Nosey Neighbor Dot Com -- Don't Pay 'Em

So your metro Atlanta arrest is showing up on "nosey neighbor" sites? That's the name I give to all the websites that list information about who's been arrested, why and all kinds of contact information.   This is the price we pay for access to the world wide web.

Every sheriff in Georgia has to make public the information about who's been arrested, what for and when, including DUIs. It used to be that your nosey neighbors had to go down to the jail to look at the docket book. Now it's all online.

And "they" want you to pay $100 to take your name off the internet.

Don't pay.

There are dozens of these sites, and you'll go broke paying them all off. Call it blackmail, call it extortion, it's all of those things, but it's apparently legal.

The defense to libel and slander is truth; if you were arrested, they can post your information.

Even if you were acquitted of the charge, they're posting, there is nothing you can do except hope that the employers, friends and loved ones who ask you about this embarrassing post listen to you and not some anonymous site looking to take your money.

Perhaps if everyone stops paying, these sites will realize there is no money in the game and close shop. Let's hope.

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Don't be this woman

22-year old Chastity Jones of Stone Mountain is in big trouble. She was the driver of the car that struck and killed veteran police officer Gail Thomas. She could have received tickets for two misdemeanors: DUI and failure to yield to a person authorized to direct traffic.  Normally, you can bond out with charges like these (expensive, but possible). She’ll probably never get a bond for felony first-degree vehicular homicide.

Instead, she’s waiting for more damaging evidence to be revealed in future court hearings from the comfort of her own cell. She has got so much stacked against her and has brought so much ill-will upon herself already that I think she should expect a lengthy prison sentence.

Prosecutor found her old "minor" traffic citations

This horrible situation has only been made worse by the revelation of her accumulated  “minor” traffic citations—6 in the past 5 years for such things as speeding and erratic lane changes, plus failure to appear in court.

Prosecutor found her facebook page too

Combine this with a Facebook profile that shows partying and having a good time are her life’s work and a tearful mother sobbing on TV “I told her not to drink and drive!” and you’ve got a DUI case hard to overcome.

If you have a pending DUI charge in the Atlanta area, watch out!

All this ill-feeling toward Ms. Jones is going to have repercussions against anyone with DUI charges already pending. Now is not the time to do a DUI trial. Let your attorney delay while this story runs its course, no matter how different the facts are from your case.  A case like this really helps put other things in perspective.

What does your profile say about you?

Please go check your fb page and remove all references to alcohol or parties that you attend before the prosecutor investigates you at that source.

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We've been busy at the court house lately

Jessica Towne has been at the Atlanta Municipal Court representing a client who was stopped for "weaving" and moderate performance on field tests.  Strangely enough, the video mentioned in police report disappeared when she requested it, and the case resolved as reckless driving, with no jail or license suspension.

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Search & seizure in the satellite age

The decision in U.S. v. Jones is unanimous: police must obtain a warrant before utilizing a GPS device to track criminal suspects. The installation of a tracking without a warrant was held to constitute a "search" under the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

In this case, although the police had obtained a warrant to attach a GPS device to the Jeep of a D.C. drug king Antoine Jones, it had expired before it was finally attached.  Jones was sentenced to life in prison in part based on evidence from tracking his movements over a month.

The judges agreed a warrant is needed for GPS tracking, but did not decide on the broader implications of electronic surveillance on privacy rights.

This is the first time the Supreme Court has considered the constitutionality of location tracking devices. I wonder how this will affect cases involving cell phone tracking in Atlanta and elsewhere.

In the meantime, protect your privacy. Keep your cell phone to yourself and protect yourself from illegal search and seizures by knowing the law.

image courtesy of NASA

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We're Atlanta DUI Lawyers Clark & Towne

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We're on the big three social networking sites and now You Tube too!
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