Georgia court backs breath-test refuser

ATLANTA — A driver’s refusal to submit to a breath test cannot be used as evidence in a criminal trial for a drunken-driving case, Georgia’s Supreme Court ruled Monday, throwing out that part of the state law as unconstitutional.

The high court unanimously agreed the provision violated the Georgia Constitution’s protection against self-incrimination.

Justice Nels S.D. Peterson, in the ruling, acknowledged the Supreme Court’s decision could make it more difficult to prosecute drunken-driving offenses. But Peterson added: “The right to be free from compelled self-incrimination does not wax or wane based on the severity of a defendant’s alleged crimes.”

The decision came in a case in which a driver challenged an arrest in Clarke County on a charge of driving under the influence. Andrea Elliott refused to submit to a breath test when she was arrested in August 2015, and prosecutors sought to use that refusal against her in a criminal trial, according to the Supreme Court ruling.

Her lawyer argued the admission of that evidence at trial would violate her constitutional rights against self-incrimination. A lower court disagreed, and Elliott appealed the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court, which ruled in her favor Monday.