Atlanta Injury Law Blog

On 1/11/08, a Lavonia, Georgia woman was killed on Highway 17 in Hart County when another vehicle crossed the center line and hit her head on. Georgia State Patrol reported that a 51-year-old Lavonia man faces charges including vehicular homicide and DUI drugs. This report was from Ashley Cox at AccessNorthGa.com.

In Moore v. Thompson, 255 Ga. 236 (1985), the Supreme Court held prior or subsequent DUI's are admissible on the issue of punitive damages. The court in Moore held that this evidence would require a bifurcated trial in order to avoid prejudice, so the prior DUI would not be admissible during the liability phase of trial under Moore. OCGA 51-12-5.1(d) was enacted in 1997, after Moore This punitive damages statute specifically calls for a bifurcated procedure on the issue of punitive damages, with the jury first hearing evidence in the initial liabilty phase to decide not only liability, but also evidence to determine if punitive damages are warranted (which would necessarily include evidence of prior or subsequent DUI's), and then the amount of punitive damages is to be decided in the second phase of the bifurcated trial. Accordingly, under this statute, which was adopted after Moore and thus supercedes it, one could argue that the prior DUI evidence is admissible in the first phase of the bifurcated trial, in which the jury decides the issues of liability and whether punitive damages may be assessed. Thus, even though Moore holds that the prior DUI evidence should not come in evidence until after liabilty is decided, the statute says otherwise. However, a trial court may still have the inherent authority to bifurcate (or trifurcate) to avoid prejudice, but this is not what the statute says is required, and I would argue that under the express terms of the statute this prior DUI is admissible in the liability phase of trial. See also Langlois v. Wolford, 246 Ga. App. 209 (2000)( driving under the influence, coupled with prior history of driving under the influence and DUI, was aggravated conduct supporting punitive damages). (Thanks to my old friend and classmate, Clark McGehee, for pointing this out.)

Georgia has slowly begun erecting highway signs memorializing people killed by drunk drivers. To be eligible, a person must have been killed by a drunken driver since May 13, 2004, the date the law was signed. Georgia had 450 drunken-driving fatalities that year. The death also must have occurred on a state or federal highway and the markers go up only after a guilty plea or conviction.

Since my days as a young prosecutor, I have observed the mayhem wrought by drunk drivers. Therefore, I am pleased to sponsor the updated web site for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Georgia chapter.

When drunk drivers cause wrecks, Georgia jurors are often ready to send a message that such conduct is unacceptable, even if the actual injury is relatively small. Such verdicts are routinely affirmed by our appellate courts. In Craig v. Holsey, 264 Ga. App. 344 (2004), the jury returned a verdict of $8,801.40 in actual damages and $200,000.00 in punitive damages. On appeal, the large punitive damages award was upheld as being not grossly excessive. Id. at 350. In another case, based upon medical bills of only $643.00, the jury returned a verdict for actual damages of $3,000.00 and for punitive damages in the amount of $300,000.00. Langlois v. Wolford, 246 Ga. App. 209 (2000).

Generally, if a drunk driver who causes a wreck has a record of other DUI incidents, there is a high potential for a punitive verdict. If a thorough examination of his life reveals no other incidents, a jury is somewhat less likely to return a high punitive verdict. Whenever there is sufficient insurance coverage or recoverable assets to make a large verdict collectable, it is worthwhile to thoroughly investigate the drunk driver's prior and subsequent record. At times we have checked records in every locality where a drunk driver has lived, attended college, worked or vacationed to determine whether there were DUI charges even if they were dismissed or plead down to a lesser charge.

Jefferson, GA, 12/2/05

According to a news report from Athens, a Jackson County woman was under the influence of a combination of drugs, including Oxycodone and Diazepam, at the time of a fatal April 1 wreck on U.S. Highway 441 just south of Commerce, according to a newly released indictment. Cindy Edwards Jackson, 37, was indicted this week on 10 counts, including serious injury by vehicle, driving under the influence, vehicular homicide and endangering a child while driving under the influence.

On April 1, Jackson was driving her Ford Explorer north on U.S. 441 when she crossed the center of the road about one-half mile south of Hoods Mill Road in Commerce, according to court records and the Georgia State Patrol. Jackson's SUV crashed head-on with a Ford Mustang, according to the patrol.

The Mustang's driver died as a result of the crash and a passenger in the Mustang was taken to Athens Regional Medical Center and later Atlanta for additional treatment, the patrol said previously. Jackson's 6-year-old son was in the back seat of her Explorer at the time of the wreck, but was not hurt. The mother and son were taken to Athens Regional Medical Center after the wreck, according to the patrol.

Jackson is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 15 in Jackson County Superior Court, according to court records.

The challenge in the civil side of a case like this is not so much in complex liability issues, but in finding enough insurance coverage and assets to cover the damages because the drunk driver seldom has enough. A lawyer may search for multiple automobile liability and underinsured motorist coverages that can be "stacked." A diligent lawyer might also explore possibilities of other parties who can be held financially responsible having played a substantial role in providing intoxicants to a person who they know will be driving. That is a difficult legal theory under Georgia law, but it must be explored. Product liability theories against auto manufacturers are less attractive in such cases now because of the proportional liability passed by the legislature last February.

Alcohol-related traffic deaths increased by 10 percent in Georgia during 2004, compared to a 2 percent decline nationally. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in Washington released the figures for fatal crashes involving at least a driver or a motorcycle rider with an illegal blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher.

In Georgia, the agency said, there were 392 such deaths in 2004 and 355 in 2003, an increase of 37. Several other Southern states — Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee — also posted higher fatality numbers. Texas saw a 10 percent reduction in its alcohol-related fatalities, accounting for 141 fewer deaths than in 2003.Nationwide, the government said 12,874 people died in alcohol-related crashes in 2004, compared with 13,096 in 2003.

There was no immediate explanation for why DUI deaths in Georgia and neighboring Southern states increased while the figures went down nationally. See AJC article.