Question: I had dinner at Salt in Alpharetta and then went to Taco Mac to grab a few beers.  As I was driving home I got stopped by an Alpharetta cop.  I told him I had a couple of low gravity beers.  He asked me to take some walking tests and he looked at my eyes.  Then when I was done he asked me to blow into something.  Then he arrested me for DUI and took me to the city jail.  In Alpharetta do I have to take those tests?

Answer: I am not sure to which particular tests you are referring – the field sobriety tests or the breath test.  In any event, the Alpharetta police officer (just like any other law enforcement official in the state of Georgia) is trained to ask you to comply with his requests for your participation in both tests.  You may, however, refuse to take such tests.  Both tests are voluntary.

The results of both tests can be used against you by the Alpharetta solicitor (the prosecutor), Ms. Fran Shoenthal.  The prosecutor will seek to admit the results of the tests to try to make a case for DUI.  Because you were arrested for DUI, I am assuming that you did not do well on the field sobriety tests and the breathalyzer test.  The field sobriety tests are “scored” by the officer who looks for “clues” of intoxication.  The breathalyzer test reveals a reading for blood alcohol content (BAC).  A number of .08 and above is DUI per se; a reading of .079 and below is DUI less safe.

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