DUI is a very serious charge in Georgia, and it is important to be aware of the intricacies of the law if you are charged with one. There are two ways that you can potentially get a DUI charge in this state. According to FindLaw, you can either be judged “under the influence” by an officer, or you may be DUI Per Se if your blood alcohol content is 0.08% or more.
The main difference is that with an “under the influence” charge, you may indeed be found guilty of a DUI even if your blood alcohol level is below the legal limit. In this sort of case, the Georgia District Attorney needs to prove that you were driving after having consumed a large amount of alcohol (or drugs, potentially) and this caused you to be unable to operate your vehicle in a safe manner. Again, you can still be found guilty of this even if your blood alcohol levels are not exceeding legal limits: it is more about your ability to operate the car safely rather than numbers
On the other hand, a DUI “Per Se” charge is when the field tests prove that you were operating a motor vehicle while above the legally-defined limit of 0.08% blood alcohol level. In this case, your case will then have a “rebuttable presumption” added to it. Essentially, unlike with the first charge, the burden of proof is going to be much easier for the Georgia District Attorney to prove, given that they have numbers to back it up. A “Per Se” case where DUI is concerned is often considered an open-and-shut one.