A man with repeated driving violations on his record was spared the prosecution of a DUI charge after it was revealed that the Richmond County, Georgia, deputy who arrested him had confessed to writing false reports. The man, who was arrested in March 2011, received probation for five years for a fifth instance of driving with a suspended license.

This was the latest case to plague the prosecution of suspects by Richmond County officials, who still are investigating the work of the deputy. The deputy resigned in October 2011 after he said he had changed the results of two breath tests of suspected drunk drivers for his report.

The deputy was hired by the Richmond County department to work in the jail in 2002 and then sent to a position on the DUI task force in 2009. He could have arrested as many as 400 people in that role, but it was unclear how many of them had been convicted.

It is believed that the district attorney still has about 12 cases pending in which the officer made the arrest and wrote the report. Shortly after he resigned, the officer still had 62 DUI cases making their way through the court system.

An assistant district attorney said the deputy's work was partially responsible for dropping the DUI charge against the most recent defendant.

It is critically important for police to follow the proper procedures when they are making an arrest. The law is designed to protect people from overzealous law enforcement, and they deserve to be set free if what they are accused of can't be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

Source: The Augusta Chronicle, "DUI dropped after Richmond County deputy falsified documents," Kyle Martin, Feb. 10, 2012