12 December

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MADD’s Legislative Agenda Moving Forward

As we have long warned in this blog, MADD and its allies in government are working hard to implement harsh measures that will test every person who gets into a car without their consent for alcohol impairment. Yesterday, the National Transportation Safety Board has officially urged every state to "require all convicted drunken drivers, including first-time offenders, to use devices that prevent them from starting a car’s engine if their breath tests positive for small (non-impairing) levels of alcohol." This would require a legislative change in Ohio OVI law which now requires such devices only for multiple offenders.The board also urged...

07 December

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Ohio OVI: Standardized Field Sobriety Tests & Marijuana

Posted by Dayton DUI

in Drugs & Alcohol

State v. Dixon, 2007-Ohio-5189 (Ohio Ct. App. 12th Dist. Clermont County 2007).More and more, we are seeing law enforcement officers arrest drivers on suspicion of operating a vehicle under the influence of marijuana. Often, an officer will request a urine test for marijuana after a defendant has blown substantially under the per se alcohol limit on a breath test machine. This raises questions about the proper determination of probable cause. If, for example, no alcohol was suspected how did the officer arrive deduce enough evidence to make an arrest? Were the standardized field sobriety tests administered to detect alcohol or...

24 October

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Stop & Sniff Case Law Update (by DaytonDUI)

Posted by Dayton DUI

in DUI Law

In Kirtland Hills v. Medancic, 2012-Ohio-4333, a recent case out of the Eleventh District Court of Appeals, the Court reaffirmed the principle that just because a police officer smells alcohol on a driver does not mean that the police officer has reasonable and articulable suspicion to continue the detention of the driver and/or remove that driver to administer standardized field sobriety tests. One of the major decision points in the OVI arrest process is the officer’s decision to remove a suspect from his or her car and conductstandardized field sobriety testing. The officer is trained to arrive at this “decision point” by conducting an interview and...

23 October

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Ohio DUI Law: Reasonable and Articulable Suspicion

Posted by Dayton DUI

in DUI Law

What Level of Proof Does Law Enforcement Need to Pull You From Your Car For Standardized Field Tests? One of the major decision points in the OVI arrest process is the officer’s decision to remove a suspect from his or her car and conduct standardized field sobriety testing. The officer is trained to arrive at this “decision point” by conducting an interview and using specific “pre-exit interview techniques” which include asking for two things simultaneously; asking interrupting or distracting questions; and asking unusual questions. (NHTSA Student Manual VI-4). Additional techniques which an officer may employ include and Alphabet test (begin with...

11 October

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Standardized Field Sobriety Tests: The One Leg Stand Test

Posted by Dayton DUI

in DUI Law

The Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFST) are a battery of three tests administered and evaluated in a standardized manner to obtain validated indicators of impairment and establish probable cause for arrest. These tests were developed as a result of research sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and conducted by the Southern California Research Institute. A formal program of training was developed and is available through NHTSA to help law enforcement officers become more skillful at detecting DWI suspects, describing the behavior of these suspects, and presenting effective testimony in court. Formal administration and accreditation of the program is provided through the...

27 September

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Low BAC And Fatal Crashes (by DaytonDUI)

Posted by Dayton DUI

in DUI Law

According to research complied by David J. Hanson, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Sociology of the State University of New York at Potsdam, most drivers who have had something to drink have low blood alcohol content or concentration (BAC) and few are involved in fatal crashes. On the other hand, while only a few drivers have BACs higher than .15, a much higher proportion of those drivers have fatal crashes.The average BAC among fatally injured drinking drivers is .16 1 The relative risk of death for drivers in single-vehicle crashes with a high BAC is 385 times that of a zero-BAC driver and for...

25 September

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Are the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests Fair to Fatter People?

Posted by Dayton DUI

in DUI Law

Being overweight can impact your performance on the standardized field sobriety tests. The government agency tasked with verifying the validity of the standardized field sobriety tests is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (hereinafter NHTSA). NHTSA concedes that being fifty or more pounds overweight affects performance on the one-leg stand test; a test requiring the suspect to raise a foot off the ground and stand on one foot for 30 seconds. See NHTSA, DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing, Participant's Manual (2006), re: WAT at VIII-11, re: OLS at VIII-13. Id. re: 50 lbs at VIII-13. In older versions...

10 September

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Illegal Police Stops (by DaytonDUI)

Posted by Dayton DUI

in DUI Law

Protecting You From Illegal Police Stops! The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution protects you against unreasonable searches and seizures, which includes being unlawfully or illegally pulled over or stopped by law enforcement. An officer cannot simply pull you over based on a hunch or intuition. When a police officer observes a traffic violation, he or she is justified in initiating a limited stop for the purpose of issuing a citation. State v. Brickman(2001), 11th Dist. No. 2000-P-oo58, 2001 Ohio App. LEXIS 2575. The legal standard applied to traffic stops is reasonable and articulable suspicion, which means that the officer has reason to...

17 July

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DUI Blood Tests: Whole Blood vs. Serum/Plasma

Posted by Dayton DUI

in DUI Process

Ohio Administrative Code 3701-53-03(A) sets forth the techniques and methods for determining the concentration of alcohol in blood, urine and other bodily substances. Pursuant to that rule, Ohio allows for testing including gas chromatography and enzyme assays. To challenge a blood test, it is important to know if the State has tested the blood as whole blood or as serum/plasma. Operation with a concentration of alcohol is prohibited if the concentration in whole blood is equal to or exceeds .08%, R.C. 4511.19(A)(1)(b). However, the prohibited concentration for whole blood is a concentration equal to or exceeding .096%, R.C.4511.19(A)(1)(c). The high...

13 July

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Ohio DUI Law: Admissibility of the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests

Posted by Dayton DUI

in DUI Law

Ohio Revised Code 4511.19(D)(4)(b) sets forth the standards for admissibility of the results of field sobriety tests in OVI (drunk driving) prosecutions. See State v. Bozcar, 113 Ohio St. 3d 148, 2007-Ohio-1251, 863 N.E.2d 115 (2007). In order for the tests to be admissible, the State must demonstrate:By clear and convincing evidence. The Officer administered the tests in substantial compliance. The testing standards for any reliable, credible, and generally accepted test. Including, but not limited to, the standards set by NHTSA.The only guidance provided for determining the meaning of "substantial compliance" has come from State v. Burnside, 100 Ohio St. 3d 152, 2003-Ohio-5372...

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