Is it Better to Plead Nolo or Not Guilty to a DUI?
Answer:
For most Georgia DUI defendants, pleading not guilty at arraignment is the strategically sound choice. A nolo contendere plea — authorized under O.C.G.A. § 17-7-95 — is widely misunderstood. While it provides limited protection from use as an admission in subsequent civil litigation, it is treated as a DUI conviction for virtually every other purpose: it counts as a prior conviction under the ten-year lookback, triggers mandatory license suspension under O.C.G.A. § 40-5-63, and carries the same sentencing range as a guilty plea. When a nolo plea is legally available, acceptance is within the judge’s sole discretion, and Georgia judges overwhelmingly refuse these pleas in DUI cases. However, O.C.G.A. § 40-6-391.1(a) prohibits a judge from accepting a nolo plea if the defendant had an alcohol concentration above 0.15 within three hours after driving, from alcohol consumed before the driving ended. A not guilty plea, by contrast, preserves every available option while defense counsel investigates evidence, pursues suppression motions, and evaluates whether dismissal, a reckless driving reduction, or acquittal at trial is achievable — outcomes that a guilty or nolo plea forecloses entirely.
When facing a DUI charge in Georgia, defendants and their families often ask whether entering a nolo contendere plea—commonly called a “nolo” plea or plea of “no contest”—is a better option than pleading guilty or going to trial. The answer requires a clear understanding of what a nolo plea actually does under Georgia law, what it does not do, and the significant practical obstacles that make nolo pleas to DUI charges exceptionally rare in Georgia courts.
What Is a Nolo Contendere Plea?
A nolo contendere plea is a plea in which the defendant neither admits nor denies the factual allegations of the charge. It is authorized under O.C.G.A. § 17-7-95 and has its origins in the common law principle that a defendant may submit to punishment without formally confessing guilt. In most criminal contexts, a nolo plea results in a conviction that is treated identically to a guilty plea for purposes of sentencing, license consequences, and criminal record. The key distinction between a nolo plea and a guilty plea lies in the limited civil liability protection the nolo plea provides. Under Georgia law, a nolo contendere plea generally cannot be used as an admission in a subsequent civil proceeding arising from the same conduct. This means that if a person pleaded nolo to a DUI and a third party later filed a civil lawsuit seeking damages from the same incident, the plaintiff could not introduce the nolo plea as proof of liability. A guilty plea, by contrast, can be introduced in civil proceedings as an admission of the underlying conduct.
What a Nolo Plea Does NOT Do in a DUI Case
Despite the misconceptions that circulate about nolo pleas, it is critical to understand what this plea does not accomplish in the context of a DUI charge in Georgia. A nolo plea to a DUI is still a conviction. It counts as a DUI conviction for purposes of Georgia’s sentencing framework under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-391 and for purposes of determining whether a future DUI charge will be treated as a second, third, or fourth offense. The look-back period under Georgia law extends ten years from the date of arrest for prior DUI convictions, and a nolo plea falls within that ten-year look-back just as a guilty plea does. A nolo plea does not prevent license suspension. Under O.C.G.A. § 40-5-63, a DUI conviction—regardless of whether it resulted from a guilty plea or a nolo plea—triggers mandatory license suspension. The duration of the suspension depends on whether it is a first, second, or subsequent offense within the relevant time period. A nolo plea provides no protection against this administrative consequence. A nolo plea does not reduce or change the sentencing range. The minimum and maximum sentences available to the judge at sentencing for a DUI conviction are the same whether the plea entered was guilty or nolo contendere. Mandatory minimums, fines, community service requirements, DUI school, and probation terms all apply identically regardless of which of the two plea types was entered.
An Alcohol Concentration Above 0.15 Bars a Nolo Plea
Georgia law places an absolute limit on a judge’s ability to accept a nolo contendere plea in a DUI case. Under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-391.1(a), “no such plea of nolo contendere shall be accepted” if the defendant had an alcohol concentration of more than 0.15 at any time within three hours after driving or being in control of a moving vehicle, based on alcohol consumed before the driving or control ended. In practical terms, if the defendant’s alcohol concentration was above 0.15 within that statutory three-hour window, a nolo plea is legally unavailable—not merely unlikely to be accepted.
The Practical Reality: Judges Almost Universally Refuse Nolo Pleas to DUIs
Even setting aside the limited legal benefits of a nolo plea, there is a practical barrier that makes nolo pleas to DUI charges effectively unavailable in most Georgia courts: judicial discretion. Under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-391.1(a), acceptance of a nolo contendere plea to a DUI charge is within the sole discretion of the judge when the plea is legally available. A judge may refuse to accept a nolo plea for any reason or no stated reason. In DUI cases specifically, Georgia judges—particularly in counties with active DUI enforcement—overwhelmingly decline to accept nolo pleas as a matter of consistent court practice. The result is that while a nolo plea may be legally available when the statutory alcohol-concentration bar does not apply. In the experience of practitioners who regularly appear in Georgia DUI courts, nolo pleas to DUI charges are rejected in the vast majority of cases. Defendants who approach sentencing expecting to enter a nolo plea and find it rejected are left with only two options: plead guilty or proceed to trial.
The Only Meaningful Benefit: Civil Liability Protection
In the rare circumstance where a judge accepts a nolo plea to a DUI, the one concrete benefit is protection from the use of the plea in subsequent civil litigation. This protection matters most in cases where the DUI involved an accident, property damage, or injury to another person—circumstances that are likely to generate a civil lawsuit. In those cases, if a nolo plea is accepted, the plaintiff in the civil case cannot use the plea as a direct admission to establish liability. However, it is important to understand the limits of this protection. A nolo plea does not bar the introduction of other evidence from the criminal case—such as chemical test results, police reports, officer testimony, or physical evidence—in the civil proceeding. The protection applies specifically to the plea itself as an admission, not to the underlying facts of the incident. And in Georgia civil courts, DUI cases involving injury or death frequently proceed on the strength of that independent evidence regardless of whether the defendant pleaded guilty or nolo.
When a Not Guilty Plea Is the Right Choice
For defendants who wish to contest a DUI charge, the appropriate plea at arraignment is not guilty. A not guilty plea does not foreclose the possibility of a later negotiated resolution—it simply preserves all available options while the defense investigates the evidence, pursues pretrial motions, and evaluates the strength of the State’s case. Many DUI charges that are contested through the pretrial process result in dismissals, reductions to reckless driving, or acquittals at trial—outcomes that a guilty plea at the outset forecloses entirely. The decision between fighting a DUI charge through the full legal process and entering a plea should be made only after a thorough review of the evidence with experienced defense counsel. The strength of the prosecution’s case, the availability of suppression motions, and the likelihood of a favorable jury verdict are all factors that bear on this analysis, and no defendant should make this decision without competent legal guidance.
