An administrative suspension triggered by the officer proving that you refused to submit to being tested after having been lawfully arrested and advised of your legal obligation to supply a breath, blood or urine sample can be particularly damaging to your right to drive in Georgia. Incidentally, attempts by DUI arrestees to demand a DUI attorney’s advice first, or to continue to say, “I don’t understand the implied consent warning” will NOT be effective. Appellate cases in Georgia say that you can be declared as having “refused” testing BY YOUR CONDUCT, including merely not speaking and never saying that you will submit to testing. If you do not successfully challenge the legitimacy of the proposed suspension, by filing a written, timely ALS appeal, and successfully pursue that challenge, NO LIMITED (WORK) PERMIT is available for you. At no point of the DUI prosecution is a skilled attorney’s help more valuable to you. Winning or successfully negotiating a “withdrawal” of the proposed administrative license suspension is critical to success at the criminal case, which arises later.
November 18, 2008
Refusing the Georgia Breath Test
November 10, 2008
Georgia DUI 10 Day Limit to Appeal Drivers License Suspension
The 10-Day Time Limit for Filing Appeal to a Pending Administrative Suspension Action
An appeal is triggered by sending or delivering a request for hearing, which has to be done within ten (10) business days after your arrest date. At this hearing, which is RECORDED, you may attend with your counsel or you may even represent yourself (usually, representing yourself in such an important legal proceeding a VERY foolhardy decision). The law does permit your attorney to proceed without you being present at most types of ALS hearings, but (in order to secure continued driving privileges for you, if a continuance of the hearing date is needed) your attorney may ask you to be present. Occasionally, you may need to testify at this hearing, and that will require that you be subject to cross-examination (being questioned) by the opposing side. In most cases, our attorneys do not have our clients testify, unless it is unavoidable.
