Friday, December 7, 2001
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Friday, December 7, 2001 |
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PTC woman asks for her DUI conviction to be revisited By JOHN
MUNFORD A Peachtree City woman is appealing her DUI conviction from municipal court, claiming the arrest was illegal because the officer didn't have probable cause to conduct a traffic stop. Marjorie Swart, 40, said in court documents that she was not in violation of regulations requiring vehicles to stay in the traffic lane. Based on that viewpoint, Swart alleged that the arrest was illegal. In ruling Swart guilty after her Sept. 5 trial, Judge Mitchell Powell said Swart's vehicle touched the white line at the border of the road at least twice, according to a video of the incident and the officer's testimony. Because of that, the officer had probable cause to stop Swart, Powell wrote in an order handing down his verdict. According to the citation, Swart registered a .121 blood alcohol concentration on a breathalyzer machine at the police department after she was arrested in late March. Powell also noted in his written decision that Swart told the arresting officer that she had three alcoholic beverages before driving. Swart was sentenced to 24 hours in jail and a $1,172 fine for the DUI charge. She only received 40 hours community service for the failure to maintain lane charge, however. Swart claims that the officer misinformed her when she asked about the penalty for declining to take an alcohol test when requested by a police officer. She also claimed that a videotape of her in the booking room of the department was destroyed, but City Attorney Rick Lindsey informed the court that the department typically recycles those tapes according to its standard operations, instead of preserving them. Swart represented herself during the initial trial, but for her appeal she is represented by local attorney Scott Ballard. The appeal was filed recently with the Fayette County Superior Court.
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