26 June

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DUI Science; there are only three standardized field sobriety tests

Extensive government testing was begun in the 1970's to determine a scientifically valid way of helping police officers detect intoxication in drivers under suspicion of drunk driving. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) guidelines were set up to help make these tests more accurate. After extensive testing, NHTSA determined that three tests were specific for alcohol intoxication: the HGN (horizontal gaze nystagmus), the walk & turn test and the one leg stand test. They are now called ‘standardized field sobriety tests.Many officers rely upon other tests to determine intoxication. These tests may include:The Rhomberg stationary balance test wherein...

25 June

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Standardized Field Sobriety Tests; the walk & turn

Posted by Dayton DUI

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A metal detector can detect guns. Does that mean that every person who sets off the metal detector has a gun? The standardized field sobriety tests can detect lack of coordination due to intoxication. Does that mean that all lack of coordination is indicative of intoxication? Here a completely sober person fails the Walk & Turn portion of the standardized field sobriety tests. If you think that you have been wrongly labled as intoxicated contact Dayton DUI Defense Attorney Charles M. Rowland II at 937-318-1DUI (318-1384).Completely sober person fails Walk & Turn...

24 June

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OVI Case Law Update; State v. Sani

Posted by Dayton DUI

in DUI Law

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="180" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]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.pdfIn 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...

13 June

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Ohio OVI Law – a definition

Posted by Dayton DUI

in DUI Law, DUI Process

Image via WikipediaThe term OVI (Operating a Vehicle while Impaired) is the latest acronym for the universally understood DUI; they mean the same thing. Often you will find yourself charged with OVI offenses in two ways: the first is for testing over the per se limit, and the second charge for operating a vehicle while impaired. In Ohio driving under the influence includes driving while intoxicated with too much alcohol, or driving under the influence of a drug of abuse. The traditional offense is "driving under the influence of alcohol" (DUI). Ohio has also enacted a second, so-called "per se"...

11 June

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DUI Arrests Based on Nontestimonial Evidence

Posted by Dayton DUI

in DUI Law

TESTIMONIAL vs. NONTESTIMONIALImage via WikipediaIn Pennsylvania v. Muniz, 110 S.Ct.2638 (1990), the United States Supreme Court held that slurred speech and the muscle coordination (or lack thereof) required to complete the standardized field sobriety tests amount to nontestimonial information that does not fall within the scope of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and does not invoke the safeguards of Miranda warnings. They held that standardized field sobriety tests are "real" tests and/or tests of a "physical" variety. This ruling was consistent with its holding in Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757 (1966), which held that the Fifth Amendment...

08 June

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Standardized Field Sobriety Tests; the importance of standardization

Posted by Dayton DUI

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The information below is taken from DEVELOPMENT OF A STANDARDIZED FIELD SOBRIETY TEST (SFST) TRAINING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM,DOT HS 809 400, November 2001. It has some great quotes which an attorney can use in trial or in a motion to suppress when attacking the administration of the standardized field sobriety tests. This document is one of the many sources that Dayton OVI Defense Attorney Charles Rowland has collected to aid in the defense of the drunk driver. If you are arrested for OVI in Dayton, Springfield, Kettering, Vandalia, Miamisburg, Huber Heights, Xenia, Fairborn, Beavercreek or anywhere throughout the Miami Valley, contact...

08 June

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Vertical Gaze Nystagmus Test

Posted by Dayton DUI

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Vertical Gaze Nystagmus Not Accepted in Ohio When an Ohio law enforcement officer gives you the 'pen test' they are looking for an involuntary jerking of the eyes often associated with ingestion of alcohol. NHTSA Student Manual at VIII-8. This test is called the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test (HGN). According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the HGN test is the most reliable of the standardized field sobriety tests. NHTSA Student Manual VII-2.The officer is also trained to raise the pen above your line of sight to check your eyes vertically. NHTSA Student Manual at Section VIII. This test is...

01 June

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What are the standardized field sobriety tests?

Posted by Dayton DUI

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Image via WikipediaThe standardized field sobriety tests consist of a three-test battery which includes a check of your eyes (called the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, or HGN), and two tests of your coordination, balance, stamina and memory called the one-leg stand test and the walk and turn test. Officers use these tests to establish probable cause for a drunk driving arrest. The tests are set forth in the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration manual, which is used to train law enforcement in administering the tests. The DUI defense team of Charles M. Rowland II not only has...

31 May

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Preface to the 2006 NHTSA Manual

Posted by Dayton DUI

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Preface to the 2006 Standardized Field Sobriety Test (NHTSA) Manual The procedures outlined in this manual describe how the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) are to be administered under ideal conditions. We recognize that the SFSTs will not always be administered under ideal conditions in the field, because such conditions will not always exist. Even when administered under less than ideal conditions, they will generally serve as valid and useful indicators of impairment. Slight variations from the ideal, i.e., the inability to find a perfectly smooth surface at roadside, may have some affect on the evidentiary weight given to the results. However, this does not necessarily make the...

31 May

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OVI Jury Trial Instructions

Posted by Dayton DUI

in DUI Law

[caption id="attachment_7036" align="aligncenter" width="443" caption="Xenia Municipal Court Jury Box"][/caption]A jury instruction which is given at every OVI (formerly DUI) trial states,UNDER THE INFLUENCE. "Under the influence means that the defendant consumed some (alcohol)(drug of abuse)(alcohol and a drug of abuse), whether mild or potent, in such a quantity, whether small or great, that it adversely affected and appreciably impaired the defendant's actions, reactions, or mental processes under the circumstances then existing and deprived him of that clearness of intellect and control of himself which he would otherwise have possessed. The question is not how much (alcohol)(drug of abuse)(alcohol and a...

Field Tests (SFSTs) Tag

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