Sometimes rules are not made to be broken. When it comes to cases of alleged driving under the influence, there are rules for drivers, and there are rules for the government. When a driver breaks the rules, there are consequences. There are also consequences when the government breaks the rules.…
Ohio has several variations of what is commonly known as vehicular homicide. Generally, vehicular homicide is causing the death of another person while operating a vehicle. In the Ohio Revised Code, there are actually three separate offenses: (1) Aggravated Vehicular Homicide; (2) Vehicular Homicide; and (3) Vehicular Manslaughter. The offenses…
‘Best in the Midwest’ has become one of the slogans associated with the annual DUI/OVI seminar presented by the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (OACDL). A speaker from another state poked fun at the slogan by asking, “isn’t this the only DUI seminar in the Midwest?” I’m sure there…
In September of 2014, CW was driving his motorcycle in northwestern New York and collided with another motorcycle. A police officer responded to the accident scene and reportedly noticed the odor of alcohol on CW. The officer asked CW to take a breath test, and CW refused. The officer ultimately…
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) recently released its “2015 Report To The Nation”. The report rates the efforts of each of the 50 states to prevent drunk driving. In the report, MADD uses a five-star system of measures which can be undertaken to prevent drunk driving fatalities. Ohio receives four…
Last week, I completed a short course in gas chromatography. Completing the course reminded me of what Stephen Covey used to say: “To know and not to do is really not to know.” He is so right. It’s one thing to know the law of blood and urine testing. It’s…
If an officer’s testimony about a traffic stop is not corroborated by the officer’s cruiser video, how do judges rule on the justification for a traffic stop? Once a judge makes a ruling, under what circumstances might that ruling be overturned by an appellate court? A recent case decided by…
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…
Most states acknowledge urine testing is not an accurate way to measure blood alcohol concentration, and Ohio is one of the few states which still uses urine alcohol testing for DUI/OVI cases. Ohio law makes urine tests admissible in court so long as law enforcement agencies follow state regulations. Some…
If you get a ride from an ARIDE officer, it’s because you’ve been arrested for DUI/OVI. The acronym stands for Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement, and ARIDE is a course which some police officers complete to improve at investigating and prosecuting Ohio DUI/OVI cases involving drugs. To better understand what…