Experienced Marietta, Metro Atlanta Area DUI Attorney
Sometimes the State’s DUI case can fall apart all by itself! Police officers, being human, sometimes disqualify themselves. The prosecutor is required to tell you when there is a problem with a police officer. But maybe he or she won’t, and will hope you don’t find out. Mr. Cohen makes it a practice to obtain the training records, and if necessary, internal affairs records, of all arresting police officers.
Bert Cohen is a Marietta, Cobb County, Georgia DUI lawyer with experience in most courts throughout the Atlanta area. This firm knows how to successfully prevent a DUI conviction and resolved hundreds of cases involving driving under the influence of both drugs and alcohol. His experience includes representation in D.U.I cases that also involve vehicular homicide, reckless driving, hit and run, obstruction of police, and drug possession. DUI and Driving Under the Influence of Drugs or marijuana cases are complicated. It is especially important to be represented by an experienced lawyer in the field because of the severe punishments involved. Upon conviction of a D.U.I. charge, punishments may include mandatory minimum jail sentences and license suspensions, even for a first time offense in Georgia. A successful defense resulting in a jury verdict of not guilty, dismissal, or reduced charges, can often turn on whether the police followed technical procedures. This includes the reason for why the driver’s car was stopped, the manner in which the police conducted field sobriety tests, the way the officer instructed the driver about his right to refuse to take a breath, blood, or urine test, and how the officer ran these tests. Winning a case can also turn on whether the lawyer uncovered evidence that the prosecutor did not know about or hoped the defense lawyer wouldn’t find.
If you have been arrested for Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs in the Atlanta area, you should consult with a lawyer as soon as possible. This is because in most cases today in Georgia, you have only 30 days to file a written request to stop the automatic suspension of your license. If you refused to submit to a chemical test requested by a police officer after a DUI arrest, the officer may have sent to the State DMV a “Form 1205.” This means you would be facing a one year license suspension. However, for Georgia DUI cases made starting in 2017, a Georgia driver may be able to avoid an implied consent one year suspension if the driver installs an ignition interlock device in his or her car. This can be a lifesaver because it allows the driver to continue to legally drive to work and therefore keep a job and take care of family. Please contact us for further information.
If you decide to go to trial on a DUI Alcohol or DUI Drugs case, the State will usually rely on police testimony about so called “standardized field sobriety testing,” and try to convince the jury that because the driver “failed” the tests, the driver had to be a less from drinking or drug use and should be found guilty. However, a skilled defense lawyer will show the jury that these tests are usually incorrectly administered by the police. The police training manual on DUI, the NHTSA DUI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Manual, can be used by the lawyer at trial to show that the police wrongly evaluated the driver and should therefore not be believed. Further, research has shown that even if these tests were done right in a particular case, they have never been accepted by scientists as being accurate for proving DUI Alcohol or DUI Drugs. Field Sobriety tests should not even be considered by a jury in deciding a case. Mr.Cohen has been trained by Georgia P.O.S.T. (Police Officer Standards and Training) certified police instructors on the administration of these so called tests as well as nonsensical basis of these tests. Mr. Cohen is a member of the National D.U.I. Defense Lawyers Association, Cobb County Criminal Defense Lawyers, and Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and actively pursues continuing legal education in this field. As a result of this training, Mr. Cohen is able to point out to the jury the weaknesses of field sobriety testing and other parts of the State’s Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs case.
Many DUI police officers take additional training to become Drug Recognition Experts, or DREs. They claim to be specially trained to recognize whether someone is under the influence of a specific drug, even without an actual blood test. However, they often cut corners in the way they administer their evaluations. For example, they should ideally take a driver’s blood pressure and temperature. This is impractical on the road so they skip that part. Yet they still claim to be experts when they testify in court. Mr. Cohen is trained to recognize and can attack the weaknesses of DRE investigations. If a DRE was involved in your case, don’t be intimidated. Please call.
All cities and counties served. This includes the following courts as well as many others in the Metro Atlanta area: In Cobb County, Smyrna, Marietta, Kennesaw, Acworth, Austell, Powder Springs, as well as Cobb County State and Superior Courts. In Paulding County, Dallas, Hiram, and Paulding County Superior Court. In Bartow County, Superior Court, Cartersville, Emerson and Adairsville. In Fulton County, State and Superior Court, Roswell, Alpharetta, Sandy Springs, and Milton.
Bert W. Cohen, Marietta, Cobb County and Metro Atlanta, Georgia, DUI Defense Lawyer, 191 Roswell Street, Marietta, GA 30060, Tel: (770) 422-5101
