Reader’s Question:
We are afraid and we honestly don’t know how the court process works. After a DUI arrest in Marietta, Georgia, can my sister be released from jail if she will post a bond?
Barry
Marietta, GA
After your sister’s DUI arrest in Marietta, Georgia, she can be released from jail in one of three ways. A pretrial release program being the first one. She can also be released through ROR or Release on own Recognizance. And of course, she can be released by posting bond.
Cash bond posting is probably the most common method whereby your sister could be released from custody pending the resolution of her DUI case. If she personally posts the full amount imposed by the court, the sum of money would be returned to her at the resolution of her DUI case provided that court costs and fines are not deducted from it. If she could not afford the full amount of a stated bond, she can either use the services of a recommended bondsman or petition the court via motion to have the imposed bond reduced to one that she could afford. The posting of a bond would allow your sister to travel with unbridled discretion unless a judge has imposed additional restrictions that accompany the posting of a bond.
Tags: drunk driving laws, DUI, DUI advice, DUI lawyer
Reader’s Question:
A friend of mine was charged with DUI in West Dougherty, Georgia and according to the police report, he was strongly slurring his speech that’s why he was arrested for drunk driving. Is having a slurred speech really an indicator of intoxication?
Alisa
West Dougherty, GA
The very sound answer to this is yes and no. Yes in the very limited sense that intoxication is indeed a common cause of having a slurred speech. It is more likely that if a person has been drinking heavily, it will affect his or her speaking fluency. Also, yes if it goes the other way that if a person is strongly slurring his or her speech and in the absence of a speech impediment or neurological disorder, that person has probably been drinking. So if your friend doesn’t have any speech defect or neurological disorder, he was probably intoxicated when he was caught drunk driving in West Dougherty, Georgia.
But this doesn’t mean that it’s possible to judge, with a high degree of reliability, that a person is above the legal limit simply based on listening to them talk. Remember that drinking and driving is actually not against the law. It would be against the law if the person is operating a vehicle with a certain blood alcohol content or while being significantly impaired. But let’s put the question in a different way. Can a person certainly distinguish between a person who is too drunk to drive versus someone who consumed alcohol but can nonetheless drive legally-all based on how they talk? After all, that is what police officers undoubtedly claim to do when they put “slurred speech” on the police report. To answer that question, it would be a decidedly “no.” It may be true that both non-experts and experts can usually tell a person who has been drinking heavily from someone who hasn’t, but they cannot consistently determine the relative amount of alcohol a person has consumed.
Tags: drunk driving laws, DUI, DUI advice, DUI arrest, DUI lawyer
Reader’s Question:
I live in Northeast Cobb, Georgia and I haven’t been actually caught drunk driving. I heard from people that there are some tests done on people arrested for DUI. Could you give me some insights on blood alcohol tests and what happens if a person refuses to do the test?
Zaida
Northeast Cobb, GA
Following a DUI arrest in Northeast Cobb, Georgia, the police officer must request the person to submit to and successfully complete any chemical test (blood, breath, urine or other bodily substance) that the officer designates to determine the blood alcohol content (BAC). If the person refuses to submit to the chemical test, or doesn’t successfully complete the test, his/her driver’s will be suspended for 12 months for a first-time offender. Any failure by the individual arrested for DUI to expressly agree to the test, or to successfully complete the test is deemed a refusal.
Sometimes the breath test machine is not working and the police officers being too poorly trained or too narrow-minded, tells you that it is your fault and that you are playing games with the breath test machine. Before the test, the person must be be informed that if the test shows a BAC of 0.08 percent or more when driving a personal vehicle or 0.04 percent or more when driving a commercial vehicle, the person’s license will be suspended for at least 90 consecutive days. Any individual who is unconscious, dead or otherwise incapable of refusing to submit to a test is deemed not to have withdrawn consent for the test, and a test can be administered (usually a blood test).
Tags: drunk driving laws, DUI, DUI advice, DUI arrest, DUI lawyer
Reader’s Question:
I heard so many odd things about DUI like a person can be charged with DUI even without driving. And just recently, somebody told me that a guy here from Macon, Georgia was charged with DUI driving a bike. If this was not a joke, would the alcohol laws be different for drunk biking?
Shad
Macon, GA
No, this is definitely not a joke because a person can really be charged with DUI while driving a bike. What you heard really happened in Macon, Georgia. The guy was charged with DUI after falling off his bike. This happened just recently and according to the Macon police, a man, 38 years of age, was charged after a police officer spotted him weaving as he rode a 5-speed boys’ bicycle on Jeffersonville Road.
According to the police report, the police officer apparently smelled alcohol on the man’s breath and clothes and noticed that his eyes were bloodshot. Also, according to the police, the man was charged with DUI after failing the field sobriety tests. According to jail records, the DUI suspect is being held at the Bibb County Law Enforcement Center on $1,200 bond. In Georgia, bicycle riders are subject to the same alcohol laws as regular drivers.
Tags: drunk driving laws, DUI, DUI arrest, DUI lawyer
Reader’s Question:
A lot of curiosity arises to me regarding information about DUI because a colleague has just been recently charged here in Sandy Springs, Georgia. Blood alcohol tests showed she was over the legal limit. What is the most accurate way of determining blood alcohol content and how can a person reach a BAC of .08 percent?
Shae
Sandy Springs, GA
I’m sorry to hear about your colleague’s recent DUI arrest in Sandy Springs, Georgia. The most accurate way in determining blood alcohol content (BAC) is to take a blood test. But there are also some general rules of thumb that may estimate the BAC based on a person’s weight and the amount of alcohol that he/she has ingested. In general, an average 170-pound man should have more than four drinks in one hour on an empty stomach to reach a .08 percent BAC, while a 137-pound woman would reach .08 percent BAC after about three drinks in one hour on an empty stomach.
Be informed, though, that these figures are just rough estimates. BAC could also be influenced by a person’s metabolism, how much a person has eaten and other factors. Thus, a woman could have less than three drinks in one hour and register a higher BAC than the average woman. The same also goes for men, so best policy is to not drive if you’ve had even a few drinks.
Tags: DUI, DUI advice, DUI lawyer
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