Dawsonville man sentenced in 2010 vehicular homicide

DAWSONVILLE - The Dawson County man convicted earlier this year in the vehicular homicide death of a Gainesville woman has now been sentenced in the case.

The accident happened on June 25, 2010 on Georgia 400. Authorities say Jenna Annette Fitzgerald, 24, fell from a Jeep onto the highway and was struck and killed by another vehicle.

The man driving the Jeep, Colon Loius Hartzler, 45, of Dawsonville, was given a 10-year prison sentence on May 18. Northeastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Lee Darragh said Hartzler will spend four years in prison and serve the remainder of the sentence on probation on the vehicular homicide conviction.

"He was also convicted of the offense of DUI, which was related to it [the accident], and that count merged into the homicide by vehicle count," said Darragh.

Darragh said Hartzler also was fined $3,000, and he was ordered to perform 240 hours in community service time.



http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=249148

Former Dekalb County Prosecutor arrested for DUI refusal "Less Safe"

Attorney Jennifer Little, recently hired by the widow of Dunwoody day care shooting victim Rusty Sneiderman, was arrested early Thursday morning and charged with suspected DUI, speeding and reckless driving.

Little was traveling northbound on I-85 near Buford Highway around 12:30 a.m. when she was stopped by Atlanta police, who clocked her at 91 mph -- 36 mph over the speed limit.

The former DeKalb County prosecutor refused field and chemical sobriety tests, according to an APD spokesman, resulting in a charge of DUI Less Safe. That charge requires the arresting officer to testify he or she noticed unsafe driving patterns that would signal impairment due to alcohol or drug use.

APD spokesman Curtis Davenport said Little presented an expired DeKalb DA’s identification card at the time of stop, saying she had just left the office two months ago.

Little, 33, and law partner Doug Chalmers were hired by Andrea Sneiderman in mid-March during the trial of her former boss, Hemy Neuman, who was sentenced to life in prison for killing the Dunwoody woman's husband.

Sneiderman may soon face criminal charges herself. A DeKalb County grand jury has subpoenaed Channel 2 Action News for the entirety of her testimony given during the Neuman trial. DeKalb D.A. Robert James told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he believes Sneiderman was involved in her husband's death.

Chalmers declined comment Thursday when reached by the AJC.

Little, former president of the DeKalb Bar Association, posted bond and was released early Thursday morning.

The arrest is not expected to affect her standing in the Georgia Bar Association. According to the bar's ethics counsel, Bill Smith, attorneys are typically not sanctioned for misdemeanor DUI charges.

http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/andrea-sneiderman-attorney-arrested-1414967.html

Braves Reliever arrested for DUI in Gwinnett County

Cristhian Martinez was arrested early Monday morning in Gwinnett County on charges of DUI, after allegedly weaving in and out of a lane and traveling at a low speed on I-85. Martinez was pulled over at 2:42 a.m. on I-85 North at Steve Reynolds Boulevard for failure to maintain a single lane by a Gwinnett County police officer who clocked Martinez traveling 40 mph. The officer smelled alcohol on Martinez’s breath, Smith said, and put him through a field sobriety test. Martinez’s blood alcohol registered .13 in a breathalyzer administered at the Gwinnett County jail, Smith said. The legal limit in Georgia is .08.


Martinez has secured a spot in the Braves bullpen this spring after going 0-0 with a 1.38 ERA in eight appearances, allowing two runs in 13 innings, with three walks, 13 strikeouts and a .159 opponents’ batting average.

http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2012/04/02/braves-reliever-martinez-arrested-for-dui/

Student sues Clayton County School District over strip search looking for marijuana

D.H. was in the seventh grade when he was made to strip down naked in front of three other students because another student alleged he had marijuana.  School officials continued the search even after the other student admitted he had been lying.  D.H. claims he still suffers from emotional distress because his classmates taunted him by calling him Superman, the underwear he was wearing when he was strip-searched. The student is suing the Clayton County school district for unspecified punitive and compensatory damages. 

http://www.lsureveille.com/news/student-sues-ga-school-district-over-marijuana-strip-search-1.2701710

DUI dropped after Deputy falsified Documents

Roderick Tolberts'  DUI charge in Augusta Georgia from March 24, 2011 was dropped because Richmond County Sherrif's Deputy Erik Norman was caught altering the breath test results from prior DUI cases.  Norman resigned in October 2011. District Attorney Ashley Wright estimates that their office still has about a dozen of Norman's DUI cases pending.

http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-courts/2012-02-10/dui-dropped-after-deputy-falsified-documents?v=1328876921

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal to appear on DUI commercial during Superbowl

Governor Nathan Deal will appear on a commercial during the Superbowl. The "60 - second ad urges Georgia motorists to get a ride home if they've had too much alcohol on Super Sunday.  Of course, there's an App for that.  It's call Drive Sober Georgia, and it lists phone numbers for programs that drive tipsy motorists home for free."

http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2012/feb/03/nathan-deal/deal-dui-super-bowl-ad-cites-good-statistic/

http://www.gahighwaysafety.org/drivesobergeorgia/

DUI record could be erased under proposed Georgia Law

  Rep. Rusty Kidd from Milledgeville has proposed House Bill 799 which would erase a DUI conviction from a person's record after having a clean record for 5 years.  Current DUI law has 5 and 10 year lookback periods which increase penalties for repeat offenders.

http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-government/dui-record-could-be-1316786.html