Are you facing charges in Fulton County?

If you were arrested for DUI, then you are presently facing a series of adverse consequences, consequences that may be reduced or avoided with the assistance of an experienced and aggressive driving under the influence lawyer. Only a DUI attorney can protect your rights.

In a first DUI, it is important to explore all possible defenses in order to avoid a lifetime criminal record. Many people decide to enter a guilty plea on their first DUI, and it is a mistake. Being arrested does not mean you are guilty. Always have a DUI lawyer investigate your case for all possible defenses prior to entering into any plea bargain.

In a second DUI, you may be facing serious consequences such as the loss of your license and jail-time. The situation is not hopeless. When you hire a lawyer, he will explore all possible defenses in an effort to see if he can win your case. At the same time, he will be exploring all possible alternative punishments to jail time. Such alternatives can include home confinement instead of jail and work release. In addition, a DUI lawyer will suggest that you get treatment in order to convince the court that you are a candidate for alternative punishments.

In a third DUI, the stakes are extremely high. You are facing being declared a habitual violator and the loss of your driver's license for up to 5 years. Your attorney may elect to take your case to trial. Most people cannot live without a driver's license for five years. In addition most people cannot accept the amount of jail time you would receive if you are convicted of a third or multiple DUI arrest. If you are facing a third DUI, hire the best possible defense. Hire a DUI attorney as soon as possible.

DUI is no laughing matter, most people who are arrested for DUI are not career criminals, instead they are average citizens, and they are the ones that have the most to lose. How would a driver's license suspension, possible jail time, hefty fines and a permanent criminal record affect your personal life, your reputation and your career?

At The Law Offices of Richard S. Lawson, we take your DUI arrest seriously. Our firm focuses entirely on driving while intoxicated cases, that way we can provide our clients with the highest standard of representation available. Although other defense attorneys may take on DUI cases, many of them focus on criminal defense and have little experience with driving charges.

Our founding attorney Richard S. Lawson is more than qualified to defend clients. As a former DUI prosecutor who has completed nearly 100 jury trials and thousands of motions, he has the tenacity you need to build a strong and educated defense on your behalf.

All too often when people are arrested for driving under the influence, they immediately assume they are guilty and lose all hope of beating their charges. Attorney Lawson has a number of resources at his fingertips including: expert witnesses, medical professionals, investigators and former law enforcement officers.

In fact, he was trained by the same individuals who instruct law enforcement officers on the technology of field sobriety tests. He is a certified (NHTSA) field sobriety testing instructor who has learned through his training how to search for any flaws in field sobriety testing procedures and scoring. Field sobriety tests are not infallible, nor are any other aspect of a DUI arrest.

Defense Against Field Sobriety Testing

Believe it or not, unlike a blood, breath or urine test which is usually obtained at the police station or a hospital, drivers are not required to submit to a field sobriety test and there are no penalties or license suspension for refusal to submit to them.

Police officers can be fairly intimidating, especially at a DUI checkpoint or during a DUI stop. Whenever a law enforcement officer asks you to step out of the vehicle in order to take a field sobriety test, you should politely refuse. These tests are not based on factual evidence and they are not scientifically proven, instead they are based entirely on the law enforcement officer's opinion.

These tests are not designed to help you in any way, instead they are used to give the police officer probable cause to arrest you and create damaging evidence against you. One can only imagine how a dash cam video capturing you stumbling outside of your vehicle could only point a judge or jury in the direction of securing an unfavorable conviction against you.

Keep in mind that you are well within the law and your rights to refuse to a field sobriety test; however, you are required to submit to a chemical test if you are asked to. Chemical refusal will result in an automatic license suspension for one year, whether you were drinking or not. On the other hand, refusal to submit to a field sobriety test will not result in the same consequence.

Aggressive DUI Defense Attorney

Our firm is proud to serve the residents of Fulton County and the surrounding areas. With years of experience as a former prosecutor and as a DUI defense attorney, Mr. Lawson is more than qualified to defend your DUI case. He can assist clients with any part of the DUI process including: ALS hearings, refusals/alleged refusals, marijuana cases, underage DUI, blood & breath tests, roadside checkpoints, suspended licenses, child endangerment, vehicular homicide and many more. We urge you to contact our firm to schedule your initial consultation where we can go over your possible DUI defenses.

Fulton County Resource Links

DUI Information Center
About Fulton County
Map of Fulton County