If a DUI is a criminal offense in Georgia, then anyone who was convicted on the basis of a sobriety test conducted without a warrant should have their convictions overturned.
“If a DUI is a criminal offense in Georgia, then anyone who was convicted on the basis of a sobriety test conducted without a warrant should have their convictions overturned.”
There seems to be a bit more nuance to the court decision than that. The article indicates the appellant’s conviction was upheld, despite the court’s concerns about the misleading way in which the police officer described the legal status of the breathalyzer test. I am not a lawyer, but I don’t interpret the decision as striking down the “implied consent” to a field sobriety test. In any case, so I am told by friends in law enforcement, the typical evidence in a DUI case in Georgia involves probable cause for a traffic stop (e.g., erratic driving), the smell of alcohol or marijuana in the vehicle, failure to pass a field sobriety test, and a BAC of 0.08 or greater. (I think, but am not sure, that the police have to get a warrant for a blood draw.) The police don’t rely on just one of these. If you are arrested for DUI, you are booked into the jail, where you stay until you post bond. Some years ago, first offenders were allowed to plead “no contest,” receive a slap on the wrist (probation, community service, and a small fine), and have the arrest expunged from the record. That’s no longer true.