When a celebrity is charged with driving under the influence, the legal proceedings often generate headlines which capture public attention. While many readers focus on the celebrity involved, some readers notice something else entirely: the legal issues unfolding behind the scenes. In the Tiger Woods DUI case, the recent legal issue was whether the prosecution can obtain Woods’ hospital records.
As Dominy Law Firm attorney Bryan Hawkins was preparing to litigate this issue in Franklin County, Ohio, an appeals court settled it. The issue is whether, in a DUI case (called ‘OVI’ in Ohio), a law enforcement officer can obtain the medical records of a suspect with a subpoena and without a search warrant. In the case of State v. Rogers, the Tenth District Court of Appeals held law enforcement’s procurement of an OVI suspect’s medical records without a search warrant violates the suspect’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.
Columbus OVI/DUI Attorney Blog