Your Newnan DUI Attorney
DUIs are serious
A DUI charge has a great impact on people's lives, and often happens to people who otherwise never get arrested for anything—good people who have families, jobs, pay taxes, and are good members of society, and they have a drink at dinner with friends and are driving home safely but get stopped due to alleged failure to maintain lane or some other alleged traffic violation. They get arrested, handcuffed, taken to jail, and eventually released to an uncertain future, and the punishment is considerable—up to 1 year in jail, loss of driving privileges for one or more years, thousands of dollars in fines and fees, probation reporting, community service, higher car insurance, and loss of their jobs and their ability to support themselves and their families. At The Cummins Firm we have decades of experience dealing with DUI cases, and we can help you successfully resolve these charges, and get the best results possible on your case and move forward with life.
Sobriety testing
Georgia DUI Law can be pretty unfair to many people. Drivers are stopped for alleged failure to maintain lane, when actually their driving is normal and is often not an actual traffic violation or unsafe driving. Police then have the right to question the driver without reading them their Miranda rights to be silent, because Georgia Law says citizens are not “in custody” when the police have pulled them over and have them standing outside their car, answering questions and being investigated by law enforcement. In Georgia, the law says people are not in custody at this point so Miranda does not apply, even though people are definitely not free to leave the scene whenever they choose after they have been pulled over. So, people are interrogated, and asked/told to perform field sobriety tests that would be difficult for an Olympic gymnast, and police grade these sobriety tests with unfairly high standards that can't be met by most anyone, anywhere, at any time, much less at the nerve-racking time of standing on the side of the road, blue lights flashing, cars passing by, and the threat of arrest hanging over a citizen's head. Unfortunately, most of the time the police come to a conclusion that the driver has failed the sobriety tests, and they are arrested and jailed for more testing, or required to give blood tests under a search warrant, and the State prosecutes aggressively. At The Cummins Firm we have years of experience dealing with Georgia DUI Laws and arrests of our citizens, and we have years of experience helping people resolve these cases with a win at trial, or a reduced charge, or helping them keep their license, stay out of jail, and move on with life.
30-day rule
DUI laws have become so strict, due to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and other special interest groups, that DUI defendants can now get 2 suspensions of their driver's license as a result of 1 arrest. DUI defendants must file a special request for hearing with the Department of Driver Services within 30 days from the date of arrest, or they can lose their driver's license and ALL driving privileges for 1 Year by governmental/administrative suspension, aside from the suspension that can result in criminal/traffic court. Because the 30 days runs immediately after arrest, and because the consequences are so severe, DUI defendants must hire experienced counsel immediately to protect their rights.
Georgia DUI Law requires quick action by the accused. Special interest groups like MADD have successfully lobbied lawmakers to pass some laws that may sound good in theory, but are unfair to citizens in application. One of these laws is the “30-day rule” in Georgia, which says that after a DUI arrest, the citizen must file a special hearing request with the Georgia Department of Driver Services within 30 days from the date of arrest, or they can lose their license and ALL driving privileges for 1 Year by administrative suspension, in addition to the license suspension that can happen in traffic court. When people are arrested they don't always understand this 30-day rule, because law-enforcement gives them a piece of paper that appears to be a driving permit, but is also a notification that the citizen has 30 days to send the special hearing request, otherwise they could lose all driving privileges for one year. This piece of paper is technically known as an ALS 1205 form, and it is complicated and confusing and has fine print on the front and back. Sometimes people don't understand that they must request a hearing within 30 days, they think this piece of paper is just a driving permit, and later they find that their driver's license has been suspended before they even go to court on the DUI charge! At The Cummins Firm we prevent the 30-day rule from being unfairly applied to our clients, and we file the special hearing requests for you and work hard to protect your driving privileges and your rights. We urge you to hire our firm immediately to protect your rights, and if you cannot hire our firm, we encourage you to hire another lawyer to make sure your rights are protected, even if it's not us. Having an experienced DUI lawyer is your best chance of protecting your rights and being treated fairly by the courts regarding your license. For more information about the 30-day rule, and the special hearing request, please see the link below to Georgia DDS.
2nd DUI in 5 years
Georgia Law is tough on DUI, and it is even tougher on anyone who has received a 2nd DUI in a 5 year period. The State of Georgia will suspend your driver's license for three (3) years upon conviction of a 2nd DUI in a five year period, and the law can require a 1 Year installation of an ignition interlock device on your vehicle, known by some people as a “blow & go,” that tests your breath whenever you drive to allegedly detect whether or not you're drinking, which is a good goal but sometimes the interlock system malfunctions and reports false positives, and locks people out of driving, leaving them stranded wherever they happen to be when the interlock machine requests a breath sample. In addition to a 2nd DUI resulting in a longer suspension of your license, and the installation of an expensive interlock device on your car, there is significantly more jail time, more community service, and higher fines.
https://codes.findlaw.com/ga/title-40-motor-vehicles-and-traffic/ga-code-sect-40-6-391.html
Our experienced attorneys can help you
The Cummins Firm can help you with your DUI Case. Attorney D. Scott Cummins has experience as a Judge and as a Prosecutor handling DUIs, and over 30 years of experience Defending DUI charges. Our firm knows what evidence and arguments matter to Prosecutors and Judges, and we know how to help our clients in court. We have the experience to properly handle these cases, file Defense Motions to force the State to give us all of the evidence, and we thoroughly review every speck of evidence to help our clients. People charged with a DUI face an uphill battle, but when we are by their side we fight hard to help, we look for legal issues or facts that help our clients get their case dismissed or reduced to a lesser charge without the stress, expense, and risk of a jury trial, and we help them move on with their lives. In cases where the State will not dismiss or reduce a charge and the client is willing to go to jury trial, we fight hard and we know how to win, and we have done so in many trials. Our firm is respected by Police, Prosecutors, Judges, Court Personnel, and others involved in the criminal justice system. We have a no-nonsense, thorough and successful approach to our cases, and we stand ready to help you. Call us and we'll Prove it.
Call The Cummins Firm today at 678-590-5590 for a free consultation and experienced representation.