According to UPI.com, the defendant had seen OVI court many times over and the judge didn’t know what else to do. He is quoted as saying, “I struggle with cases like this, because, in my mind, alcoholism is a disease.”

The judge allegedly imposed the 5 year prison sentence with public safety in mind. The risks of drunk driving, he said, are far too great to allow the defendant to keep playing the odds.

This isn’t the first time the defendant went to prison for such charges either. According to the report he spent 4 years locked up following a 2005 conviction. According to Ohio statute, you can be charged with felony OVI if you are convicted of 4 or more OVI charges within a 6 year period.

Felony OVI charges are as serious as they come—they carry the strictest penalties. But, even if this is your first OVI charge, you may be surprised at the sentence you face.

As a first time offender, you can face up to 180 days in jail, along with fines and a possible license suspension of up to 3 years. When it comes to your driving privileges the old adage is true: You never knew what you had until it is gone.

As your prior OVI charges mount, so does the potential sentence. Despite the regularity in which it happens, the penalties for an OVI conviction are far from minor.

If you are facing charges of driving under the influence, you need someone on your side looking out for your best interests. Call me today to discuss the details of your OVI case and to get some free legal advice at no obligation to you.

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Even more dramatically, some of the smaller counties generate a significant amount of these serious Ohio drunk driving arrests.

According to the Ironton Tribune, Belmont County was the Ohio county with the 2nd most felony OVI cases, a total of 22 cases. This is surprising, since Belmont is only the 36th most populous county in the state.

And Lawrence County (40th in population) also made the top 10 for Felony OWI stops, with 14 cases. Lawrence county did not make the top ten list for all OVI stops, just for the more serious cases of multiple offenders.

Felony OVI Offenses

Under Ohio law, an OVI felony is a 4th offense or greater within 6 years. Any forth offense Ohio drunk driving conviction means at least 60 days in jail, and up to 1 1/2 years, and most felonies result in sentencing of a year or more in prison.

In most cases, any misdemeanor 2nd or multiple offense conviction for OVI will result in a jail term of 10 days or more.

Why So Many Felony Drunk Driving Arrests?

Police officers speculate that part of the large number of serious arrests could be due to aggressive patrolling and enforcement. That is certainly a plausible explanation, but it is also arguable that relatively rural southeastern Ohio along the West Virginia and Kentucky borders simply has a higher incidence of drunk driving and alcohol abuse than other parts of the state.

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The decision has sent prosecutors across the country scrambling to provide expert forensic witnesses in prosecuting cases that relay on forensic evidence, most commonly drug charges and drunk driving. The impact on typical Ohio drug cases is still in question, but prosecutors are concerned about a significant impact on analysts at Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.

The Marion case is slightly different. There was a lot of critical DNA evidence used in this case, but there was an expert state witness testifying on the value and methods used in gathering this evidence. The difference that has prosecutors concerned in light of Melendez-Diaz is that the expert who testified was not the one who did the analysis of the evidence in this case. A substitute analyst was used since the person who tested the defendant’s DNA was on maternity leave at the time of the trial.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled on a case in 2007., and concluded that another expert was allowed to testify about another expert’s lab results.  The courts are reviewing the Marion case in to determine whether it violates Melendez-Diaz.

If you are accused of a drug possession or drunk driving case in Ohio, and wonder if the Meledez-Diaz case could be a factor in your Ohio criminal case, please contact us for a free consultation.

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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.

Studies show that OVI courts are effective in reducing recidivism with a rate of return offenders at only 4%. In contrast, OVI offenders going through regular court systems show a recidivism rate of near 25%. This is a remarkable success rate and it seems one that all parties benefit from.

Regular DUI penalties are also harsh and this new OVI court certainly isn’t the easy way out. It does, however, increase the chance that people will be less likely to get behind the wheel following a night of drinking.

If you are facing OVI charges in Fairfield or Clermont County, you could qualify for the OVI court. If not, there are programs in many Ohio counties to increase your chances of success. Call today to discuss your OVI case and to see what options are available to you.

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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.

OVI charges in Ohio are quite common and affect people from all walks of life. More than likely if you are facing OVI/DUI charges you were pulled over while in your car or SUV. But, if you were on your bar stool, lawnmower, or golf cart, we may be able to help as well.

The consequences for this type of offense can be pretty serious. For a first time OVI conviction you could be facing 3-180 days in jail, $200-$1,000 in fines, and a driver’s license suspension of from 6 months to 3 years. You need all the help you can get in a time like this. Call today for a consultation on your case.

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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.

In Ohio, drunk driving offenses carry stiff penalties as well. Like Florida, the legal limit is .08% in Ohio and driving with your blood alcohol content above this level can get you in serious trouble. Even a first time OVI can carry up to 180 days in jail and large fines.

Multiple OVI convictions will only make the charges and potential penalties harsher. A 2^nd OVI charge could land you 180 days in jail while a 4^th offense is up to 1 ½ years in jail. If you are involved in an accident you may be looking at felony charges and prison sentences.

Donte Stallworth may be new to Ohio but we’re not. We know the value of an experienced attorney when facing charges like these. If you have found yourself facing serious OVI charges or any other criminal charges in the state of Ohio, call us for a free consultation today.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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• 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.

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