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We are in the era of continual documentation. Since brunch at Ponce City Market to late-night shows at Tabernacle, it is nearly impossible to resist the desire to post our lives on Instagram, Snapchat, and Tik Tok. To most of Atlanta, one cannot go out without sharing a Story or posting a tagged photo with friends. It is innocent and a means of bonding and memory making. However when that same night you have blue lights in the rearview mirror, and are arrested because of a DUI, those digital memories can become the most harmful evidence against you. In the current legal system, your smart phone is the witness of the prosecution. When the prosecutors and investigators are still examining your social media accounts when you are sitting in a holding cell, they may be scouring your social media accounts to find the evidence that will close your conviction. It is a frightening fact that the legal defense, painstakingly prepared, may ruin after a simple check-in or even a photo that has been filtered.
The risk is in the discrepancy between what you say and what you post online. You may inform the policeman that you had two beers during the evening when pulled over. It is a generic reaction, one that attempts to reduce the manifestation of impairment. But when your Instagram Story an hour ago depicts you with a cocktail holding a timestamp that proves that this is not the case, your credibility will be ruined. Atlanta prosecutors are becoming technologically sophisticated. They understand that the visual evidence is more reliable than verbal testimony among the jurors. Any video of you mumbling in an empty bar over a loud speakerphone and a picture of a table with empty shot glasses are even more eloquent than any defense counsel argument about how tolerant you are. Since it was your friends who posted the tags, your name at the scene can be created, and a timeline of consumption can be made that will make the police report look beyond doubt.
It does not happen only on the night of the arrest. Your Internet activities days and weeks after the incident can also undergo examination. Sharing images on being still partying under bond may create an impression of an individual who disregards the law, which may impact a judge when it comes to deciding on sentencing or plea negotiations. Moreover, the large population is working on the false presumption that their privacy settings will secure them. They are of the opinion that since their account will be private, the state will not access what they post. It is a false assumption that is risky. Prosecutors are allowed to subpoena records on social media in the discovery of a criminal trial. Besides, any person who is following you including a frenemy, former partner, or even a citizen that cares can capture a photograph of your posts and submit them to the police. When it is posted online it is basically forever and open, no matter your privacy preferences.
The social media evidence is especially devastating in the area of the timeline defense, which is a widely-used defense tactic in the DUI defense. An experienced lawyer may suggest that your blood alcohol concentration was on the increase at the moment of the stop, or that there was a considerable distance between the last time that you drink and the moment when you drove home. However, when your online record of activity reveals that you have maintained a consistent history of alcohol use all the way through to the time you drove, the defense fails. You are virtually reporting to the state on a minute by minute account of your intoxication doing their work. It is not merely about the drink, but it is about the optics. A jury is human. When they observe pictures of you going crazy, messy-haired or irresponsible on social media, they are already psychologically prepared to accept the version of the officer about your impairment, despite the chemical evidence being marginal.
It takes an Atlanta DUI Attorney who is techno savvy and as technologically savvy as he or she is legal savvy to work through the mine field of digital evidence. It is the digital elephant in the room. You require a defense team that will be able to deal with such kind of evidence, how to question its relevance, its authenticity or its admissibility in the court of law. It is here that James Yeargan and the company of Yeargan and Kert are of value. James Yeargan, better as DUI Jim, comprehends that the contemporary DUI defense is not merely concerning the breathalyzers, field sobriety tests; it involves the overall story of the life of the client. Being a former prosecutor, he understands how the state uses social media against defendants as he used to do it himself.
The Yeargan & Kert team guides the clients about the digital presence and how to manage the digital presence immediately after an arrest. They are aware that one of the essential aspects of the legal strategy is the damage control. James Yeargan is aware of how to make motions to suppress biased social media evidence that can unjustly influence a jury. He understands how to put a photo into context to ensure a fun moment does not turn out to be a case of criminal negligence. His company specializes in DUI defense only, which is why they are on the frontline of technology and the effect it has on criminal law. They understand that a DUI accusation is an assault on your character, and they will struggle to make sure that a handful of untimely posts will not become the whole of your future.
In case you have a DUI and you are afraid that your social media use may come back to haunt you, do not wait to get an assist. The prosecution is already hunting and you need a defense that runs as swiftly as possible. The Atlanta residents of DUI Lawyer need a lawyer who can defend them in all directions, including the online one. The lawyers at Yeargan and Kert are seasoned and should be contacted by James Yeargan. They are experienced in the know how to downplay the harm of an online footprint and the vigorous trial skills to struggle on your vindication. You cannot allow Instagram feed to turn into your prison sentence; you need to follow DUI Jim on his way to understand the sophisticated legal system and defend yourself.
