Columbus OVI/DUI Attorney Blog

May 17, 2014

Should Ohio Use Daily Alcohol Testing For Repeat DUI/OVI Offenders?

What should we do with repeat DUI/OVI offenders? On one hand, we want them to be rehabilitated, and we want them to be employed, which usually requires driving. On the other hand, we want to punish them and protect the public from the risk of harm they create. In Ohio, to protect the public from the danger posed by repeat offenders, we typically require them to have ignition interlock devices installed so they cannot drive after consuming alcohol. In Florida, the state legislature is considering an alternative to ignition interlock: “24/7 Sobriety”. Florida’s consideration of this program raises the question: should Ohio use daily alcohol testing for repeat offenders?

April 30, 2014

Right To Speedy Trial In Ohio DUI/OVI Case Violated By Court’s Delayed Ruling On Motion To Suppress

by Shawn Dominy

In Ohio DUI/OVI cases, calculating speedy trial time can be complex. As a general rule, the trial must be held within 90 days of the arrest or summons. There are, however, many exceptions to this general rule. When one of the exceptions occurs, time is “tolled” (that time does not count toward the 90-day limit). One exception occurs when the defendant files a motion for discovery, and another exception occurs when the defendant files a motion to suppress evidence. A recent decision by an Ohio Court of Appeals addresses the application of speedy trial laws to Ohio DUI/OVI cases.

April 19, 2014

Supreme Court Clarifies Requirements For Motions To Suppress In Ohio DUI/OV Cases

by Shawn Dominy

Two days ago, the Ohio Supreme Court issued a decision clarifying how specific a motion to suppress must be for the defendant to receive an evidentiary hearing on the motion. In State v. Codeluppi (2014), the Court concluded: “[A] highly detailed pleading of the facts and law is not required to satisfy the Shindler notice requirements and to trigger the right to a hearing on the motion to suppress.” This conclusion affirmed the Court’s decision from a decade ago in State v. Shindler (1994). The Codeluppi decision hopefully will end uncertainty about the specificity required for motions to suppress in Ohio DUI/OVI cases.

March 28, 2014

Drive High – Get A DUI

by Shawn Dominy

In January, Colorado became the first state to legalize recreational marijuana. In March, Colorado became the first state to televise entertaining public service announcements about the danger of driving under the influence of marijuana. The commercials are part of the Colorado Department of Transportation’s new campaign: “Drive High, Get A DUI“. Marijuana-and-gavel-300x201 Although Colorado is one of only two states to legalize recreational marijuana, it is not the only state to criminalize operation of a vehicle under the influence of marijuana. Contrasting Colorado’s handling of DUI marijuana with that of Ohio illustrates the deficiencies in Ohio’s approach.

March 9, 2014

What You Need To Know If You Handle DUI/OVI Cases

by Shawn Dominy

Last week was the annual DUI/OVI seminar hosted by the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (OACDL). The three-day seminar, held at the Westin in downtown Columbus, has become nationally recognized and is one of the few state seminars approved for credit from the National College for DUI Defense (NCDD). The theme of this year’s seminar was ‘what you need to know if you handle DUI/OVI cases’. There is a lot a lawyer needs to know, so the conference did not deal with substantive law: cases, statutes, and regulations. Instead, outstanding lawyers and experts from across the country taught about science, litigation, and presentation.

February 22, 2014

Court Concludes Traffic Stop Was Not Justified By Visual Speed Measurement In Ohio DUI/OVI Case

by Shawn Dominy

In most Ohio DUI/OVI cases, the evidence includes police officer testimony and police cruiser video. Officer testimony is sometimes not corroborated by the recording from the cruiser video. In such a situation, a judge or jury has to decide if they believe the officer or their own eyes. Such a situation arose in the recent case of State v. Jarosz, and the judges believed their eyes.

February 8, 2014

When Can Officers Stop Drivers Based On An Anonymous Tip?

by Shawn Dominy

The caller was anonymous, and there was little evidence corroborating the caller’s claim. He or she called 9-1-1 and reported she was driving southbound on Highway 1 and was just run off the road. The caller described a silver Ford F150 truck with a California license plate. It did not take long before officers spotted a silver F150 and pull it over based on the anonymous caller’s report. After stopping the truck, the officers ended up finding and seizing marijuana. The question is whether this stop was lawful.

January 20, 2014

Should We Use Interlock Instead Of License Suspensions For Ohio DUI/OVI Sentences?

by Shawn Dominy

Ignition interlock device.jpg

An Ohio DUI / OVI sentence has several parts. There is mandatory jail time (or a driver intervention program for a first offense), a mandatory fine, and a mandatory license suspension. For a first offense, the license suspension is a minimum of six months and a maximum of three years, and the judge has discretion to grant or deny limited driving privileges. There are also optional sanctions for a first offense, and one of those sanctions is the use of an ignition interlock device. Proposed legislation in New Jersey would replace mandatory license suspensions with mandatory use of an ignition interlock. Should Ohio consider this change?

January 11, 2014

Modern Scarlet Letter: Ohio’s DUI / OVI Habitual Offender Registry

by Shawn Dominy

Scarlet letter.jpg

Someone who has multiple conviction for DUI (called OVI in Ohio) faces increasingly severe consequences with each conviction. For example, while a first OVI typically results in three days in a hotel at a driver intervention program, a third offense with a high test or test refusal is a mandatory minimum of 60 days in jail. Ohio’s OVI sentencing law recognizes that a first offense may be an isolated incident, but a third offense is something more. If a person gets to the point of having five OVI convictions, that person is supposed to be listed in a registry of habitual OVI offenders.

January 4, 2014

Should DUI / OVI Laws Apply To Golf Carts?

by Shawn Dominy

It’s January in central Ohio, and the temperature is slightly above zero. It’s not exactly golfing weather, and at this time of year, I begin to wonder if we will ever see golfing weather again. It’s not the time of year we think about using golf carts, and most of us are not pondering whether people should be convicted of DUI/OVI for driving a golf cart under the influence. I am, because I recently resolved a case where my client was charged with a golf cart OVI in Columbus, Ohio.