September 2010
1 post
UWG Students Be Careful
Over the past couple of months local law enforcement in the West Georgia area and specifically in Carrollton Georgia have been cracking down on underage drinking. If you are drinking underage and stopped by law enforcement you may be cited with a ticket and arrested. If found guilty of underage drinking in a court of law you may face a fine, probation, community service, and possibly a license...
July 2010
1 post
New "filing" fee for ALS hearing
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 administrative license suspension or implied consent suspension (per se or refusal). The new filing fee applies to any incident occurring on or after May 13, 2010. The filing fee should be submitted with the appeal letter within ten...
December 2009
1 post
What powers do "Campus Police" have?
To the surprise of many college students, campus police have essentially the same powers as a regular police officer while they are on university property.
According to O.C.G.A. 20-3-72:
“The campus policemen and other security personnel of the university system who are regular employees of the system shall have the power to make arrests for offenses committed upon any property under the...
September 2009
1 post
Recent United States Supreme Court Holding
On June 25, 2009 the United States Supreme Court held that laboratory analysts (unless otherwise provided by law) must testify in person during court proceedings when identifying illegal substances. No longer will the prosecution be allowed to simply introduce notarized certificates prepared by the laboratory analysts to identify the alleged illegal substances.
The Court held that admission of...
July 2009
2 posts
During a traffic stop you may be on video
I have recently noticed that many of my clients are highly surprised when I tell them that I have a video of their DUI stop or routine traffic stop.
Understand, most police vehicles are equipped with a dashboard camera that starts recording the moment an officer activates his emergency lights. Therefore, almost every traffic stop conducted by law enforcement is video taped, whether the stop be...
Procedure for passing an officer conducting a...
Local law enforcement agencies have been cracking down and enforcing a law that requires all motorists who observe an authorized emergency vehicle displaying flashing yellow, amber, white, red, or blue lights to make a lane change into a lane not adjacent to the authorized emergency vehicle if possible in the existing safety and traffic conditions” O.C.G.A. 40-6-16.
However, if the...
May 2009
1 post
Points for Speeding
The number of points that are placed on your driving record, as a result of a speeding ticket, depends on how much you were exceeding the posted speed limit. According the O.C.G.A. 40-5-57, points are applied to your driving record in the following fashion:
1) Exceeding the speed limit by more than 14 miles per hour but less than 19 miles per...