Question: I got arrested for DUI in Alpharetta a few months ago. I took the blow test and got a high number. I got into an accident because I hit a pole. I made a huge mistake by not getting a lawyer. I thought I could save money if I did the case myself. At the city court I spoke with the district attorney lady and she said I was guilty. I got put on probation for 24 months and had to do a ton of other stuff and I had to go to jail for a while. It's not fair. Why so much probation? Is that legal?
Answer: I think a bit of clarification is in order. You did not speak with an assistant district attorney. The prosecutor (known as a solicitor) is not part of the district attorney's office. The solicitor is Ms. Fran Shoenthal and she is an employee of the city of Alpharetta. It is her job to prosecute city ordinance violations and misdemeanors that are alleged to have occurred in the city.
Under Georgia law probation is mandatory for a DUI. However, from the facts of your case as you have related them, I do not know why the prosecutor recommended 24 months of probation. It may not have been your first DUI charge or you may have had other charges stemming from the same incident.
Your statement that the “district attorney lady…said I was guilty” is curious. Although the prosecutor took the position that you were guilty of DUI, that does not, in fact, make you guilty. You could have requested a bench trial (that is a trial held in the Alpharetta Municipal Court in front of a judge, without a jury) or you could have “bound” the matter over to Fulton County State Court in Atlanta.
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