MY PAST IS STILL HAUNTING ME

“I do have a prior DUI, but I was not drunk this time!  Am I really going to be judged for things I did in the past?  What happened to the presumption of innocence?”

So often, I see people get arrested simply because they drank some alcohol and then drove.  Guess what?  It is not illegal to drive after drinking alcohol!  How often does a grown man or woman get drunk off of one or two drinks?  I mean, really.

Now imagine that you find yourself in that situation and you actually have a DUI conviction from years past.  Are you doomed?  Do you stand a chance at trial?

The answer is yes, you do stand a chance.

Due to the tremendous amount of prejudice that evidence of a prior conviction provides, the law is strict and narrow as to when the prosecution can use that prior conviction as evidence against you in a new case.  Specifically, the government has to satisfy a three-part test to get that evidence into court:

(1)   Is it relevant to something besides trashing your character?

(2)   Do they have the proof still to prove that you committed the prior?

(3)   Is the prior conviction an important enough piece of evidence that it substantially outweighs the prejudice it causes?

In a DUI case, the government must show one of the following:

(1)   That you refused the state-administered test and the past DUI is relevant to show that you knowingly refused, and your refusal was part of your plan rather than an accident;

(2)   That you did not give an adequate breath sample and that the past DUI is relevant to show, again, that it this was part of your plan rather than an accident; or

(3)   That your identity as being the driver of the car is in dispute and the past DUI is relevant to prove that you were the driver now.

The Georgia Court of Appeals put it succinctly: “Evidence of a prior crime is highly and inherently prejudicial, raising…an inference that [a person] who acted in a certain manner on one occasion is likely to have acted in…a similar manner on another occasion and thereby [puts that person’s] character in issue.”  Jones v. State, 326 Ga. App. 658 (2014).

Do not allow the prosecution to bully you by threatening to use your past against you.  Go see a lawyer who is willing to fight back and stand up for your rights.

Our lawyers are trained to handle just these types of cases.  If you’re facing multiple DUIs on your criminal history, please give us a call at 404-581-0999.