What to Do if You Are Wrongfully Charged with DUI

Contact a Columbus, OH, DUI attorney as soon as possible after getting charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OVI). An experienced and knowledgeable defense lawyer can help you keep your driver’s license and have the offense either dismissed or reduced as early as your arraignment.

Each case is unique, but the keys to avoiding the fines, license points, license suspension and possible jail term that comes with a wrongful drunk or drugged conviction include the following:

• Challenging the grounds the officer had for stopping you under suspicion of OVI. Were you actually in the driver’s seat of a moving vehicle? Did the officer see you cross a lane line, fail to use turn signals or run a red light? Can the officer support the observations with video or witness testimony?
• Questioning the interpretation of how you performed field sobriety tests. Has the officer recently retrained and recertified in conducting the tests? What, exactly, did the officer consider failing? Did you have a health condition that made performing the test perfectly impossible? Again, does video evidence from the cruiser’s dashboard camera match what the officer says happened?
• Checking that all breath, urine, and blood tests were conducted according to rules established by state laws and courts. Did the officer fully explain the purpose for having you blow into a testing device, having blood drawn and providing a urine sample? Did the officer also make sure you understand the consequences of what refusing the request would be? Were samples analyzed in a state-certified health care facility? Was all the lab equipment used working properly?

The listed questions only scratch the surface of what needs to be clarified and affirmed in order to justly charge and convict a person of driving under the influence in Ohio. Proving a DUI charge requires clearing a high bar for evidence. Make sure the prosecution meets those standards.

Columbus, Ohio, drunk driving lawyers with the Probst Law Office have helped drivers suspected of being intoxicated when they were merely confused by a new traffic pattern. We have also saved drivers from felony penalties when an arresting officer overstated the strength of the evidence for alcohol and drug use. If you require such assistance, call us at (614) 232-8890 or request a free consultation online.