A man in Casper, Wyoming was charged with D.U.I. twice in the same night. It was not the first such occurrence in this Wyoming town. The incident raises the issue of increased penalties for repeat D.U.I. offenses, additional charges for Driving Under Suspension, and the policy of releasing arrestees after they post bond.

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Police in Minnesota arrested three people for DUI in one incident. Police received a call that a car went off the road and crashed into a shed. When they arrived, they found the driver and passenger in the car. The driver was a 12-year-old girl, and she was ultimately charged with DWI. The passenger, a 19-year-old man, attempted to move the vehicle, and he too was charged with DWI. Another 19-year-old man drove a moped to the scene to pick up the passenger, and the moped driver was also charged with DWI. The story was published online in the Crimesider page of the CBS News website.

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When we think of O.V.I. (D.U.I.) cases, we tend to think of cases involving a person driving under the influence of alcohol. However, Ohio O.V.I. law also prohibits operating a vehicle under the influence of a drug of abuse, and many prescription medications are “drugs of abuse”. In a recent O.V.I. case, the court of appeals stated the defendant could be convicted of O.V.I. for operating a vehicle under the influence of prescribed medication.

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In a previous post, I discussed the Intoxilyzer 8000. The Ohio Department of Health made a controversial purchase of 7000 of these breath-testing machines, and a few are being used in central Ohio D.U.I./O.V.I. cases. In the previous post, I said I would give developments from my first 8000 case.

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Discovery is the process by which the prosecution and defense exchange evidence. In Ohio, the discovery process for criminal cases (including O.V.I./D.U.I. cases) is governed by Rule 16 of the Ohio Rules Of Criminal Procedure. Rule 16 was recently revised, and the revised rule became effective on July 1, 2010.

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Was that car going 47 mph or 45 mph in the 45 zone? Can you tell? Can a trained police officer tell? A recent Ohio Supreme Court case suggests they can.

In Barberton v. Jenney, the Ohio Supreme Court held that a police officer’s unaided visual estimation of a vehicle’s speed is sufficient evidence to support a conviction for speeding without independent verification of the vehicle’s speed if the officer is trained, is certified, and is experienced in visually estimating vehicle speed.

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Breath-testing machines have been used for O.V.I. (D.U.I.) in Ohio for decades. Until recently, the breath-testing instruments approved by the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) were the BAC Datamaster and the Intoxilyzer 5000. In 2009, the Ohio Department of Health approved the use of the Intoxilyzer 8000. In addition, the ODH purchased 700 Intoxilyzer 8000s, at a cost of $6.4 million, to be used throughout the state.

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