Question: I really didn't think my friend would end up in an Atlanta jail.  My wife and I went out with another couple and we went to dinner at TWO Urban Licks and then we went to some of the bars we remembered from our Georgia Tech years like Wrecking Bar Brewpub, Kimball House and Brick Store Pub.  We did drink a lot, I can't deny that.

So instead of driving home we contacted a taxi.

When the taxi came we invited the driver in for a free drink and he took us up on it.  He left the keys in the ignition and my friend left the bar we were in and got into the taxi and drove it down the block.  When he got out of the car some Atlanta Police officers happened to be there.  They saw him stagger and stopped him.

Eventually he was arrested for DUI by the Atlanta cops.

My friend thinks that he can win a jury trial.  He thinks that everybody drinks and drives.  He has to go to the Atlanta Municipal Court.  Can he have a jury trial in the Atlanta Municipal Court?

M.W. in Atlanta

Answer: No, you cannot have a jury trial in the Atlanta Municipal Court.  Like all municipal courts throughout the state of Georgia, the Atlanta Municipal Court will only handle “bench trials.”  Those are trials where the judge is the ultimate trier of fact, not a jury.

If he wants a jury trial, he must “bind the case over” to the Fulton County State Court.  He can have a jury trial in the Fulton State Court.

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