DUI/OVI enforcement

January 11, 2014

Modern Scarlet Letter: Ohio’s DUI / OVI Habitual Offender Registry

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Someone who has multiple conviction for DUI (called OVI in Ohio) faces increasingly severe consequences with each conviction. For example, while a first OVI typically results in three days in a hotel at a driver intervention program, a third offense with a high test or test refusal is a mandatory minimum of 60 days in jail. Ohio’s OVI sentencing law recognizes that a first offense may be an isolated incident, but a third offense is something more. If a person gets to the point of having five OVI convictions, that person is supposed to be listed in a registry of habitual OVI offenders.

January 4, 2014

Should DUI / OVI Laws Apply To Golf Carts?

by Shawn Dominy

It’s January in central Ohio, and the temperature is slightly above zero. It’s not exactly golfing weather, and at this time of year, I begin to wonder if we will ever see golfing weather again. It’s not the time of year we think about using golf carts, and most of us are not pondering whether people should be convicted of DUI/OVI for driving a golf cart under the influence. I am, because I recently resolved a case where my client was charged with a golf cart OVI in Columbus, Ohio.

July 6, 2013

Franklin County, Ohio D.U.I. Task Force

by Shawn Dominy

It’s July 4th weekend. With Independence Day falling on a Thursday, it’s an extra-long weekend. That means more cookouts, and it also means more police officers patrolling the roads of central Ohio on the lookout for drunk drivers. In central Ohio, the roads are patrolled by several different police departments. Some officers from those police departments are part of a special unit that enforces D.U.I./O.V.I. laws: the Franklin County DUI Task Force.

June 15, 2013

Erin Brockovich Case Illustrates Tough Sentences For Boating Under The Influence In Ohio

by Shawn Dominy

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but what happens near Vegas gets broadcast for the world to see. That’s what Erin Brockovich found out a few days ago when she was charged with Boating Under the Influence on Lake Mead, just outside Las Vegas, Nevada.

After reading the news coverage of her case, I compared the B.U.I. laws of Ohio and Nevada and concluded Ohio has relatively tough sentences for boating under the influence.

May 26, 2013

Ohio Appellate Court Affirms Conviction In D.U.I./O.V.I. Case Involving Prescription Drugs

by Shawn Dominy

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William Strebler was lucky and unlucky. When he drove his car between two parked trucks, nobody was killed or injured. That’s pretty lucky. After he was found guilty of driving under the influence of his prescribed pain medicine, his conviction was affirmed by the court of appeals, and he had to serve two years in prison. That’s not-so-lucky. His case illustrates the importance of trial strategy in Ohio D.U.I./O.V.I. defense and also demonstrates the difficulty of enforcing D.U.I./O.V.I. laws when the substance in question is a prescription medication.

December 22, 2012

Holiday Greeting: Drive Sober Or Get Pulled Over

by Shawn Dominy

The holiday season is at its climax. Some of us who would not ordinarily step foot in a mall battle huge crowds to buy last-minute gifts. Most of us attend more parties in two weeks than they we do the rest of the year. All of us are being told “drive sober or get pulled over”.

October 6, 2012

Drunk Driving Declines For Those Not Permitted To Drink

by Shawn Dominy

According to the Columbus Dispatch, drunk driving fell 54 percent in the past two decades…among teens. This conclusion was reached in a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The primary reasons for the decline of teen drunk driving are reported to be increased gas prices, decreased underage drinking, and tougher laws for underage alcohol consumption.

June 16, 2012

Lifesavers And Liberties

by Shawn Dominy

This weekend is the annual ‘Lifesavers’ National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities. Lifesavers is a yearly seminar that addresses traffic safety issues like seatbelt enforcement, pedestrian safety, distracted driving, and driving under the influence. This year is the 30th anniversary of the conference, and the keynote address was given by Jan Withers, the National President of Mother’s Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.)

September 11, 2011

O.S.U. Game Day Cases

by Shawn Dominy

Plea bargaining is part of the criminal justice system. If there weren’t plea bargains in large jurisdictions with high volumes of cases, the system would quickly be overwhelmed and log-jammed. In certain types of cases, however, there are no plea bargains. One of those case types is a “game day case”.

August 27, 2011

Autumnal Ohio D.U.I. Crackdown

by Shawn Dominy

It’s hard to believe that time of year is here already. Kids are going back to school, the leaves will soon be changing colors, and law enforcement is cracking down on D.U.I./O.V.I. in the Columbus, Ohio area.