Fake DUI Expert Admits To Perjury On Stand

DUIs are common in Georgia. In fact, the state judiciary struggles to contain and deal with the thousands of DUIs that come up every day in local and state courts. Most DUI offenders prefer to fight the case in court to prevent being penalized with hefty fines and jail times. They bring in their own experts to demonstrate their innocence. Most of these experts are paid for their technical expertise but they report the facts as they know to be correct. This was not true in the case of Dr. Joseph Citron of Atlanta.

Fake DUI Eye Doctor

Dr. Joseph Citron, 68, made a marvelous income as a DUI expert. According to local Georgia Drunk Driving accident law firms, the doctor was used as a DUI expert in more than 20 DUI trials in Lancaster and surrounding counties. In fact, he became so well-known that very few Georgia Drunk Driving accident attorney firms checked his actual credentials. This was Citron’s undoing. The board-certified ophthalmologist lied about his qualifications when he was called in as a defense expert. In fact, he claimed to be an instructor at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center or GPSTC.

In his capacity as a trainer, the doctor stated that part of his job involved training police officers in standardized field sobriety testing. The doctor also claimed that he was involved in the ‘Drunk Busters’ program. According to the doctor, the ‘Drunk Busters’ program was set up by the Georgia Governor’s Officer of Highway Safety in 2000 and as a part of the program, he visited several police departments reviewing SFSTs. As these credentials were impressive they were not questioned by local defense attorney firms.

However, the local Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office decided to verify the qualifications. Doubts were raised first by David Wilson, a deputy district attorney in Dauphin County. The deputy DA’s doubts were aroused by the testimony given by Dr. Citron in one of Wilson’s cases. The drunk driver in the case was acquitted but a joint task force was set up to investigate Dr. Citron and his qualifications.

A Made Up Program!

The results were shocking. The investigation revealed that Dr. Citron was never a part of the GPSTC. In fact, he was just a visiting lecturer at the GPSTC and he lectured on eye injuries as a part of a first responder course. At no time did he teach police personnel. Furthermore, the investigation also revealed that there was no such ‘Drunk Buster’ Program and it was never a part of the Governor’s Office Program.

The Perfect Witness

When Dr. Citron was faced with these charges, he admitted that he had falsified and inflated these credentials as they ‘looked good.’ As a result, Dr. Citron will now be facing several charges from officials in Center, Dauphin, Clinton, Franklin, Lebanon, and Lancaster Counties.

Dr. Citron plead no contest to nine counts of perjury, nine counts of false swearing, and one count of unsworn falsification. He was then sentenced to the Intermediate Punishment Program for seven years and a fine of $1,000.00 with court costs. The only genuine aspect of this story is the impressiveness of Dr. Citron’s imagination!