Question:  I got a bad DUI story for you.  It could end my relationship with my girlfriend.

I took my girlfriend out to celebrate her graduating from Georgia Perimeter College.  We went to the Atlanta Theater to see a play and we went to dinner at Milton's Cuisine & Cocktails in Milton, GA.  Then we met another couple at the Olde Blind Dog for a few drinks and left for a little bit more at Hemingway's Bar & Grill and Battle & Brew.  The problem was that I didn't just have a few drinks.  I had like 5 drinks.  I had some whiskey, gin and vodka.  I don't really drink.  So I got pretty drunk.

My girlfriend said that she would drive home.  She was pretty intoxicated herself and she got pulled over driving my car in Marietta by a Cobb policeman.  He arrested her for DUI.  She has a court date in Cobb State Court.

My question is that it is not her first DUI.  I didn't know it but she got a DUI about 7 years ago in Smyrna.  She's worried that the other DUI will hurt her when she goes to court.  She's real worried that she'll get in some serious trouble.  I told her that since it was seven years ago it's probably fallen off her record by now and that it won't count.  But I've read some stuff that it will be held against her.  Will that other DUI be a problem?

Answer:  Georgia DUI law has a “lookback” period.  The lookback period is ten years.  The lookback period creates a longer time frame within which to trigger mandatory, harsher punishment for repeat offenders.

Because of the lookback period, punishments (including jail time, probation, fines and community service requirements) escalate by law. Some jurisdictions will increase punishments even if the first DUI occurred longer than 10 years ago.  We've seen sentences increase for a 15 or 20 year old DUI.

In fact, there is no real uniformity in terms of punishments throughout the state, although it is the same law that is applied.  Some courts will apply the statutory minimums, while prosecutors in other jurisdictions will seek substantially increased punishments for the exact same violations.

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