Au Pair Arrested on No Driver's License Charge
Photo by Mike Jacoby
EAST COBB - Julia Gottschalk, a 19-year-old Brazilian who has been in Cobb since March on a year-long au pair exchange program, was driving Greg and Kimberly Euston's three children to after-school activities in east Cobb on Aug. 18 when she was pulled over for allegedly running a red light. The end result, however, was more than a ticket. Gottschalk was arrested and spent seven hours in the county jail on charges that her international driver's license was invalid.
According to Georgia Department of Driver's Services' website, "Georgia recognizes valid driver licenses issued to and held by residents of other countries as long as the "Out Of Country" license is valid (not expired). Generally, you may drive in Georgia for up to one year on a valid foreign or International license. You do not need to apply for a Georgia license unless you become a resident of Georgia."
Gottschalk, at the time of the traffic stop, produced a valid international driver's licenses, which she said she was required to obtain as part of the au pair exchange program and as a condition to travel in the U.S. She also provided her valid Brazilian driver's license. However, Cobb Police spokesman Sgt. Dana Pierce said Georgia law regarding international drivers states that Gottschalk needed a valid Georgia driver's license.
"Let's bank on Georgia law, which is what an officer banks on, not on a website," Pierce said in reference to what is stated on the state driver's services' website.
Pierce said Tuesday that members of the department will research the matter further today; however, according to how officials interpret the law, he said Gottschalk was violating Georgia code, as she was neither a full-time student, nor did she obtain a Georgia driver's license prior to being in the state for more than 30 days. But state law 40-5-20 states that only a resident of Georgia must obtain a Georgia driver's license within 30 days.
Gottschalk's defense attorney, Rebecca Keaton, who was hired by the Eustons, said Gottschalk is not, nor is she seeking to become, a Georgia resident, and that both state law and the Georgia DDS's handbook are clear in that Gottschalk could drive on valid, international and Brazilian driver's licenses up to a year. Gottschalk is due in Cobb County Judge Maria Golick's court on Sept. 30.
Arresting a person for the violation and taking him or her to jail to post bond is up to the officer's discretion and is based on whether or not the officer believes the suspect made a serious violation and/or would likely appear in court, Pierce said.
"I can't dispute what the officer did and why he did what he did, but I would say running a red light with three children in the back seat is pretty serious violation. That, coupled with her lack of paperwork and a valid Georgia license, he felt he needed to physically make that arrest," Pierce said.
When Gottschalk handed Smith her international driver's license along with her official Brazilian driver's license, Gottschalk said he told her it was not valid.
"I said no, but it is. He said it was not, but he went back to his car to verify it and I sat in the car with the kids for about seven minutes while he was in his car. When he came back, he told me to step out of the car. I gave him the car keys, but he threw them back into the car. I only had one window down, and he put his face to the glass to see the children inside," Gottschalk said.
Once she walked to Smith's patrol car, Gottschalk said she heard the kids crying and screaming in the car, parked along Johnson Ferry Road near Hampton Farms Drive in Marietta. Gottschalk said she was told to turn around because she was being arrested for driving without a valid driver's license. She was then handcuffed and put into the back of the Smith's car.
"I thought it was a joke. I thought there must be cameras somewhere because I had not done anything wrong," Gottschalk said.
Gottschalk and Kimberly Euston said the kids were in the "sweltering hot car" for more than 30 minutes before Greg Euston was able to arrive and drive the kids home, though the police report said there was only 16 minutes between the time of the stop and the arrival of Greg Euston. It also states that the car was parked in the shade.
"If I left my kids in my car shopping or something in the heat for that long, I'd be arrested, and rightfully so," Kimberly Euston said. "They could have put the keys in the ignition and driven the car, jumped out of the car into the road, who knows what could have happened. You're taking racial profiling to the next level when you're putting children's lives in danger."
Gottschalk also said the officer was "taunting" her as she cried in the back seat of his car on their way to Cobb Jail.
"I told him my handcuffs were hurting me, but when I asked him to loosen them, he said no. I was just so upset that the children saw me in handcuffs and were left in the car for so long with no air, and he said, 'this is life experience' and 'you must love it here because there are a lot of Brazilians here' and 'you can't run to Mama every time something happens,'" Gottschalk said.
"We did a precinct investigation based on a complaint issued by Kimberly Euston. The au pair has not issued a complaint at all, and our officers have been in contact with Euston," Pierce said.
Keaton said, "This happens a lot in Cobb County, and is an abuse of 287(g), which the officers use as an excuse to arrest people they think may be illegal immigrants. This officer obviously doesn't know the law, and should. She never should have been arrested."
The Marietta attorney added that officials from the Brazilian consulate have written a letter to Georgia's attorney general, complaining about the arrest and stating that this is "a constant problem."
Gottschalk, who was released about 7 hours after her arrest on a $600 bond posted by Greg Euston, said she successfully obtained a Georgia driver's license Tuesday.
"I came here because I wanted to experience the American culture," Gottschalk said, who added that she wants to go back to school to become a journalist. "Everything up until now has been wonderful. But that was not the experience I was looking for in this land of freedom and justice."
The Marietta Daily Journal
