Gainesville, GA DUI Drugs Lawyer

After your arrest, you will typically be taken to a police station where you may be booked, fingerprinted, and photographed. You will likely be asked to take a breath, blood, or urine test.

If your license was seized, the clock starts immediately. You have 30 calendar days from the date of arrest to file an administrative license suspension (ALS) appeal or install an ignition interlock device. Missing that deadline can cost you your driving privileges for a full year, regardless of what happens in the criminal case.

Your case will begin in one of several local courts depending on which agency made the arrest. You can see which court your case is headed to about halfway down your DUI citation, along with the date and time. For details on each court, see Where Will My Gainesville-Area DUI Case Be Heard? above.

Contact a Gainesville DUI attorney as soon as possible so your defense — and your ALS appeal — can be prepared before the deadline runs.

There are two different types of suspensions, and they work differently.

Administrative suspension. Georgia law permits the officer to suspend your license if you refuse a breath, blood, or urine test — or if you consent to the breathalyzer and register above the legal limit. This means you can lose your driving privileges even though you have not been found guilty of anything. This is why you must contact us within 30 calendar days of your arrest. We can, and will, challenge this suspension — with the goal of saving your ability to drive.

Post-conviction suspension. The other type of suspension occurs when you are convicted of an intoxicated driving offense. The length of the suspension and your eligibility for a limited driving permit depend on your age, how many prior offenses you have within the lookback period, and whether you refused testing.

A Gainesville DUI attorney can help you understand which suspensions apply to your case and work to minimize the impact on your driving privileges.

What happens if I don’t file an appeal (or get an ignition interlock) within 30 days of my arrest?

If you had your license seized by police and you do not file either an ALS appeal or get the ignition interlock within 30 days of your arrest you could be in real trouble. To determine how big your trouble is, first determine what category of driver you are.

There are two categories of drivers who had their license seized, but failed to file an appeal or get the interlock within 30 days of arrest.

The two categories are: (1) Drivers who gave a breathalyzer that was over the limit; or (2) Drivers who refused the Breathalyzer or the Blood Test. By far, the larger category is (2).

(1) If you provided a breath sample over the limit:

• If you provided a sample over the limit, and the 30th day comes and goes without you doing anything, you will have a 12 month license suspension. However, there’s a big difference for you (since you did not refuse the test): you are eligible to get what’s called an “ALS Permit.” An ALS Permit is a limited driving permit (aka a work permit) that you are eligible for — but only after 30 days of a full, hard license suspension. That means, if you had your license taken by the officer, and you are given a Form 1205 but do nothing for 30 calendar days, you will get a 12 month license suspension. But you can wait 30 days, go to DDS, and get a limited driving permit called an “ALS Permit.”
• You can drive on the ALS permit, and the time you drive on it will be credited off any later license suspension (if you’re eventually convicted of the DUI).

(2) If you refused the test:

• If you refused the blood or breath test, and 30 days comes and goes without you doing anything, you will have a 12 month license suspension. You are not eligible to get a work permit no matter what.
• This is the nightmare situation. If this happens to you, the only way you can avoid a 12 month license suspension (without a work permit) is if your DUI is later reduced to something other than a DUI. In essence, if you win your DUI (either at trial or by agreement with the State), you can go back to DDS, show them proof, and they will give you your full license back.
• The DDS Manual provides that if the person is acquitted, or the charge is resolved by something other than a conviction or a plea of nolo contendere, the ALS suspension is terminated and deleted from the driving record. The driver is responsible for contacting DDS to start that process, and the court will be asked to certify the disposition in writing — including the driver’s identifying information, violation date, citation number, and final disposition.

So, if you can later get your DUI reduced, you have to contact DDS to initiate the procedure for reinstating your license.

Yes to both — but the consequences are different.

Field sobriety tests. You can refuse these, and in our view you should always refuse them. They are voluntary, and declining them carries no automatic license penalty.

Roadside breathalyzer. The portable device officers carry to test your breath at the roadside can also be refused. The results of that particular test are not admissible against you if you are arrested and charged.

The state-administered test. Refusing the official chemical test after arrest carries real consequences under Georgia’s implied consent law: your Georgia driver’s license can be suspended for one year. You have 30 days to challenge that suspension. This is where we can help. Call us now to save your driver’s license. This is absolutely critical. Do not let the 30 days run out on you.

Standardized field sobriety tests (FSTs) are tests approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). These tests are allegedly designed to help police determine whether a driver is intoxicated or not.

There are three standardized FSTs:

1. the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test (HGN test)
2. the One-Leg Stand Test (OLS test)
3. the Walk-and-Turn Test

The results of these tests may be used as evidence against you in an intoxicated driving case. Non-standardized tests, on the other hand, are not validated by NHTSA and may not be admissible as evidence.

