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DUI In Georgia: Using Implied Consent And Other Legal Methods To Exclude An Alcohol Blood Test Or DUI Drugs Blood Test

GA DUI laws control every aspect of driving under the influence cases in the Peach State. From proper testing methods of forensic chemical tests after arrest to DUI schools, all aspects of driving are regulated.

The implied consent laws (under O.C.G.A. 40-6-392 and other GA Code sections) are special statutes for DUI in Georgia that permit chemical tests of urine, blood, or breath in conjunction with Georgia DUI laws. These post-arrest alcohol or drug tests target the amount of alcohol or drugs in your system.

Refusal to submit to these chemical tests implicates driver’s license suspension issues. Georgia DUI laws call for action within 30 days, for either a Georgia DDS appeal or equipping your vehicle with an interlock device for 12 months. Since July 1, 2017, new Georgia code section O.C.G.A. 40-5-64.1 may be resolved (for Georgia licensees age 21 and over with no prior DUI convictions in the past five years) by ignition interlock devices being installed (only on ONE vehicle, however).

The first important point (if facing a DUI offense in Georgia), is that top-rated criminal lawyers who specialize in DUI defense know all the special, detailed rules regarding exclusion of an “over the limit” breath test or alcohol blood test. If any of these kinds of mistakes occur, a DUI attorney near me in Atlanta may move for a Judge’s Order (obtained at a pretrial motion hearing), blocking your blood samples at trial.

In many cases, exclusion of the state of Georgia blood test or urine test helps our criminal justice attorneys obtain a reduction of charges (e.g., DUI reduced to reckless driving). If a trial is still needed, this blood exclusion order could severely damage the prosecution’s case against you.

At each point in the prosecutor’s offer of proof that the blood test was properly collected, stored, refrigerated, and tracked (as it goes in and out of the laboratory’s refrigeration units), your defense attorney will be challenging the completeness of the state’s record-keeping and the scientific propriety of each step.

First, blood tests are rare. The police officers don’t know how to deal with these tests. Specific procedures are mandated by Georgia law that police are supposed to follow and there are several people involved in that specific chain of command that can always create reasonable doubt in cases.

Many times, these blood tests are not transported immediately, and the blood can deteriorate. When blood breaks down through decomposition, one of the byproducts of that decomposition is alcohol, which can add to your reading.

The other thing is that getting all those people to court so that they can verify the blood results sometimes doesn’t happen. Or, the GBI won’t turn over all the paperwork which we’ve requested in discovery, and our DUI lawyers near me can convince the judge to say, “the blood test is out.” The blood test exclusion means the jury will never know about you submitting to a blood test.

(A) Chemical analysis of the person’s blood, urine, breath, or other bodily substance, to be considered valid under this Code section, shall have been performed according to methods approved by the Division of Forensic Sciences of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on a machine which was operated with all its electronic and operating components prescribed by its manufacturer properly attached and in good working order and by an individual possessing a valid permit issued by the Division of Forensic Sciences for this purpose. The Division of Forensic Sciences of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation shall approve satisfactory techniques or methods to ascertain the qualifications and competence of individuals to conduct analyses and to issue permits, along with requirements for properly operating and maintaining any testing instruments, and to issue certificates certifying that instruments have met those requirements, which certificates and permits shall be subject to termination or revocation at the discretion of the Division of Forensic Sciences.

(B) In all cases where the arrest is made on or after January 1, 1995, and the state selects breath testing, two sequential breath samples shall be requested for the testing of alcohol concentration. For either or both of these sequential samples to be admissible in the state’s or plaintiff’s case-in-chief, the readings shall not differ from each other by an alcohol concentration of greater than 0.020 grams and the lower of the two results shall be determinative for accusation and indictment purposes and administrative license suspension purposes. No more than two sequential series of a total of two adequate breath samples each shall be requested by the state; provided, however, that after an initial test in which the instrument indicates an adequate breath sample was given for analysis, any subsequent refusal to give additional breath samples shall not be construed as a refusal for purposes of suspension of a driver’s license under Code Sections 40-5-55 and 40-5-67.1. Notwithstanding the above, a refusal to give an adequate sample or samples on any subsequent breath, blood, urine, or other bodily substance test shall not affect the admissibility of the results of any prior samples. An adequate breath sample shall mean a breath sample sufficient to cause the breath-testing instrument to produce a printed alcohol concentration analysis.

(2) When a person shall undergo a chemical test at the request of a law enforcement officer, only a physician, registered nurse, laboratory technician, emergency medical technician, or other qualified person may withdraw blood for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content therein, provided that this limitation shall not apply to the taking of breath or urine specimens. No physician, registered nurse, or other qualified person or employer thereof shall incur any civil or criminal liability as a result of the medically proper obtaining of such blood specimens when requested in writing by a law enforcement officer;

(3) The person tested may have a physician or a qualified technician, chemist, registered nurse, or other qualified person of his own choosing administer a chemical test or tests in addition to any administered at the direction of a law enforcement officer. The justifiable failure or inability to obtain an additional test shall not preclude the admission of evidence relating to the test or tests taken at the direction of a law enforcement officer.

Even if your blood test results are an accurate reading of your BAC level, your Atlanta criminal defense attorney can still build a viable defense. Dial our number 24-7: (404) 567-5515.

The range of possible factual, legal, and procedural errors starts with implied consent law and may turn upon a flawed laboratory report, or failure of the prosecutor to turn over “discovery.” Why not let the law firm with three Super Lawyers and the top lawyer ratings in Georgia DUI defense handle your case and maximize your chances of winning?

In your FREE lawyer consultation, ask about our prior successes, from a favorable plea bargain to having your charges reduced. Inconsistencies in the transport of the biological samples and use of proper refrigeration of the blood may be the winning strategy. Occasionally, a key “chain of custody” witness is unavailable, and the results are then excluded from the jury trial. Knowing that MANY case wins are under our belt will give you confidence in hiring the best DUI lawyers in Atlanta.