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Jason Cerbone

DUI dropped for engineer

Jason Cerbone · July 7, 2013 ·

Jake is a Gulfstream engineer. His career in the Aviation industry would be gone if he got a DUI on his record. Jake’s life would have been ruined if we gave up. So, I fought Jake’s case like I was fighting for my family. Fighting is the key.

Jake was driving home one night and he sees blue lights and he pulls over. The cop told Jake he paced him doing 70 m.p.h. in a 45 m.p.h. zone. (This is important because Speeding is not one of the twenty-four nightime DUI Detection cues that police are trained to look for in DUI drivers.) Jake had his license ready for the cop before he walked up. Immediately the cop asked him if he’d been drinking. Jake told him three or four beers earlier. Jake does some field sobriety tests on an unlevel highway in the cold 50 degree night in the dark. Jake felt he did the field sobriety tests pretty well. But he was arrested for DUI and he took a breath alcohol test at the police station and blew a .136 breath alcohol test on the Intoxilyzer 5000. During the field sobriety tests and when he blew the breath alcohol test he had chewing tobacco in his mouth. This is a bit of a problem for forensic reliability. The officer did all of the field sobriety tests wrong. Any field sobriety tests instructor would show that.  The officer didn’t follow the protocols for giving the breath alcohol test because he didn’t watch Jake for the required 20 minute observation period. He also violated the breath alcohol test protocol by not removing the chew in my client’s mouth while he blew in that machine.

Anyway, I talked to the Solicitor General (the opposing attorney) several times. He is a fantastic lawyer. After showing him some of the problems in this case, he agreed to work this case out. The result:DUI .08 grams or more with .136 breath alcohol test dropped; Speeding dropped; Open container dropped; Failure to maintain lane dropped. Jake plead guilty to Failure to use due care in the State Court of Effingham County Georgia.

Here is what we ended up with: DUI .08 grams or more with .136 breath alcohol test dropped; Speeding dropped; Open container dropped; Failure to maintain lane dropped. Jake plead guilty to Failure to use due care in the State Court of Effingham County Georgia.

DUI .136 dropped for Gulfstream engineer

DUI .136 dropped for Gulfstream engineer

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Army Specialist Not guilty to DUI

Jason Cerbone · March 14, 2013 ·

Kori was arrested by a Georgia State Patrol Officer in Long County, Ludowici, Georgia. She was charged with DUI, alcohol, less safe 40-6-391(a)(1) .183 blood alcohol content; Possession of open container in vehicle passenger area 40-6-253; and Failure to maintain lane 40-6-48.  In the Ludowici Municipal court she got no DUI.  The judge let her plead to Not guilty to DUI.  Guilty to Failure to use due care.

Kori is an Information Technology Specialist for the U.S. Army. She is from Arizona. She was in Savannah for work.  She had left downtown Savannah and was driving to Hinesville.  She was reaching over and messing around with her Garmin GPS and ran off the road. She was pulled over by a Georgia State Patrol Officer.  She had a cup of gin and tonic in the center console. The State Patrol Officer told her to get out of the car and do some field sobriety tests. She said, “This can’t be happening to me.” My back has an injury that makes it hard to walk after sitting.” The police officer replied, “Just do what I tell you.” It was extremely cold out. She had two bulging discs in her back and the police officer knew this, but they had her give the field sobriety tests a shot anyway. She failed these according to the police officer. On the preliminary roadside breath test she blew a .200. On the Intoxilyzer 5000 breath test inside the police station she blew a .186 blood alcohol content and a .183 blood alcohol content.

Back in Savannah, Georgia I subpoenaed the Georgia State Patrol Officer video of the stop and arrest, and his polcie report, and breath test tickets and call records. I watched the video for hours. I paused it and wrote down the times and the things that I would challenge him on. For example, the way he did the field sobriety tests. Then I carefully created a cross-examination outline that I would use in court to help Kori beat the DUI. After all that, I called the Georgia State Patrol Officer up. He was nice on the phone. He was a pleasure to work with.  And there was no district attorney.  He asked me, “What do you want?” I said, “Anything except a DUI.” “All right,” he said, “I am willing to let her plead to Failure to use due care.” I was surprised. “Thank you Mr. Police Officer, Thank you.”

I called Kori up. “I got something fine to tell you,” I said. “The police officer is willing to drop your DUI down to Failure to use due care.” She said, “That’s the best thing I’ve heard.” “Yes,” I said, “He’ s one of us.” She flew into town for court. I drove an hour and a half in the pouring rain to Ludowici Municipal Court. She took the deal. The judge agreed and ruled “Not guilty to DUI. Guilty to Failure to use due care.” I stood next to her. She patted me on the shoulder.

Judgment: Army Specialist Not guilty to DUI

Army Specialist Not guilty to DUI - by Jason Cerbone DUI attorney

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DUI blood test dismissed

Jason Cerbone · March 9, 2013 ·

Amy was afraid.  If she were to be convicted of DUI, she could have been discharged from the U.S. Army. She could have lost her security clearance, and she could have lost her high ranking position. So, she gave me something to fight for.  And along the way came the opportunity to take reckless driving instead of DUI.  She took it.

Amy was arrested by the Pooler Police Department and charged with DUI/alcohol 40-6-391(a)(5), DUI less safe 40-6-391(a)(1) and Speeding 40-6-181. In the Municipal Court of Pooler in Chatham County, Georgia, I helped her get rid of the DUI.  She plead guilty to reckless driving and speeding. The DUI was dismissed.

