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Castillo-Solis v. State

O.C.G.A. § 40-5-20 a's safe-harbor provision requires the production in court of a Georgia driver's license that was valid at the time the defendant drove the vehicle, and nothing in the statutory language indicates that a subsequently obtained license operates retroactively when presented to the trial court.

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This Court granted Appellant Fernando Castillo-Solis’s application for interlocutory appeal challenging the trial court’s ruling that OCGA § 40-5-20 a, which prohibits driving in Georgia without a valid driver’s license, is constitutional as applied to him. Many of Appellant’s constitutional challenges are premised on his incorrect interpretation of § 40-5-20 a as including a “retroactive amnesty” provision; as properly construed, the statute does not allow a person who has been cited for driving without a valid license to avoid guilt by later obtaining a Georgia driver’s license. We also conclude that § 40-5-20 a does not violate due process or equal protection as applied to Appellant, that the statute does not impair his right to defend himself in court, and that he has failed to show that the Georgia statute is preempted by federal law. Accordingly, we affirm.

1. On January 14, 2010, a Gwinnett County police officer stopped the van that Appellant was driving after running the license plate number and determining that the vehicle’s registration had been suspended.1 Appellant was unable to produce a valid driver’s license, so the officer cited him for violating OCGA § 40-5-20 a.

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