Tiffany Haddish is set to stand trial Monday in Fayette County, Georgia, on seven misdemeanor charges stemming from a January 2022 traffic stop in which a Peachtree City police officer found her asleep behind the wheel on Highway 74. The case has dragged on for more than four years, and jury selection begins even as attorneys on both sides continue to spar over what evidence the panel will be allowed to hear.
According to WSB-TV, the arrest happened around 2:30 a.m. on January 14, 2022, after officers discovered Haddish's vehicle had pulled into the yard of a nearby home. She was arrested at the scene, and the Fayette County Sheriff's Office later released a mugshot in which she can be seen smiling for the camera. Haddish now faces seven misdemeanor counts in Fayette County State Court: DUI alcohol, DUI drugs, driving under the influence of multiple substances, DUI per se, failure to obey a traffic control device, improper stopping on a roadway, and a parking violation, according to FOX 5 Atlanta.
Evidence Suppressed, But Case Survives Dismissal Bid
The road to trial has been shaped as much by courtroom rulings as by the roadside stop itself. In May 2026, Fayette County State Court Judge Jason B. Thompson suppressed key prosecution evidence, ruling that Peachtree City police officers made procedural missteps during the stop and tossing out field-sobriety eye-test results along with statements Haddish made after her arrest, the station reported.
Despite that setback for prosecutors, the judge declined to throw out the case altogether. Haddish had claimed her right to a speedy trial had been violated, but in a July 2026 ruling denying that motion, Thompson noted that her defense filed 15 notices of leave of absence and three conflict letters, requested continuances including one to attend a fashion show in Morocco, and did not formally assert her speedy trial rights until May 2026, according to The Citizen. The judge found that both defense scheduling delays and court backlogs contributed to the four-year timeline.
High-Profile Defense Team, High Stakes for Career
Haddish is represented by prominent Atlanta defense attorney Drew Findling, who previously represented former President Donald Trump in his Fulton County election interference case, along with co-counsel Marissa Goldberg, per the outlet's reporting. In pre-trial filings, her attorneys argued the four-year delay harmed her career, claiming corporate entities hesitated to contract with her and that she faced difficulty obtaining travel documents for work in Australia, according to FOX 10 Phoenix.
The case took its own winding path through the court system before reaching this point. After her January 2022 arrest, Haddish posted a $1,666 bond to leave Fayette County Jail, and the case remained in Peachtree City Municipal Court for roughly nine months before transferring to Fayette County State Court in January 2023, per the same account from The Citizen.
Prosecutors Want Jurors to Hear About Beverly Hills Arrest
One of the sharpest fights ahead of trial concerns whether jurors will learn about Haddish's second DUI arrest, which happened in Beverly Hills, California, in November 2023. Georgia prosecutors filed pre-trial motions seeking to introduce that arrest to the jury, a move Haddish's defense opposed in court filings as irrelevant and untimely, FOX 5 Atlanta reported.
That California case unfolded after Haddish was found asleep in her vehicle and arrested on suspicion of DUI, according to the Los Angeles Times. She resolved that matter in February 2024 by pleading no contest to a reduced wet reckless charge and receiving one year of summary probation. Hoodline previously reported on her Thanksgiving arrest in Beverly Hills when it happened.
Beyond the fight over the California arrest, prosecutors have also asked the court to compel disclosure of underlying data and to block any defense expert witnesses whose reports were not disclosed and approved before trial, according to FOX 5 Atlanta's reporting.
What a Conviction Could Mean
Under Georgia Code § 40-6-391, a first-offense misdemeanor DUI conviction carries statutory penalties including 10 days to 12 months in jail, with all but 24 hours eligible for probation suspension, along with fines of $300 to $1,000, at least 40 hours of community service, and mandatory completion of a DUI Risk Reduction Program, per Atlanta DUI Rich. That means a first-time conviction would typically carry probation, community service, and DUI school rather than mandatory extended incarceration, though Haddish's public profile and the prior 2023 incident have raised the stakes surrounding the trial.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday, more than four years after the arrest that started it all. With key evidence already suppressed and disputes still unresolved over what jurors can hear about her past, both sides head into the Fayette County courtroom with significant unfinished legal business on the table.
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