South Georgia Drug Task Force to Disband

The leader of a south Georgia drug task force says it will disband by the end of this year due to a lack of funding .

   South Georgia Drug Task Force Cmdr. Bahan Rich tells the Valdosta Daily Times that the unit will end on or by Dec. 31.  Rich says the unit's federal funding was cut by 55 percent.  He said the unit isn't dropping any of its current cases, and will have time to complete its investigations before Dec. 31 and forward information to prosecutors.

   The task force was composed of officers from the Cook County Sheriff's Office, Adel Police Department, Lenox Police Department, Berrien County Sheriff's Department, Echols County Sheriff's Office, Lanier County Sheriff's Office, Clinch County Sheriff's Office, Homerville Police Department and several other regional agencies.

 http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/19656615/south-georgia-drug-task-force-to-disband

Joe Kunes is defending a farmer against civil forfeiture arising out of alleged cock-fighting ring

 

An alleged cock-fighting operation has put a Norman Park man in jeopardy not only of criminal sanctions but of possibly losing more than 350 acres of land.

The Colquitt County District Attorney’s office this week filed notice of a civil action seeking to seize 356 acres of land, an ATV, weapons and $10,000 in cash taken during a July 7 raid on the property.

Wallace Hurst, 57, 4391 U.S. 319 N., was one of 32 people arrested at that time and charged with gambling. He also is charged with violating the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a felony, and cruelty to animals.

On Thursday, Tifton attorney Joe Kunes, who is representing Hurst, said that he was unable to comment on the legal case at this time because he is still seeking information gathered by law enforcement.

Hurst is working out of town and has not been served with notice of the attempt to seize the property, Kunes said. He likely will request a hearing on the civil motion.

“I can assure you he’ll be filing a request for that,” he said. “I haven’t seen that complaint yet.”

Hurst will have 30 days from the date he is served notice to give an answer to the complaint, Kunes said.

Any property seized would go the agency that made the legal case, he said. In a drug case, for instance, a car used in the crime can be seized and sold or put into use by the agency.

The other 29 men and two women charged with parties to animal cruelty in the case are scheduled for trial on Monday.

http://moultrieobserver.com/x1555256908/DA-seeks-seizure-of-land

How does Medical Marijuana affect standards used to check impairment of DUI drivers?

   Let’s start by stating that driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol is a crime and must be punished. All 50 U.S. states have clear laws prohibiting this activity. But there is one intoxicant that is trickier than the others: marijuana, especially when used for medical purposes. 

   During the past two years, Colorado and Montana, along with more than a dozen other states, have proposed laws that set a strict threshold for determining when a marijuana user is deemed too impaired to drive. These would consider a concentration of more than 5 nanograms of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC (the psychoactive component of marijuana) per milliliter of blood, as hands-down proof of intoxication or impairment. 

   Several states are going further and have either adopted or are considering zero-tolerance laws for THC levels. This means any THC in the blood would result in a conviction. Here’s the problem with these laws: There are questions about how, and at what level, cannabis use impairs driving ability. For a patient in one of the 17 states where marijuana has been legalized for medicinal use, how are you to know when it’s legal to drive? After consuming marijuana, should you wait 12 hours to drive or one day? When will your THC level be below the 5-nanogram threshold? The answer is complicated. 

   Although marijuana is readily detectable in toxicology tests of blood, hair, urine or saliva, what isn’t clear is just how quickly THC passes through the body. We know, for example, that THC may be detected in the blood of occasional users several hours after ingesting. But in some chronic users there may be traces for days after the last use, long after any performance-impairing effects have subsided. 

   This is a very clear contrast with alcohol. There is a firm understanding of the rate at which the body metabolizes alcohol and there are well-known guidelines on how much time must pass after drinking before one is fit to drive. Tests can easily be administered in roadside stops. Those who fail simple benchmarks of sobriety -- not to mention breath tests -- are usually convicted or plead guilty.

The research on how marijuana affects driving is far less conclusive, though. 

   Testing done on drivers under the influence of alcohol often show that drivers display more aggressive behavior behind the wheel, and errors are more pronounced than when sober. The opposite tends to be true when drivers are under the influence of THC; they tend to have heightened awareness -- rather than diminished sensitivity as they do after drinking -- to their surroundings. As a result, they tend to compensate by driving more cautiously. 

   What this means is that we need more research before new DUI marijuana laws are enacted. Setting an absolute impairment standard for THC bloodstream levels is premature. And these laws, which target marijuana use and associated medical marijuana patients, are discriminatory. 

 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-01/marijuana-as-medicine-needs-rules-to-drive-by.html

Failed tests stop GBI from doing handwriting analysis

The Georgia State Crime Lab has stopped providing handwriting comparison analysis for criminal cases until the scientists in that unit pass an assessment required by a national accrediting agency.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation -- which oversees the lab -- told prosecutors and law enforcement agencies throughout the state that the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors had determined that GBI scientists who do handwriting comparisons did not meet the "requirements for our quality system." There are two questions on the handwriting assessment. All three scientists missed one of the questions -- the same one, according to GBI spokesman John Bankhead.
The scientists will undergo more training and retake the test, GBI Director Vernon Keenan said Monday.

Handwriting analysis has dwindled in importance to prosecutors over the years. Tests for DNA and firearms matching and drug and alcohol screenings are far more critical to criminal prosecutions. Handwriting analysis is most often useful in forgery cases.

Accreditation of the lab is not required but enhances the credibility of the testimony of any scientists who do the analysis, according to Bankhead and John Neuner, accreditation program manager with the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors.

But Neuner said many labs nationwide are putting fewer resources into handwriting analysis.
"It's dying across the country," Neuner said. "I think the reason it's dying is a matter of resources. There just isn't as much demand in an electronic world. It's dying just because laboratories can better utilize their [staff and financial] resources for other things. The FBI has historically provided services that are specialized that the local labs cannot support. The FBI still has that service if and when it's needed."

 http://www.ajc.com/news/failed-tests-stop-gbi-1456357.html

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/