How to Win by Intentionally Losing

Mr. Head was forced to trial for two clients' DUI cases at the former City Court of Atlanta.  News reporters tracked Mr. Head's pre-trial efforts to prove that this court LACKED SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION as a result of Mayor Shirley Franklin and the Atlanta City Council merging that court into the Municipal Court of Atlanta.  All of these efforts were not successful.

Finally, Mr. Head had to make a decision how to proceed on behalf of these two clients.  Convinced that City Court had ceased to be able to handle jury trials, Mr. Head opted to DO NOTHING and remain mute throughout the trials, thereby creating the clear opportunity of NEW TRIALS based on Mr. Head's "ineffective assistance of counsel".  Both clients were a bit skeptical about the defense, but trusted Mr. Head's knowledge of the law and legal expertise.

Naturally, both were found guilty, since no defense was mounted.  However, the Prosecutor (former assistant solicitor Julie Kert, who now is defending DUI cases in metro Atlanta after she lost her job as a prosecutor when City Court was shut down) was not satisfied with the "defenseless" convictions, and pushed the trial judge to impose heavy jail time for first time offenders.  Each received sentences with substantially more jail time that a person who walked in and pleaded guilty to DUI, thanks to her efforts.  At least ON PAPER!

Mr. Head immediately appealed both convictions, holding off all punishment.  He also hired (out of his own pocket) one of Georgia's top litigation specialists, Mike Bowers (former Georgia Attorney General).  In the final analysis, Mr. Head WON BOTH CASES FOR HIS CLIENTS.  Neither had a DUI on his record.  Neither spend one minute in jail.

The actual disposition of both cases follows:

You need to have Adobe Acrobat installed to read the following .pdf file about Statistical Evaluation of Standardized Field Sobriety Tests.

Krekeler Motion and Order vacating guilty verdict.pdf

Ippolito Motion and Order Vacating guilty verdict.pdf