EFFECT OF PRIOR DUI CHARGES ON YOUR BOND OR ABILITY TO GET BOND

By Ben Sessions on August 31st, 2015 in DUI / DWI

If you or someone you care about is charged with DUI, vehicular homicide, or serious injury by vehicle in any of the metro-Atlanta jurisdictions, in particular, prior DUI charges and/or convictions may have a significant impact upon the ability to obtain a bond or the amount of your bond.

One of the considerations of a judge setting a bond is if the person is likely to commit other criminal offenses while they are on bond, so we can see why prior Georgia DUI charges or convictions in combination with the present DUI, vehicular homicide, or serious injury by vehicle charge may impact the Court’s decision as to whether bond will be granted and in what amount.

A recent case in the news illustrates this problem:

A 52-year-old man with multiple drunk driving convictions was jailed on $21,000 bond following his arrest at 11 p.m. Sunday at the Circle K service station at Bella Cruz Drive in The Villages.

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A criminal history check showed Mihalko had three previous DUI convictions between 2000 and 2009 in Michigan and Iowa.

Source: Villages-News.com

ANTICIPATE A VERY DIFFICULT TIME OBTAINING A BOND IN A SERIOUS INJURY BY VEHICLE OR VEHICULAR HOMICIDE CASE IF THE DEFENDANT HAS A PRIOR DUI CONVICTION

Rightfully so, one of the primary considerations for Judges presiding over DUI cases is the risk that an offender will be involved in a DUI-related accident that results in injury to another person. Therefore, when a person that has previously been charged or convicted of DUI is subsequently involved in a DUI-related accident, judges are very reticent to issue bond to the person.

In most courts throughout the metro-Atlanta area, we are successful in obtaining bond for defendants in these very delicate cases. However, we have to be prepared to present the Court with conditions that will calm concerns over the Defendant being involved in another similar incident while on bond:

• Be prepared to surrender your driver’s license;
• Be prepared to submit to random drug and/or alcohol screens; and
• Be prepared to undergo SCRAM.

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