Clayton County DUI Lawyer - Clayton County DUI Attorney

A DUI in Clayton County can have serious consequences. It is important that you understand your rights and what punishments you are facing. In Clayton County, some of the penalties for DUI include community service, probation, loss of driver's license, one year (or more) of jail time, and up to $1000 is fines not including court costs. There are also a lot of programs and courses you may have to complete like drug or alcohol counseling, safe driving classes and more. It is important to hire the best Georgia DUI Lawyer in your time of need.

DUI 30-DAY WARNING!!

If you are arrested for DUI in Clayton County Georgia, you only have thirty days from the date of your arrest to have your Clayton County DUI Attorney file a request for a hearing or an ignition interlock device to save your driver's license. Unless this hearing is requested, you will lose your Georgia Driver's License or privilege to drive on the highways and roads of Georgia. You can potentially lose your driver's license for up to 12 months. Read more about Georgia ALS Hearings

The best chance you have to fight these charges and get the minimum sentence is to get Clayton County DUI Lawyer from The Law Office of Richard Lawson. We have been working in the DUI field for over 25 years and can advise you better than anyone on how to handle your DUI case. Some law firms are general practitioners and will take on any case. However, the Law Office of Richard Lawson focuses solely on DUI and driving related offenses, so you know your lawyer is going to know everything there is about Clayton County DUI law. You can read about our Georgia DUI Lawyers.

Attorney Richard Lawson has been practicing law in Georgia for over 20 years. After graduating from Emory Law School, he began his career as a DUI Prosecutor for the State of Georgia. His unique experience gives his clients the edge as he knows how prosecutors think and what they are looking for to reduce charges or make a plea bargain. Richard Lawson is very knowledgeable about all things DUI and has even NHTSA certified as a DUI field sobriety testing instructor; meaning he has taught police officers how to properly use a breath testing machine and is aware of the mistakes officers can make while administering this test. His reviews can be found on AVVO.

Clayton County DUI Defense

As mentioned above, a conviction for DUI in Clayton County can carry with it a lot of negative consequences. Without a qualified Clayton County DUI Lawyer to advise you, you may make an unwise decision that will have massive effects on your life. If you plead guilty right, away you are open to whatever punishment the judge cares to impose on you. This can be jail time, loss of license and more. Having a Clayton County DUI Lawyer from The Law Office of Richard Lawson on your side will make your DUI case go much smoother. We will work to get your charges reduced or dismissed and if you have to go to trial we work hard to prove your innocence.

Clayton County is one of the least favorable counties in the metro Atlanta area to be charged with DUI.  In Clayton County, felonies are prosecuted in Superior Court and handled by the Office of the District Attorney.  DUI offenses can be considered felonies if there is child endangerment, you are a repeat offender, or if there was a serious accident with injuries or a vehicular homicide.

Other factors like obstruction, fleeing and eluding and hit and run can lead a prosecutor to upgrade the charge if certain conditions exist.  For the most part, however, a first or second DUI in Clayton County will be a misdemeanor.  They are prosecuted in the State Court of Clayton County in the Harold Banke Justice Center which also houses the Superior Court.

MAP TO THE CLAYTON COUNTY GEORGIA COURTHOUSE

Prosecutors for state court misdemeanor offenses are called solicitors.  The solicitors in Clayton County rarely reduce a DUI case to reckless driving or some other traffic offense.  In fact, most of the assistant prosecutors who are actually in the courtroom are given little power by their boss to amend a DUI case.  Plea bargains to DUI can be negotiated by your Clayton County DUI Attorney and Motions can be heard at hearings before the judge, but generally if you want to contest the DUI, you need to be thinking of a trial. A DUI Trial in Clayton County may be your best option to fight your case.

Your first chance in your Clayton County DUI case to appear before a judge will be at your arraignment. This is when you will need to enter a plea of either ‘guilty' or ‘not guilty'. If you plea ‘guilty' you will likely be sentenced the harshest and you have no say in what you get. The experienced Clayton County DUI Lawyers with the Law Office of Richard Lawson know that pleading ‘guilty' at your arraignment is not the best idea. You can always change your plea later and entering an initial ‘not guilty' plea allows your lawyer to gain access to the evidence that the prosecution has against you. You can read more about Georgia DUI Information in the practice areas of this website.

In some cases, they will have a much weaker case than you initially thought, and your Clayton County DUI Attorney can use this information to work with the prosecutor to get your charges reduced or to get a plea bargain. To get the best results in your Clayton County DUI case, you will need the professional experienced from The Law Office of Richard Lawson.

If the prosecution believes that you have a weak, case and there is a high chance that you will be found innocent in a jury trial, they will offer your Clayton County DUI Lawyer a plea bargain –but as discussed previously, generally not for a lesser charge than DUI.  When you are offered a given set of punishments in exchange for changing your plea from ‘not guilty' to ‘guilty', this is called a plea bargain. When the sentences are fair to the client, a plea bargain can be very beneficial because it saves you time and energy of having to go to trial and it removes any uncertainty as to what the judge's final decision will be if you are found guilty. A possible lessor offense is a negotiated settlement to reckless driving.

At every step along the way, your DUI lawyer will look for any mistakes the police may have made during your arrest or your stop. If you decide to go to trial, you will be glad to have The Law Offices of Richard S. Lawson's over 25 years' experience on your side. Clayton County DUI Attorney Richard Lawson is a former DUI prosecutor and has years of experience defending his DUI clients. He is also an expert with the equipment used in Clayton County to measure alcohol in your breath. He can use his knowledge to argue that the arresting officers administered the test incorrectly. If you want the best defense team for your Clayton County DUI case, call The Law Office of Richard Lawson right now.

DUI-Related Clayton County Offenses

In some cases there can be even more serious offenses than a single driving under the influence charge. If you are charged with DUI and there is a minor in the car, you will likely be accused of child endangerment as well. If you are charged with your second, third, fourth DUI the penalties get steeper and you run the risk of losing your license for up to 5 years.

If you are in a serious accident involving the death of another person and your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is found to be over the legal limit for Clayton County (.08%) you may be facing felony charges for vehicular manslaughter. These are very serious charges and are not to be taken lightly. In these cases it is especially important to have a Clayton County DUI Lawyer that knows every aspect of Clayton County DUI law.

There Is Hope - Fight Your Clayton County DUI Case

If you have been charged with a DUI in Clayton County Georgia, call the DUI professionals at The Law Office of Richard Lawson. We are available 24/7 to give you a free consultation and explain to you how our over 25 years of Georgia DUI experience can be put to use for you. Remember that after a DUI arrest in Clayton County, you only have ten days to file your ten-day letter and stop the license suspension process. Contact  us at any time, day or night.

We can also help you if you were arrested in Morrow Georgia a city within Clayton County.  We have top-rated Morrow Georgia DUI Lawyers to help 24/7.

Clayton County DUI Resources:

Clayton County Police Department

Clayton County Solicitor General

Clayton County Sheriff's Department

Clayton County District Attorney

Clayton County Wikipedia

Have You Been Arrested for DUI in Clayton County Georgia?