She’d never been in any real trouble before. Just a couple of speeding tickets. And on this night she was driving home. The video that I finally got from the police officer proved she was pulled over for speeding (86 m.p.h. in a 65 m.p.h. zone). She didn’t swerve or do any other thing wrong. She got her license out and waited on the police officer to come. He came. “You been drinking,” he asked. “No,” she said. He told her to get out of her car and asked her to do a preliminary breath test on the side of the road. (This should always be given last, after the three standardized field sobriety tests: Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, Walk and Turn, and One leg stand.) The police officer deviated from his training and didn’t do any of the three field sobriety tests. Not a one.

Amy cooperated with the cop and took the preliminary breath test. The police officer wrote in his report that the preliminary breath test showed the presence of alcohol at .175. So he arrested her. Amy got to the station and tried to take a breath test but the police officer said that she gave an insufficient sample (.139). Amy requested to have a blood test. So they drew her blood and she went home. She called me. She hired me. I worked. First, I got her license suspension case dismissed so she was able to keep driving. Then at the Preliminary Hearing in the Municipal Court of Pooler the police officer and the judge agreed to allow her to plead the DUI down to reckless driving.  So the DUI is gone. Amy wins. Case closed.

Judgment: DUI blood test dismissed in Chatham County

DUI blood test dismissed by Jason Cerbone, DUI Defense Lawyer

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DUI breath test dismissed for fireman

Jason Cerbone · February 27, 2013 ·

Eli was arrested for DUI breath test, with a .119 blood alcohol content breath test, DUI less safe (alcohol), and no headlight bulb. Eli was driving home from the Luke Bryan concert with his wife. He sees blue lights and he pulls over. The cop comes up to his window and asks, “Did you know you got a headlight out?” “No,” Eli replies. “Get out of the car,” he demands. Then, outside, “Anything to drink tonight?” the cop asks. “Yes,” Eli says, “about an hour ago, I had two beers.” The cop replies, “You should be safe, good to go.” “Let me check you out, make sure you’re going to be safe, then get you out of here, O.K. bud?”  In other words, let me do some field sobriety tests on you.  He gives Eli a preliminary dui breath test.

In the end it wasn’t about the messed up field sobriety tests done in the grass. Or, the calibration records showing the DUI breath test was off that day. Or, the various other problems with the officer’s DUI investigation. It was more invisible than that. This was about preparation. It was about dealing with a good cop who was willing to work with me when no prosecutor has the case, yet. This was not Savannah, Georgia. Or even, Chatham County.  It didn’t involve the Chatham County District Attorney’s Office. No sir. This was Pembroke, Georgia.

But in the end it was checked. Eli plead down to “Driver to use due care.” The DUI breath test charge and the DUI less safe charge and the Headlights requirement charge are gone.

Judgment: DUI breath test .119 dismissed for Fireman

DUI breath test .119 dismissed for Fireman in Pembroke Georgia

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DUI down to reckless in Chatham County

Jason Cerbone · December 11, 2012 ·

My client (we’ll call him Joe) was arrested by the Port Wentworth Police at a DUI roadblock in Chatham County and charged with DUI, less safe (alcohol) and Driving under the influence (DUI). In the State Court of Chatham County, he plead down to Driver to use due care and Reckless Driving. The two DUI charges are gone.

Joe had driven 25 miles before the hidden road block in Port Wentworth.  But then he was in the middle of an operation: the DUI Roadblock. “License and Insurance,” cop says. Joe had it in his hand ready for them to take it. Then the Port Wentworth Police officer comes back to the truck and says “Get out of the truck.” Joe got out and at the cop’s request tried some DUI Field sobriety tests. He didn’t smell of alcohol. He wasn’t unsteady on his feet. He wasn’t wobbling. His speech was not slurred. His eyes were not blood shot. Next, they have him blow in a preliminary breath test device (roadside screening device that can tell if you have any alcohol in your system. Cop says “your going to blow in it one more time. I’m tired of dealing with you. I will arrest you.” He  blows again. It made a sound. Cop said “Yeah.” Joe asked cop 2 after every attempt what did it register? Cop said “You’ll find out after you go in the trailer.” They cuffed him. “What are they doing to you?” crys his wife. “He’s going to arrest me.” “For what?” she asks.

On cross-examination at the Preliminary Hearing in the Port Wentworth Municipal Court the cop said that there were videos of the DUI roadblock. And, he said that his handwritten field notes of all the field sobriety tests were in a locker.

We went to the DUI Roadblock scene and got photographs and video of the area. We hired a DUI Field Sobriety Test Expert and Trainer to come testify for the Jury trial.  I subpoenaed the following things from the Port Wentworth Police Department: DUI reports, Video, Audio of the event, call records, Port Wentworth Police Department Guidelines for Roadblocks, and the cop’s handwritten notes.

They gave us nothing. They came to court with nothing.  The judge set up a show cause hearing for the Port Wentworth Police Department to come show cause why they should not be held in contempt of court for violating the subpoena. But the case went away before the show cause hearing came.  And Joe got no DUI.

DUI down to reckless in Chatham County

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Cerbone 
2 E Bryan St., #431
Savannah, Georgia 31401
jason@cerbonelaw.com
+1-912-236-0595

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