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Richardson v. State

The defendant was not entitled to a Jackson-Denno hearing, because his statement was voluntary and he was not in-custody at the time.

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Following a bench trial, the State Court of Gwinnett County convicted Ashri Richardson of driving under the influence of drugs to the extent it was less safe to drive DUI-less safe, OCGA § 40-6-391 a 2; failure to yield, OCGA § 40-6-71; and failure to obtain a Georgia driver’s license, OCGA § 40-5-20. Richardson appeals, contending that the evidence was insufficient to support the DUI conviction and that the court erred in failing to conduct a hearing on whether his statement to the arresting officer was voluntary. Finding no error, we affirm. 1. Richardson contends that the State failed to prove that he was under the influence of marijuana at the time he was stopped and that the marijuana affected his driving, because the State did not show that samples of his blood or urine had been tested by an expert and that there was, in fact, evidence of marijuana in his system. This contention lacks merit for the following reasons.

First, the cases cited by Richardson in support of his argument are inapposite as they involved challenges to convictions for the possession of marijuana. In this case, the State did not charge Richardson with possession of marijuana. In fact, the State did not even charge Richardson with driving under the influence of marijuana. Instead, it charged him with driving under the influence of “drugs” to the extent it was less safe to drive. Richardson has cited to no authority, and we are aware of none, that requires the State to present the results from scientific testing of a driver’s blood or urine1 in order to prove the specific type of drug allegedly ingested by the defendant so that the State may obtain a conviction for DUI-less safe under OCGA § 40-6-391 a 2.2

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