DUI less safe

She was driving her husband’s truck with her husband riding shotgun because he was too drunk to drive. She was not impaired by alcohol. She was not under the influence of anything.

She was charged with 40-6-391(a)(4) DUI any combination of alcohol/ drugs/ toxic vapor/ less safe, and Failure to maintain lane. We were able to negotiate a plea in the State Court of Chatham County. Casey plead guilty to Reckless Driving, and the DUI and Failure to maintain lane were dropped.

Police Report

The Georgia Department of Public Safety Night Hawk wrote in his report that he was parked on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. at Interstate 16. He wrote that he saw a silver Toyota Tundra traveling south on MLK get onto westbound I-16 in the right lane and fail to maintain lane near the 165 mile marker, and then three more times over the right fog line.

He wrote that he tried to stop the vehicle at the 165 mile marker but the vehicle did not stop. The driver continued down I-16 and got off onto westbound 516 before stopping on the ramp. Then he made his approach to the vehicle and told the driver to step out with her license and back to the rear of the vehicle. He heard her husband, the male passenger in the Tundra tell Casey, “don’t do anything for the fucking cop.”

DUI Investigation

• The officer smelled an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her person.
• Her eyes were watery and bloodshot.
• Her speech was slow and slurred.
• She admitted to drinking one shot of Grey Goose vodka not long before the stop.
• The cop wrote that he medically qualified Casey before doing the field sobriety tests.
• She said she took Xanax and Celexa for depression.
• Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test: The officer saw 6 of 6 clues. He said Casey laughed the entire test.
• For the walk and turn test, the Officer had her stand in the grass on the side of the road where it was level.
• Casey said that her feet hurt, and she could not do the test. She laughed the entire time. She said it was ridiculous that I thought she may be drunk.

Judgement: DUI drugs reduced for mother

She needed this DUI charge to go away because she was about to be a nurse. She was pulled over on I-16 leaving downtown for Failure to maintain lane by the Georgia Department of Public Safety (Trooper). The trooper saw that her eyes were bloodshot, and her speech slow and slurred. She told the trooper that she had drunk four hours earlier. She did field sobriety tests and was arrested for DUI less safe.

In the State Court of Chatham County, her DUI was reduced to reckless driving. Her Failure to maintain lane charge was dismissed.

Judgment: Nurse’s DUI down to reckless driving

The doctor was charged with DUI less safe, Speeding, Failure to yield to emergency vehicle, Unsafe turning, and Impeding the flow of traffic by the Savannah Police. He was on I-16 and pulled over on Chatham Parkway at Grainger Honda.

In the State Court of Chatham County Georgia he plead the DUI down to reckless driving. The other four charges were dismissed.

Why don’t I just throw myself on the mercy of the court? You never do. You always plead them non-guilty.

At 8:30 p.m. John and his wife ate dinner at The Crab Shack on Tybee Island in Savannah, Georgia. They ordered one Tybee Tea, one Crabber cocktail, two pounds of snow crab legs, low country boil, and one side sausage. After that they headed back to the hotel for the night.

The Georgia Department of Public Safety’s Georgia State Patrol Officer clocked a black Mercedes heading westbound on I-16 going 73 m.p.h. in a 55 m.p.h. zone. The officer stopped John and walked up to his door. At the door the officer claims he smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from John’s breath. The cop asked John how much he drank. John told him he had one drink three hours ago with dinner at the Crab Shack.

The DUI Nighthawk officer asked John to do some field sobriety tests to make sure John was safe to drive. John did them. They were the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, Walk and Turn, and One Leg Stand. Then the police officer asked John to blow in his hand held breathalyzer device on the side of the road. John tried to but the officer wrote in his report that John would not provide a valid breath sample. He arrested John for DUI less safe – 40-6-391(a)(1). He read him the Georgia Implied Consent Notice for Suspects age 21 or over and asked him to take a blood test. John said, “No.”

DUI less safe down to reckless driving

In the State Court of Chatham County, Savannah, Georgia we waited for the jury to be brought in by the bailiff. In the end there would be no jury trial. John plead his DUI less safe – 40-6-391(a)(1) charge down to the lesser charge of Reckless driving. The other charge for Driving under the influence (DUI) was changed.

Judgment: DUI less safe to reckless driving: