DUI charges in Gwinnett County are handled in many courts. Gwinnett County has municipal courts, also known as city courts, along with a state court and a superior court. Gwinnett County also has a Recorder’s Court.

You can get a DUI simply from the use of legal prescription medications. In fact, it is becoming more and more common. As more people utilize prescription drugs for various physical and mental diagnoses, we are seeing more arrests being made for DUI-drugs. Oftentimes if a police officer suspects that a driver is under the influence of drugs, they will request a blood test. And the results of the blood test will be of great importance to a DUI-drugs charge.

It’s quite common for people to feel a cop was mean to them and was dishonest in some way, particularly when the interaction ends with a DUI arrest. Most police officers, in our experience, are well-trained and professional, but like all professions and careers, there are exceptions. It's not illegal in many circumstances for a cop to lie. As a Sandy Springs DUI lawyer, we analyze your case to determine if the police officer crossed any legal lines.

Failure to maintain lane is a common reason to be stopped by a police officer. The Georgia law for failure to maintain lane is O.C.G.A. 40-6-48. In evaluating whether a stop for failure to maintain lane was proper, we would like to know if the police officer has a video of it. Many DUI arrests involve a failure to maintain lane stop.

Before we assess your “chances in court” when facing a Dunwoody DUI, we’d certainly want to do some investigation. We’d want to scrutinize the police report and watch the video of the stop and arrest, if one exists. That’s a good way of determining what your best options are. Then we can determine what tactics and strategies to utilize in the Dunwoody Municipal Court.

The breath test administered on the street by a law enforcement officer is usually known as an Intoximeter, Alco-Sensor, Preliminary Breath Test (PBT), or Preliminary Alcohol Screening test (PAS). It's usually a hand-held device. An Intoxilyzer, however, is generally a larger machine than an Alco-Sensor and it is usually administered in a jail, at a police station, or at another law enforcement location. The Intoxilyzer test, unlike the Alco-sensor test, is admissible in a Georgia court for the specific alcohol reading.

A prenuptial agreement is to help you protect premarital assets and plan for whatever the future may bring, as you enter your marriage relationship. A postnuptial agreement is very similar to a prenuptial agreement; however, it is a contract that is written after a couple gets married.

The Gwinnett County Police, as part of one of their Special Operations Sections, have a DUI Task Force. As the name implies, the Task Force’s goal is the enforcement of DUI laws and to make DUI arrests. More and more we’re seeing that if a driver refuses a breath test, the Task Force members are getting warrants from a judge allowing a blood draw. Blood tests are considered to be the most accurate measure of a person’s alcohol level. Under Georgia law a police officer, deputy sheriff, or state trooper can make a warrant application to a judge, and if the judge signs-off, then the law enforcement official can force the driver submit to a blood test.

It certainly doesn’t hurt her if we tell the prosecutor that she rarely drinks. The same is true for the marijuana possession charge. The question, at first, at least, is whether there exists evidence for a criminal charge. If there is not enough evidence, the charge can be dropped. If there is evidence, then the question for a criminal defense lawyer is how to best handle the matter so that the client gets the best possible outcome under all the circumstances.

Traditionally, many people feel that a shower “sobers” someone up. In movies and in books it is common for a character to take a shower to help regain sobriety. However, taking a shower does not actually “sober” someone up in the technical sense of lowering their blood-alcohol concentration. A hot shower or a cold shower does not have an effect on alcohol that has been ingested into your body.

As Roswell divorce attorneys we deal with “money issues” and “child issues” every day. Pensions and 401 (k)’s are divided using what’s known as a QDRO (a Qualified Domestic Relations Order). We draft many QDRO’s. Child support and child custody are common issues in divorce. The Georgia child support guidelines are used to determine child support payments and the standard for child custody is the best interests of the child.

Child custody is determined by a judge or jury based upon “the best interests of the child.” This allows a court to fashion a situation that keeps the kids safe and gives them the best chance of thriving.

Under Georgia law, each subsequent DUI is punished more severely. So it comes as no surprise that a second DUI carries more severe ramifications than a first DUI, and a sentence for a third DUI is yet sterner. Interestingly, because Georgia is composed of many counties and cities, each entity has a wide range of latitude to craft its own sentences. Each county and municipal court can vary slightly (or sometimes not so slightly) in how it sentences for DUI. Sentence conditions like jail time, community service, fines, and probationary period can vary between jurisdictions even for the exact same charge.

The primary consideration for a Georgia court in a custody matter is “the best interest of the child.” The court wants there be the least impact as possible on the child. The judge wants the child’s routine to remain normal and stable since children do best when they feel comfortable, safe, and protected. A court will consider a number of factors when making a custody decision, including: the age and health of the child, the jobs and careers of the couple, which parent is handling primary parenting responsibilities, the child’s preference of parent, the emotional ties between the parents and the child, the time each parent spent with the children in the past, history of family violence, alcoholism or drug abuse, and parental skills.

Since a will can be considered invalid by a court, it’s crucial that the will be drafted in accordance with Georgia law. To be valid under the law, the last will and testament must have three features: a will must be in writing; a will must be signed; and a will must have two witnesses. If any of these three criteria are not met, the will fails under Georgia law and is invalid.

Many people will not get married without a written prenup in place. A prenup protects men and women from having to give up or lose assets to which they are entitled, assets the other spouse did not help them acquire. Because it offers needed protections, security and peace of mind, many clients tell us it actually helps make their marriage stronger, better, and more loving. It helps alleviate any suspicions. You need to declare all of your assets for the prenuptial agreement to be valid. If assets are not identified, the prenup can be ruled invalid.

In Dunwoody, like most other courts, you can pay any court-imposed fines and fees over a span of time, usually over a number of months. It would be rare for a court to expect the full payment of fines at one time in a lump sum. Interestingly, under Georgia DUI law, courts can impose a range of fines. One Georgia court might actually impose a fine that is twice as much as another court. And both fines are perfectly legal.

The city of Sandy Springs has its own municipal court that handles a variety of charges under Georgia state law, including traffic and DUI charges, as well as local ordinance violations. The prosecutors are led by Bill Riley, whose law firm acts as solicitors for the city. Mr. Riley is also the prosecutor in other jurisdictions. Since Sandy Springs is in Fulton County, if the case can’t be resolved in the municipal court, then it can be sent to the State Court of Fulton County. Jury trials not available in municipal courts in Georgia, so if a jury trial is requested, it must be sent to the state court in Atlanta. The address of the municipal court is: 7840 Roswell Rd, Atlanta, GA 30350.

A Last Will and Testament can be legally void or invalid. A will can be found by a court to be invalid if any of the following are found to have played a part in its origin: threats, fraud, violence, and coercion. A will must be freely and voluntarily made. If it was unduly influenced by anyone or any group, then there may be grounds for it to be held invalid or void.

We have actually handled several cases in which Georgia residents were “mistakenly” married in Las Vegas. To determine if you were legally married, we’d first ask if you purchased and signed a valid Nevada marriage license. If you didn’t get a marriage license, then you were not legally married. Typically, a couple in Las Vegas will purchase a marriage license, have a wedding ceremony, and then have the person who performed the ceremony file a wedding certificate with the appropriate county office. The wedding certificate proves you are married. If you got legally married then to end the marriage you would need to get divorced, which you can do here in Georgia.

Getting stopped for DUI in the morning on the way to work is actually not that uncommon. Many people drink alcohol at night and in the morning, since the body has not fully processed or metabolized all of the alcohol, they can still be inebriated. Sometimes they can still be very drunk the night before. On average, the liver can process 1 ounce of alcohol every hour, and it can be detected in the blood for hours (depending on the amount consumed), and in the urine for several days if a sensitive test is employed.

Child support in Georgia is based upon the child support guidelines. The guidelines take into account multiple factors, including number of children involved and the incomes of the parties. A 401 (k) is divided in a divorce using a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). How a QDRO is split between the parties is often negotiated. Once negotiated, the final agreement would be incorporated in the final divorce documents.

Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), the retirement plan administrator is initially responsible for determining whether a domestic relations order is a QDRO (some are not). The Retirement Plan Administrator is that individual or group in a company that is responsible for the management of the retirement plan. That retirement plan can be either a pension plan, a 401 (k), or something else. So it is up to the specific company involved to determine whether there needs to be a QDRO or not to divide a retirement account.

Under Georgia law, all assets must be disclosed by both parties when getting a divorce. Since Bitcoins are assets because they have financial value (like stocks, bonds, cash, collectibles, real estate, etc.), they must be disclosed when getting divorced. A judge has discretion to divide the Bitcoins during a divorce. Most likely, a judge will usually divide the Bitcoins roughly evenly between the two parties. However, the division of the cryptocurrency can be negotiated by the parties. We have handled a number of divorces with Bitcoins involved (as well as other cryptocurrencies like Litecoin, Ethereum, Zcash, Monero, and Dash) and the cryptocurrency has been used when negotiating issues like child support and alimony, and to buy-out the other party’s equity in the marital home.

For many people their home is their largest financial asset. And for people with children, it becomes important to help ensure that the kids are comfortable and do not have to relocate from their home during a stressful period. Generally speaking, the issue is handled in three possible ways. The marital home is sold and the profits/equity is divided between the parties. Or, one side buys-out the other side. Of course we have handled the issue in other ways as well, but those three resolutions are often the most frequently used.