DUI/OVI blood/breath/urine tests

August 31, 2013

State v. Lancaster May Change Interpretation Of Ohio Breath Testing Law

Intoxilyzer 8000 Declared Unreliable In Ohio DUI/OVI Case
This blog has discussed Intoxilyzer 8000 litigation in many previous posts. One of those posts (November 18, 2012) mentioned the case of State v. Lancaster in the Marietta Municipal Court. I was asked to help with that litigation as counsel for Lancaster. Like many of the I-8000 cases throughout Ohio, the Lancaster case involves the reliability of the I-8000. Unlike most of the other cases, however, the Lancaster case includes testimony of expert witnesses for the prosecution and defense. After five days of testimony, the verdict is in, and the breath test is out! The decision has already been appealed and is staged to possibly change the interpretation of breath-testing law in Ohio.

July 13, 2013

Court Rescues Intoxilyzer 800 For Use In Ohio DUI/OVI Cases

by Shawn Dominy

Thumbnail image for Intoxilyer 8000 photo with sign saying do not use.jpg

But for a technical legal issue that may only be interesting to an Ohio DUI/OVI lawyer, the case of State v. McMahon would be pretty generic. An officer pulled him over for speeding, noticed the odor of alcohol, administered field sobriety tests, arrested him, gave him a breath test on an Intoxilyzer 8000, and charged him with O.V.I. McMahon filed a motion to suppress the results of the breath test, claiming the Department of Health was required to make rules for obtaining ‘operator access cards’ (to operate the I-8000) and never did. The trial court agreed with McMahon and threw out the breath test.

April 20, 2013

U.S. Supreme Court Decision Raises Questions About Blood Tests in Ohio D.U.I./O.V.I. Cases

by Shawn Dominy

Blood draw.jpg

In a previous post, this blog questioned whether police should be able to draw blood against your will without a search warrant. At that time, oral arguments had recently been held in the case of Missouri v. McNeely. A few days ago, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in the McNeely case. Based on that decision, the Constitutionality of the law for forced blood tests in Ohio O.V.I. cases is questionable.

February 16, 2013

Appellate Court Rules On Intoxilyzer 8000 Admissibility In Central Ohio OVI Cases

by Shawn Dominy

For the first time, an appellate court in Central Ohio addressed whether evidence from an Intoxilyzer 8000 is admissible in an O.V.I./D.U.I. trial. The court of appeals ultimately decided that the defendant is prohibited from challenging the general reliability of the Intoxilyzer 8000, so the results of that machine’s breath tests are admissible. The court’s opinion, however, contained language questioning whether that prohibition should continue to be the law in Ohio O.V.I. cases.

January 25, 2013

Should Ohio Police Be Able to Draw Blood Against Your Will?

by Shawn Dominy

Trooper Mark Winder stopped Tyler McNeely for speeding and observed the usual trilogy of intoxication signs: odor of alcohol, bloodshot eyes, and slurred speech. Winder gave McNeely field sobriety tests and arrested him for driving while intoxicated. The trooper drove McNeely to a hospital and asked McNeely to give a blood sample. McNeely declined. Without obtaining or even seeking a warrant, the trooper had a lab technician take a blood sample from McNeely while McNeely was restrained. The blood sample was later analyzed, and it was determined that the concentration of alcohol in the blood was .154.

November 18, 2012

Intoxilyzer 8000 Challenges Continue

by Shawn Dominy

Previous posts in this blog discussed developments with the Intoxilyzer 8000 breath-testing machine. On May 30, 2011, the post summarized the Gerome case in Athens. In Gerome, the judge held the defendant is permitted to introduce evidence of factors affecting the breath test results. Another post reported the disappearing Intoxilyzer 8000 records maintained by the Ohio Department of Health. On June 11, 2011, this blog reported the judge’s decision in the Reid case in Circleville. In Reid, the prosecution did not present expert witnesses, and the judge concluded the machine’s results are not reliable enough to be considered as evidence. After the Reid decision, prosecutors have taken a couple different approaches with Intoxilyzer 8000 cases.

September 22, 2012

Rules Not Followed = Blood Test Thrown Out

by Shawn Dominy

Blood draw.jpg There are rules for blood testing, and they aren’t new. If the prosecution wants to admit a blood test as evidence in an Ohio O.V.I./D.U.I. case, the prosecution has to prove certain procedures were followed for the blood test. A few days ago, an Ohio court of appeals held that the procedures weren’t followed, so the blood test should have been thrown out in Statev. Ragle.

February 5, 2012

Intoxilyzer 8000 Records Disappearing In Ohio DUI/OVI Cases

by Shawn Dominy

The State of Ohio may be regretting its $6.4 million purchase of Intoxilyzer 8000 breath-testing machines. In State v. Gerome, the judge wrote a decision critical of the Intoxilyzer 8000 that stated the machine is “capable of producing an inaccurate result.” In State v. Reid, the judge decided the Intoxilyzer 8000 result was not even reliable enough to be admitted as evidence.

November 13, 2011

Blood Test Thrown Out In Ohio OVI Case Because Defendant’s Consent Was Invalid

by Shawn Dominy

Occasionally, evidence in Ohio O.V.I. (D.U.I.) cases comes from a blood sample taken at a hospital. When the blood sample is obtained in a hospital setting, issues arise regarding the admissibility of the blood test. One issue is whether the suspect’s consent to giving the blood sample is valid. For the second time in a year, a court of appeals has concluded that a defendant’s consent to a blood draw was not valid because it was not made knowingly and voluntarily.

August 13, 2011

Miami Cop Involved In Strange And Tragic Incident On ATV

by Shawn Dominy

In Miami, there’s nothing strange or tragic about a police officer riding down the beach on an ATV. What makes this incident strange is the on-duty officer is taking a female passenger on a joyride while he’s on duty. What makes this incident tragic is the officer plows into two pedestrians and severely injures both.