Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Evidence And Procedure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Judge suppresses field sobriety evidence after irregularities in arrest paperwork
Summary
Clayton County State Court granted a motion to suppress field sobriety test evidence after finding irregularities in how a DUI citation was issued and in post-arrest contact between officer and defendant.
A judge in Clayton County State Court on Wednesday granted a motion to suppress evidence from field sobriety tests and related post-stop testing following an evidentiary hearing.
Officer testimony described standardized-field-sobriety testing (HGN, walk-and-turn, one-leg stand) and a subsequent arrest for DUI (less safe). The officer testified he observed clues on the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test and other standardized tests and that the defendant later consented to a blood draw under implied consent. The defense argued the paperwork and timeline showed the DUI citation was not issued at the time of the arrest and that the officer later contacted the defendant by social media (Facebook Messenger) to return to the police department to receive a citation — irregularities that undermined the chain of events.
After reviewing testimony, video and booking records, the judge said she had not heard testimony establishing what the officer observed that provided the necessary contemporaneous articulable basis for the traffic stop and the later citation. The judge described “irregularities” in the timeline and ruled the field sobriety evidence and any tests that followed would be suppressed.
The state told the court it had documentary evidence in the file — a warrantless arrest affidavit, a written arrest/booking entry and photographs — that showed a DUI arrest and paperwork with the incident date, and the prosecutor asked the court to deny the motion or preserve the record for appeal. The judge acknowledged the state’s materials but said the inconsistencies in how the citation and later communications occurred justified suppression of the field tests.
The court left the underlying traffic count (failure to maintain lane) intact where applicable and scheduled follow-up steps for the clerk’s office to file the suppression order. The suppression applies to the field sobriety test results and any evidence obtained directly from those tests.
