption on the handheld breath test. The Driver refused to take a state adminstered test of his breath under the implied consent law. After reviewing the video, the Jury came back NOT GUILTY ON THE DUI and guilty on the failure to maintain lane. The Defendant paid a $200.00 fine.
2) DUI DeKalb County, Georgia: February 20, 2008. Client involved in single car accident after falling asleep. Client had been performing charity work with his Bank/Employer earlier in the day and finished the morning work with a sunday brunch that included 1-2 Mimosa's or champange and orange juice. Later that evening while driving home, Defendant fell asleep at wheel and ran off the road. Client had been working long hours and had an eye infection. Medics arrived and began treating his injuries including shoulder and chest pain and bruising. Police arrived and pull client out of ambulance. Gave field evaluations including eye test, one leg stand and walk and turn. Eye test was thrown out as improperly performed. Client passed one leg stand but allegedly failed walk and turn, although it was poorly instructed. Client testified. Jury found client NOT GUILTY on DUI in 20 minutes.
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