Imagine that you are arrested for DUI (called OVI in Ohio), and the officer takes you to a police station to take a urine test. You want to comply, because you’re sure the test will prove you are under the legal limit, but you don’t need to go. In fact, you can’t go. You drink a bunch of water and wait a while, but you still can’t go. The officer then says you refused the urine test, so your driver’s license is suspended for one year.
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.
R.W. lay in the hospital bed waiting for his injuries to be treated. A police officer came in the room and said she wanted to talk with him about the accident. The officer read to him the B.M.V. 2255 form regarding the consequences of taking and refusing the blood test. She asked him to submit to a blood test, and he refused. The officer wrote him a ticket for O.V.I. (D.U.I.) and imposed a one-year Administrative License Suspension (A.L.S.); the consequence for refusing the blood test.
Columbus OVI/DUI Attorney Blog