Implied Consent and Federal DUI Law
While most drunk driving cases are tried under state law, the federal government can prosecute DUIs that occur on federal property, such as national parks or military bases. Except for national parks, where DUI falls under a specific regulation, most federal drunk driving cases follow the substantive law of the state where it occurred. In other words, if you are charged with a federal DUI on a Georgia military base, the federal court would try you based on the substantive DUI law of Georgia.
Judge: MP Did Not Have to Follow Georgia Procedures
That said, the federal court need not necessarily apply all of the same procedural rules as a state court. A recent decision from a federal judge in Savannah illustrates what we mean by this. In this case, United States v. Raleigh, federal prosecutors charged the defendant with one count of DUI. Military police at Fort Stewart arrested the defendant after he appeared at the gate and failed a series of field sobriety tests.
The military police officer read the defendant an “implied consent” notice. Georgia law requires such notice in DUI cases. Essentially, a DUI suspect is deemed to consent to a blood or breath test following a lawful arrest. If they refuse, the suspect faces automatic suspension of their Georgia driver’s license. Here, the defendant consented to a blood-alcohol test after receiving the notice.
Before the trial court, the defendant argued the military police officer’s notice failed to comply with the procedural requirements of Georgia law. Specifically, Georgia requires police officers to read an implied consent notice after formally arresting the defendant. In this case, the military police officer read the notice before making a formal arrest. Given this apparent procedural violation, the defendant argued the results of the blood test should be suppressed.
The judge denied the motion to suppress. He explained that the “procedural requirements” of Georgia’s implied consent law do not apply in federal DUI cases. Indeed, there is a separate federal implied consent law that covers this situation. And the federal statute does not specify whether an officer must give notice before or after a formal arrest. The government could therefore use the results of the blood test against the defendant at trial.
Contact The Spizman Firm Trial Lawyers Today
Similar to Georgia’s implied consent law, the federal implied consent statute provides that if a DUI suspect refuses to take a blood or breath test following a lawful request for law enforcement, the effect is an automatic one-year suspension of the suspect’s right to operate a motor vehicle within the “special maritime or territorial jurisdiction” of the United States.
So if you are charged with a DUI, it is important to get competent legal advice before proceeding any further. Our Georgia DUI lawyers are here to help. Call The Spizman Firm Trial Lawyers today. We serve clients throughout Georgia including Atlanta, Dunwoody, Alpharetta, Cobb County, Fulton County, Gwinnett County, Johns Creek and Sandy Springs.
Source:
https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=409873646611679872
