Fourth Amendment

April 23, 2016

Ohio DUI/OVI Refusal Law May Be Affected By Cases In U.S. Supreme Court

Suppose a police officer comes to your home tonight without a warrant and wants you to consent to a search of your residence. If you are like most people, you would say ‘no’: you would assert your Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. Now suppose the government makes it a crime for you to refuse to consent to the search. That’s what Ohio and several other states have done with DUI laws which criminalize refusing a breath/blood/urine test. Those laws are the subject of cases currently before the United States Supreme Court.

May 2, 2015

Supreme Court Addresses Use Of Drug Dogs At Traffic Stops

by Shawn Dominy

This is no police drug dog, it’s my dog Rex. He could be a police dog…if he weren’t so spoiled.

If a police officer stops you for a minor traffic violation, how long should the officer be permitted to detain you? Suppose the officer issues you a ticket or a warning for the minor traffic violation and then says he wants you to wait while he has a drug dog sniff your car? What do you say? If you say no, can the officer do it anyway?

December 20, 2014

Recent Erosion Of Fourth Amendment Rights May Impact Ohio DUI/OVI Cases

by Shawn Dominy

Suppose an officer detains a person for violating a traffic law and it turns out the person really didn’t violate the law: the officer was simply mistaken about what the law says. Until recently, one would expect that any evidence obtained after the mistaken detention would be thrown out. In a recent case, however, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded any evidence obtained after the officer mistakenly detained the person is not excluded from trial, so long as the officer’s mistaken belief about the law was reasonable.