Ohio DUI Law Questions and Advice (example is from an actual case)

Question Submitted by Customer: I need dui legal advice. I own a convenience store. This past Friday, I was stocking the beer cooler, and I dropped a six pack of beer. It hit a middle shelf in the cooler, and beer bottles shattered everywhere. The beer flew all over me. I left the store a while later, and was driving home. I went around a bend on St. Rt. 315, and there was a police car on the right shoulder. I was in the right hand lane. I couldn’t get over into the left lane because there was a truck there. So, I had to pass him while still in the right land. He pulled me over for not getting over to the left, and said I smelled like alcohol. He gave me the field sobriety tests and the breathalyzer, and I passed. He still cited me for DUI and for not getting over. What should I do? I need dui help!

Answer:
Well, according to Ohio law, you do have to get over if you have to pass a stopped police car. Obviously, it is for the officer’s safety. He will say in court that he has the legal basis (probable cause) to pull you over because you broke that law. This will give him the right to speak with you. Now, a lot of police officers look for reasons to pull people over, especially on weekend nights. They think you’ve been out drinking. You’ll have an initial court hearing where you will either enter a no contest plea, a guilty plea, or a not guilty plea. You should enter a not guilty plea. Now, depending on the amount of people in the court, you may be able to talk with the prosecutor about the case. If this is possible, I would approach the prosecutor and tell him/her that you want to speak about negotiating a “deal.” I would ask to speak with them out of earshot of anyone else. This way, the eavesdroppers can’t be called later to testify as to what you spoke to the prosecutor about. See if he’ll let you plead out to the charge of not getting over, and dismiss the DUI. Maybe they will. However, a lot of prosecutors don’t want to dismiss DUI charges, no matter what. Many prosecutors’ offices, believe it or not, will track the negotiated pleas their individual prosecutors make. So, if one prosecutor seems to be dismissing a lot of charges, then it may affect raises or performance reviews.

Answer Options 2 and 3: The answer above and a follow up question: “Well, okay. I understand now. But, how can the officer charge me with a DUI when I passed the field sobriety tests and passed the breathalyzer test? In fact, I blew a .00!”

Answer
Again, one of the most popular legal questions. Well, here’s the reason. Under Ohio law, there are two code sections in which a police officer can charge you under. One code section is written up specifically addressing when a person has given a sample of blood or taken a breathalyzer test and flunked. If your blood alcohol content is .08 or above, you will be charged under this code section. Since you didn’t test for any alcohol on the breathalyzer, I assume the officer didn’t charge you under that code section. I assume he charged you under the other code section, which deals with the officer seeing you driving impaired. A lot of times, a police officer gets behind a person who has been drinking. The person is weaving over the center road line a lot. Or, maybe the person doesn’t have their lights on, or tailgates. Whatever the case is, the police officer will stop them. If they fail the breathalyzer test, they charge them with DUI per se (a DUI based on the person failing the test). But, the police officer, according to Ohio law, will usually also charge you with impaired driving because he or she saw the person weaving all over the road or whatever. They do this so that the prosecutor can work out a plea deal. The prosecutor will usually offer to dismiss the one DUI charge if they plead to the other DUI charge. Not very generous, I know. The previous legal information is not known to a lot of people.

Answer Option 4: Answer option 2 or 3, with another follow up question: “So, can they make the case against me?”

Answer
I think it would be hard for them. If you end up having a trial, the only reason the officer can give the court for pulling you over is that you didn’t get over in the other lane when you passed him/her. Assuming the judge decides the officer did have the probable cause to pull you over, the big question to answer is “what were you doing that showed you were driving erratically? In my opinion, just because you didn’t get over (because you couldn’t get over) is not, in and of itself, enough to show you were impaired. The officer obviously followed you for a while before pulling you over. He/she never said you were driving impaired then. The other thing you have going for you is that you passed the breathalyzer and the field sobriety tests. Trust me, if you had been drinking at all, it would show up on the breathalyzer. Has this information answered your dui legal questions?

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