Proof Beyond All Reasonable Doubt And Other Closing Arguments (by DaytonDUI)
Imagine that you woke up with a sore throat. It persists throughout the day and into the next. As the week drags on you feel worse and worse and your wife demands that you go to the doctor. You hate doctors, but you feel so lousy that you agree to get your throat checked out. When you arrive you fill out the requisite forms and wait longer than you feel is necessary. Just as you are nearing your boiling point a nurse calls your name and leads you into a small room. You tell her that you’ve had a sore throat for the past few days and that you feel lethargic. She dutifully writes down the information and tells you that the doctor will be in to see you shortly.
A few minutes later the doctor opens the door and begins to look at your throat. He tells you to say “ahh” and touches his hand to your forehead. “No fever, but your throat is very red,” he says. “Have you ever smoked?” he asks. When you mutter that you smoked cigars a few years ago and begin to explain that you smoked cigarettes when you were in college the doctor abruptly cuts you off. “I have concluded that you have throat cancer!” The words hit you like a punch. As you are reeling the doctor begins to tell you that he’s dealt with people like you before. “Cancer is serious and I can’t take the chance that you only have a sore throat.” You protest, “what about additional tests, an M.R.I. or some other tests?” “No, no, no,” the doctor says. “I am so sick of people who don’t see cancer close up, thinking that it is no big deal. Just take an antibiotic you say, well mister I’ve been called to the bedside of people dying of cancer and I’ll be damned if I’ll let you hurt yourself or someone else by not getting your larynx removed.” “I WANT A SECOND OPINION,” you yell, but the doctor does not seem to care. “Nurse, prep the patient for surgery!”
If this scenario seems far-fetched, you have never been arrested for drunk driving. Officers are self-proclaimed experts on spotting clues of impairment. The come into court spouting the pseudo-scientific prattle fronted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Invariably, they have noted bloodshot and/or glassy eyes accompanied by slurred speech and an odor of an alcoholic beverage. They ask you to do amazingly subjective tests which amount to nothing more than “stupid human tricks.” You do not get a chance to practice or try again. They do not conduct an objective investigation into your state of impairment, but merely lead you through a series of steps that will inevitably lead to your arrest. Like our fictional doctor, the officer may have dealt up-close with the tragedy of drunk driving and considers it his or her duty to prevent anyone from being affected by this all-to-preventable devastation. Like our fictional patient, you get no second opinion.
It is up to your defense attorney to explain to a jury that the officer’s observations do not lead to the conclusion that you are impaired. Was your weaving caused by alcohol or by an ill-timed cell phone call? Are your bloodshot and glassy eyes a sign of having consumed too much alcohol or by the fact that you are tired? Is that slurred speech or do you simply speak differently from the officer? Is you performance on physical tests affected by your weight, your gender, your bum knee, or the fact that you are scared to death?
At the end of every drunk driving trial, the judge tells the jury that “beyond a reasonable doubt” is “proof of such character that an ordinary person would be willing to rely and act upon it in the most important of the person’s own affairs.” O.R.C. 2901.05(E) [emphasis added] The penalties for DUI are, in some respects, just as serious as the decision to get a medical procedure and the ramifications of a conviction last throughout a person’s life. If you are faced with the possibility of an Ohio DUI trial, please contact Charles M. Rowland II immediately.
DUI attorney Charles M. Rowland II dedicates his practice to defending the accused drunk driver in Fairborn, Dayton, Springfield, Kettering, Vandalia, Xenia, Miamisburg, Huber Heights, Beavercreek, Centerville, Springboro, Franklin and throughout Ohio. He has the credentials and the experience to win your case and has made himself the Miami Valley’s choice for DUI defense. Contact Charles Rowland by phone at 937-318-1DUI (937-318-1384), 937-879-9542, or toll-free at 1-888-ROWLAND (888-769-5263). For after-hours help contact our 24/7 DUI HOTLINE at 937-776-2671. For information about Dayton DUI sent directly to your mobile device, text DaytonDUI (one word) to 50500. Follow DaytonDUI on Twitter @DaytonDUI or Get Twitterupdates via SMS by texting DaytonDUI to 40404. DaytonDUI is also available on Facebook,www.facebook.com/daytondui and on the DaytonDUI channel on YouTube. You can also email Charles Rowland at: CharlesRowland@DaytonDUI.com or write to us at 2190 Gateway Dr., Fairborn, Ohio 45324.