OVI Case Law Update; State v. Sani

Image via Wikipedia

Twenty-Minute Observation Case (9th District Court of Appeals)

State v. Sani, 2010-Ohio-2813 (9th Dist. Ct. App.) http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/9/2010/2010-ohio-2813.pdf

In this case the Defendant is stopped for littering and is subsequently arrested for drunk driving.  The officer starts the observation period for purposes of the twenty-minute observation period as the time he begins the standardized field sobriety tests.  He placed the defendant under arrest and left the defendant in the car for four minutes while he attended to the vehicle and other matters.   Defendant challenged this as  a proper observation period and the trial court agreed.  What’s more…so did the Court of Appeals who ruled that this deviation was not de minimus and the actions of the officer did not substantially comply with the testing regulations.

This is a great case with great language for DUI defense attorneys.  Thanks to Jeff Meadows and www.OVILaw.com for the alert to this case.  If you are an attorney who takes DUI cases, Jeff’s site is must-have stuff.