Non-standardized FSTs include:

• finger to nose test
• the finger count test
• the hand pat test
• the alphabet test
• the reverse counting test
• the coin pickup test

If this situation has happened to you, it is critical to understand that the law provides specific protections for you. If you provided your two breath samples, and they differ by greater than 0.02, those tests are completely inadmissible against you.

Can the police use my breathalyzer results against me if the two results differ by greater than 0.02?

The short answer is: No. The Georgia Legislature created protections for anyone who provides two sufficient samples, if the results differ by greater than 0.02. This protection appears in OCGA § 40-6-392(a)(1)(B), which requires two sequential breath samples when the state selects breath testing, and provides that for either sample to be admissible in the state’s case-in-chief the two readings may not differ from one another by more than 0.020 grams. The lower of the two results controls for accusation, indictment, and administrative license suspension purposes.

This means that, if the samples differ by greater than 0.02, the State cannot use either result against you in court.

If this has happened to you, give us a call at (770) 600-1241 for further instructions.

Shockingly, the answer is: Yes.

Most people do not know that even if their blood or breath results are below 0.08 they can still be charged — and convicted — of DUI in Georgia. You can be arrested for DUI if the officer believes your ability to drive is impaired by alcohol or drugs, regardless of your BAC. This is known as “DUI less safe.”

The reason is found in OCGA § 40-6-392(b). Under that statute, a result of 0.05 grams or less permits the trier of fact, in its discretion, to infer that the person was not under the influence of alcohol. But a result above 0.05 and below 0.08 gives rise to no inference either way — instead, that fact may be weighed by the trier of fact alongside other competent evidence in deciding whether the person was under the influence.

In short: if you’re below 0.05, the jury is told it may infer you are not guilty of less safe DUI. But if you’re between 0.05 and 0.079, the jury is free to find you guilty of less safe DUI even though you’re under the legal limit of 0.08.

If you have been arrested under these circumstances, it is especially important to consult a Gainesville DUI attorney to challenge the arrest and protect your rights. Call us at (770) 600-1241.

The penalties for a DUI conviction in Georgia vary based on factors such as whether it is your first offense, your blood alcohol concentration, and whether any aggravating circumstances were present. Penalties may include fines, license suspension, mandatory alcohol or drug use risk reduction programs, community service, probation, and jail time.

Jail time. If this is your first offense, you may or may not go to jail — there is no minimum for first offenders, and it depends on the case. However, a repeat offender within five years will go to jail. The minimum mandatory sentence for a second offense is 48 hours, increasing to 15 days for a third offense.

Felony exposure. Most DUIs in Georgia are misdemeanors. A DUI becomes a felony on a driver’s fourth or subsequent offense within the applicable lookback period. Felony and misdemeanor DUI charges also operate under different prosecution deadlines, which we explain in our Georgia DUI statute-of-limitations guide.

A Gainesville DUI attorney can help you understand the specific penalties you might face and work to reduce them.

A DUI conviction stays on your record permanently. You will not be able to expunge the case if you were convicted.

Record restriction is only available if your case was dismissed or otherwise resolved without a conviction — which is one of the central reasons to fight the charge rather than plead to it. A Gainesville DUI attorney can help you explore every available option for keeping a conviction off your record in the first place.

Yes. We have an incredible record of doing just that.

It is possible to beat a drunk driving charge, although it is not typically an easy process. It requires a thorough understanding of the law and of the technical nature of field sobriety tests, breath tests, blood tests, and urine tests. Understanding those tests is critical to identifying errors — technical or human — that undermine the reliability of the results.

Aside from errors or unreliable test results, an alleged DUI offender may have had their constitutional rights violated. This happens more often than you might imagine, and a violation can lead to the inadmissibility of some or all of the evidence. Without sufficient evidence, the case may be dismissed, or a jury may return an acquittal.

This is also why pleading guilty at arraignment is usually a mistake. Pleading guilty immediately forfeits any opportunity to fight the charge, forfeits any opportunity to negotiate, and often results in a harsher sentence than what mitigation and negotiation could have produced.

Yes — and the consequences of going without one are significant. A DUI case in Georgia involves legal, scientific, and procedural complexity that the vast majority of defendants are not equipped to navigate on their own. Without an attorney, the likelihood of achieving the best available outcome in your case drops dramatically.

The evidence can be highly technical and scientific. Police and state expert testimony can be damaging. All of these things can lead to a conviction unless you have the skills and knowledge to counter them.

At Brett Willis Law, we know the law and the technical makeup of field sobriety tests, blood tests, breath tests, and urine tests. We also know how to identify and proactively address constitutional rights violations to benefit your case. Contact us at our downtown Gainesville office at (770) 600-1241. The consultation is free. Or send us a quick, 100% confidential message here, and we’ll get right back to you.