Criminal Contempt for Failure to Appear DUI Georgia

In Spruell, 227 Ga. App. 324, 325 (1) (489 S.E.2d 48) (1997) There, attorney Spruell was retained on the Thursday night preceding a DUI trial the following Monday. Spruell was already scheduled to leave the country on Friday for a remote area where he was going to take an extended vacation. Spruell filed a request for leave of absence and, subsequently, a motion for continuance but left town without knowing if the request had been granted. Spruell contended that his conduct was not contemptuous because "it was impossible for him to appear on Monday, and one cannot be held in contempt for failing to do an act which is impossible for him to do." Spruell, supra. Unlike Thomas v. Dept. of Human Resources, 228 Ga. App. 518 (492 S.E.2d 288) (1997) in which the employee was without authority to alter the decision found contemptuous Spruell own conduct created the "impossibility" upon which he attempted to rely.