Protect your rights, contact us today!
Protect your rights, contact us today!
Charged with a DUI? Protect your license and your record. Free consultation, six days a week.
A DUI charge puts your license, your record, and your freedom at risk from the day you are arrested, and the clock on saving your license starts almost immediately. Attorney Gregory Chancy defends people facing first-offense, repeat, and felony DUI charges, challenging the traffic stop, the field sobriety tests, and the breath or blood evidence the case is built on. The first call is free. Call (770) 627-3221.
A DUI in Cobb County is prosecuted in the Cobb County State Court in Marietta, and how you respond in the first days shapes everything that follows. Cobb Defense represents drivers charged with DUI throughout Cobb County and Marietta, from a first offense to a felony charge. The firm knows how these cases move through the local court, works with the process daily, and builds each defense around the specific stop, the specific evidence, and the specific court hearing the case.
A local DUI lawyer matters here for a practical reason. A firm that appears in the Cobb County courts regularly understands how the local prosecutors and judges handle these cases, when a reduction is realistic, and how quickly the license deadline has to be met. That familiarity is the difference between a defense that reacts to the case and one that stays ahead of it.
A DUI arrest starts two separate cases at once: the criminal charge and a separate action against your driver’s license under Georgia’s implied consent law, O.C.G.A. § 40-5-67.1. You have 30 days from the arrest to act, either by requesting an administrative license suspension hearing or by installing an ignition interlock device and obtaining a permit. Miss that window and your license is suspended on the 46th day after the arrest, no matter how strong your criminal defense turns out to be.
The stakes on that deadline are real. Refusing the state’s breath or blood test triggers a 12-month hard suspension with no limited permit unless you act inside the 30 days. This is the single most time-sensitive part of a DUI, and it is the first thing the firm addresses after a call, because the same evidence problems that help the criminal case often help the license case too.
DUI penalties in Georgia are set by O.C.G.A. § 40-6-391 and climb sharply with each offense, measured over a 10-year lookback period. The difference between a first charge and a later one is dramatic.
A first DUI is a misdemeanor, but it still carries 24 hours to 12 months in jail, a $300 to $1,000 fine plus surcharges, at least 40 hours of community service, 12 months of probation, a license suspension of up to 12 months, and a mandatory DUI Risk Reduction Program, known as DUI school. A second DUI within 10 years raises the minimum jail time, carries a $600 to $1,000 fine, adds an 18-month license suspension, and requires an ignition interlock device. A third DUI within 10 years brings 15 days to 12 months in jail, fines of $1,000 to $5,000, and can result in license revocation. A fourth DUI within 10 years becomes a felony under § 40-6-391, carrying one to five years in prison. A DUI that causes serious injury or death is a felony regardless of how many priors there are.
The pattern is simple: the earlier in that sequence a case is fought, the more room there is to change the outcome. A first offense is the most defensible point to push for a reduction or a dismissal, and even a later charge has openings where the evidence is weak. (Penalties describe the general statutory ranges; the outcome in any case depends on its specific facts).
Many DUI charges can be reduced or dismissed, and the reason is that a DUI has more moving parts than most charges, each one a place the case can break down. The traffic stop has to be lawful. The field sobriety tests have to be administered to standard. The breath machine has to be properly calibrated and operated, and blood tests have to follow an intact chain of custody.
Where the evidence is weak, a DUI can sometimes be negotiated down to reckless driving, which carries no license suspension and no DUI record. No lawyer can promise an outcome, but it is the strength of the evidence, not simply the fact of the arrest, that determines what is possible in a given case. That is why an early, close review of how the stop and the testing were handled matters so much.
A DUI defense is built on four evidence points, and each is examined in every case:
Where any one of these fails, the state’s evidence weakens, and a weaker case for the prosecution is a stronger position for you, whether that leads to a dismissal, a reduction, or a better result at trial.
Gregory Chancy, Esq. is the attorney and founder of Cobb Defense, and he handles every DUI case personally, from the first call through resolution. He earned his law degree from John Marshall Law School in Atlanta and has practiced law in Georgia since 2017, and he is an Active Member in Good Standing of the State Bar of Georgia with no public discipline on record. He is a member of the State Bar’s Criminal Law Section, along with the Cobb County Bar Association, the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, and the American Bar Association. Before law, he spent more than fifteen years in engineering, a background that shapes the methodical way he takes apart the evidence in a DUI case.
Clients work with attorney Chancy himself, not a rotating cast of staff, and every case is prepared as though it will go to trial. That preparation strengthens a client’s position whether the DUI is negotiated down or argued in front of a jury. You can verify his license and standing with the State Bar of Georgia. Consultations are always free.
A first, second, and third DUI within the lookback period are misdemeanors, and a fourth within that period is a felony. The classification depends on how many prior offenses fall inside the window.
You have a limited window from the arrest to request a hearing or install an ignition interlock device. Missing that deadline suspends the license regardless of the criminal case outcome.
A DUI can be reduced or dismissed depending on the evidence, including problems with the stop, the testing, or the procedure. Outcomes depend on the facts of each case. Our odds of getting a DUI dropped page covers how charges get challenged.
Reckless driving is a separate charge that a DUI is sometimes negotiated toward, and the two can also be charged together. The distinction affects penalties and license consequences. See our reckless driving page.
A first DUI is a misdemeanor but still carries jail exposure, license loss, and a permanent record, and a DUI lawyer can challenge the evidence that a conviction depends on. The first offense is also the best opportunity to seek a reduction or dismissal.
The Law Office of Gregory Chancy handles DUI cases across its service area. Call (770) 627-3221 to confirm the office covers your area and to set up a free consultation.
A DUI charge has a deadline attached, and the sooner your case is reviewed, the more can be done to protect your license and your record. Call (770) 627-3221 for a free consultation with attorney Gregory Chancy. Every conversation is confidential, and the first call costs nothing.
If you have questions about your case or need immediate legal assistance, please complete the confidential contact form.