Georgia Supreme Court Sidesteps a Second Amendment Challenge to the Felon-in-Possession Law — Because the Attorney General Was Never Served
Many Georgians with older, non-violent felony convictions have asked whether the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Second Amendment decisions change Georgia’s ban on firearm possession by convicted felons. On November 3, 2026, the Supreme Court of Georgia had that question in front of it, and decided not to answer it. In Trammell v. State, No. S26A1334 […]
America Once Waged War on Drunk Driving. Now a New Epidemic Is Taking Hold: The Rise of Drug-Impaired Driving
A recent investigation by the San Francisco Chronicle has spotlighted a growing crisis on America’s roads. While decades of enforcement, public education, and tougher laws dramatically reduced alcohol-impaired driving deaths, a parallel problem has quietly escalated. In recent years, an average of about 30 people a day have been killed in vehicle crashes involving drugs—including […]
O’Donovan v. State: Georgia Court of Appeals Vacates Denial of Constitutional Speedy Trial Plea in Bar in Towns County DUI Case
The Georgia Court of Appeals recently issued an important decision in O’Donovan v. State, A26A1117 (October 20, 2026), reminding trial courts—and the State—that the constitutional right to a speedy trial is not a formality, even in relatively straightforward DUI prosecutions. In a case arising out of Towns County in the Enotah Judicial Circuit, the Court […]
Refusing Field Sobriety Evaluations in Georgia: The Refusal Itself Is Not Admissible
If a Georgia State Patrol trooper or a Sandy Springs police officer asks you to perform field sobriety evaluations, you have a state constitutional right to say no. And under current Georgia Supreme Court law, the State cannot tell the jury that you refused. That rule comes from Article I, Section I, Paragraph XVI of […]
George C. Creal, Jr. Named to the Faculty of the National College for DUI Defense
George C. Creal, Jr., P.C. — Trial Lawyers Georgia DUI and Criminal Defense www.georgecreal.com | (404) 333-0706 George C. Creal, Jr. has been listed as faculty of the National College for DUI Defense (NCDD). The College’s faculty roster identifies him as an Atlanta trial lawyer and publishes his firm listing at georgecreal.com. See the official […]
Can a Later DUI Arrest Turn an Earlier Pending Case Into a Felony? Georgia’s Ten-Year Lookback Runs to the “Current Arrest”
George C. Creal, Jr., P.C. — Trial Lawyers Atlanta DUI & Criminal Defense www.georgecreal.com | (404) 333-0706 A fourth DUI in Georgia can be a felony. A third DUI in ten years is already a high and aggravated misdemeanor. The difference turns on how the ten-year window is measured. The statute does not say “count […]
Cross-Examining a GBI Toxicologist in a Gwinnett County DUI Blood Case
George C. Creal, Jr., P.C. — Trial Lawyers Gwinnett County and Metro Atlanta DUI Defense www.georgecreal.com | (404) 333-0706 A Gwinnett DUI jury often hears one number: the blood-alcohol result from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Division of Forensic Sciences. The State treats that number as the end of the case. It is not. The […]
Is the NHTSA HGN Test Reliable Science in a Georgia DUI Case?
If you were arrested for DUI in Georgia after an officer scored “clues” on the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) eye test, prosecutors will often treat those clues as scientific proof of impairment. They should not get a free pass. The Kansas Supreme Court put the reliability problem in plain language in City of Wichita v. […]
Ambien (Zolpidem), Sleep-Driving, and DUI Defense in Cobb County
By George C. Creal, Jr., P.C. — Cobb County and Metro Atlanta DUI Defense Most people who take Ambien expect to fall asleep in bed. Some wake up in a jail cell, holding a DUI ticket, with no memory of leaving the house. That is not an urban legend. It is a documented side effect […]