Ohio Criminal Defense Lawyers

A 45 year old man who has an extensive history of drunk driving will be spending some time in the custody of the Ohio Department of Corrections after being sentenced to the maximum allowed penalty by Judge Michael J. Sage in Common Pleas Court of Butler County. [read more...]

When it comes to drunk driving/OVI arrests, it isn’t the biggest counties that generate the most serious felony OVI cases. [read more...]

There is some concern that a recent US Supreme Court decision concerning the admission of forensic evidence could effect a high profile murder conviction in Marion County Ohio. The Marion Star reports about prosecutors concerns about the case being appealed. [read more...]

If you are  charged with a second or third OVI offense in Fairfield may qualify for a new program handled solely through the new OVI court. This court was started in January of this year in response to the large number of reoffending drunk drivers. As this article from the Fairfield Echo points out, Judge Joyce Campbell states the court was created to reduce the number of people reoffending and keep Ohio roadways safer.

According to Campbell, Fairfield Municipal Court saw over 700 OVI/DUI cases last year and over 1/3 of them were 2^nd or 3^rd time offenders. It seems like many other criminal behaviors, OVI’s may be a hard cycle to break in the lives of many people. The hope with a court like this is that the root problem can be addressed and handled rather than simply punished.

Participation in the OVI court program is voluntary and not everyone qualifies. For those that do, they must plead guilty and serve their sentence. Once out of jail they will be monitored for alcohol consumption, be required to check in at court once a week, participate in outpatient drug and alcohol treatment, and even undergo acupuncture. [read more...]

You don’t have to be driving a car to be charged with a OVI/DUI. This crazy story is making headlines around the country solely because of the unique way this drunk driver chose to make it home. Earlier this month a Newark Ohio man was pulled over (if you can call it that) for driving his modified bar stool while drunk.

Kile Wygle crashed his motorized bar stool on his way home from, you guessed it, the bar. Apparently police received a call of a crash “with injuries” and responded to find this unique contraption built from a lawnmower motor and a bar stool. Wygle was treated and released for minor injuries but now faces charges for OVI.

Apparently Wygle readily admitted to drinking 15 beers that night and then jumping on his moto-stool to get himself home. Apparently this creation can travel up to 38 miles per hour.

Needless to say, after 15 beers Wygle was over the .08% legal limit and considered legally drunk. It is not clear if he thought driving this vehicle would be okay since it wasn’t a car or if he simply didn’t care either way. [read more...]

Toxicology reports from the accident involving the Cleveland Brown’s Donte Stallworth was involved in have yet to be officially announced, but multiple sources are claiming his blood alcohol content was .14% when he hit and killed a pedestrian near Miami Beach last week. If this is true, Stallworth could be facing serious prison time.

DUI manslaughter is a Class 2 felony in Florida which means he could face up to 15 years in prison. While it’s unclear at this time how the case will play out in Florida courts, the story is proof that average people and stars alike can make major mistakes while under the influence. [read more...]

A law we touched on here a few months back is getting its first applications. In September of last year a new law was passed stating that drivers suspected of OVI and who have previous OVI/DUI convictions can not refuse a breath test.

In this article from the Akron Legal News we see multiple DUI offender Dominique Nolen was taken to a nearby hospital for blood to be drawn after refusing a breath test offered by police. She was discovered to have a blood alcohol content of .225%, well above the legal limit of .08%.

Ms. Nolen’s case is far more serious than many DUI cases because this incident ended in the death of an innocent pedestrian, Billy Owens, a 43 year old Akron man. Nolen faced multiple charges for the string of events that happened on October 18^th, 2008. She was speeding without headlights when she struck Owens, who was crossing an intersection on foot.

For all of the offenses she was found guilty of, including aggravated vehicular homicide, Nolen was sentenced to a mandatory 7-year prison term followed by a potential 5-year post-release supervision term. She has lost her driver’s license for life, forfeited her vehicle, and she was also ordered to pay funeral expenses to the family of Billy Owens.

While Nolen’s case is extreme, the penalties for multiple DUI’s are also quite harsh. In an effort to protect innocent lives, lawmakers take these charges very seriously. Here is an informational page of common DUI/OVI offenses and penalties.

If you are facing DUI charges for your first time or if you have faced these charges before, you do need someone looking out for your rights. Contacting a DUI attorney experienced in defending these charges is an important first step.

Here is a well produced and analytical video on the irrationality and absurdity of Ohio drunk driving laws.

This is a compelling statistical argument that the extremely aggressive law enforcement and prosecution of drunk driving cases is completely out of proportion with the risk to citizens.

Official state statistics are cited that in 2005, of the 474 people in Ohio killed in alcohol related auto accidents, the vast majority were the drivers and passengers of the drunk driver. Only 30 people were killed outside of the drunk driver’s vehicle.

Of course these deaths are a tragedy. But it is hard to imagine that the money and time spent pursuing this effort is remotely good public police or an efficient use of resourses.

California drunk driving defense guru Lawrence Taylor weighs in on the Kafkaesque absurdity of Ohio’s breathalyzer laws in OVI cases. It is true that a defendant accused of drunk driving/OVI in Ohio has no ability to challenge any breathalyzer evidence against him. The machines are deemed infallible and unchallengeable in court.

Breath test machines have known flaws that have been documented for years. Certain foods and medical conditions like GERD/acid reflux can cause false positives.

The machines’ own manufacturers have strict maintenance requirements and require regular recalibration, yet whether that maintenance was actually done in your case isn’t questionable.

The manufacture may update the software, and any software update can have bugs, yet an OVI defense lawyer can’t question whether the machine was retested and re-certifed, and under what conditions.

No, under Ohio law, breath test machines are miraculous devices that dispense divine and flawless judgment.

This is a fact that defense lawyers and drunk driving defendants in Ohio have been stuck with for 25 years.

That doesn’t mean that there aren’t defense options, or that a lawyer can’t win drunk driving/OVI cases, or help you get a reduced sentence. But it does present continuing challenges and extreme burdens to those simple wishing to exercise constitutional rights and freedoms in a legal defense.

If you have been arrested for OVI in Ohio, please contact our experienced criminal defense attorneys today for a complimentary defense evaluation. We can go over the facts of your case, suggest any possible defenses, and determine if any police or legal procedures were violated that lead to you being stopped.

Drunk Driving/OVI cases can still be won in Ohio, but it isn’t done by challenging a breath test failure.

To find out what we can do in your specific OVI case, please contact us today. Don’t wait, the advice and consultation is free.

A new law going into effect today (9/30/08) will permit forced blood or urine testing for suspected repeat drunk drivers in Ohio. The no refusal law will affect anyone who refused to submit to a blood alcohol analysis, and:

• Has 2 or more DUI/OVI convictions in the previous six years; or
• Has 5 or more OVI/DUI convictions in the previous twenty years; or
• a previous felony

How the law will be actually applied, and how a sample will be extracted from an unwilling participant is still an open question.

In addition, the timing of the testing is critical. The police will need to have qualified medical personell on call at all times to collect these evidence samples.

Under the previous Ohio breath/blood test refusal laws, prosecutors would be forced to use other evidence in court in order to establish impairment to get a conviction for Operating a Vehicle under the Influence.

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If you are charged with drunk driving, please contact us for a consultation on Ohio drunk driving laws, and what you can do about your charges.