Ohio DUI / Sobriety Checkpoints - The Law, The Rules and The Defenses

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Ohio DUI / Sobriety Checkpoints - The Law, The Rules and The Defenses

Sobriety checkpoints do infringe upon our Constitutional rights and protections.  An experienced DUI Defense Lawyer will evaluate how the DUI checkpoint was planned and how it was conducted to develop the best arguments against the checkpoint.  Furthermore, even if conducted properly, the police may not detain for further screening without a reasonable suspicion based on articulable facts that the driver is impaired and it may not arrest without probable cause to believe the driver is impaired.

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Odor of Alcohol and Bloodshot Eyes Not Enough to Detain - DUI News - 10/17/2016

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Odor of Alcohol and Bloodshot Eyes Not Enough to Detain - DUI News - 10/17/2016

The Fifth District holds that the smell of alcohol with bloodshot glassy eyes is insufficient to detain for sobriety tests, even though the defendant was stopped at 1:30am and had crossed double yellow lines.

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Fifth District Avoids Judicial Review of Police - DUI News - 9/29/2016

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Fifth District Avoids Judicial Review of Police - DUI News - 9/29/2016

Fifth District substitutes its decision on a suppression motion for that of the trial court, reasoning that the trial court substituted its decision for the police officer, thus eliminating review of the the police officer's actions.

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The Police Can Pull You Over, Even if They Don't Know Why, If the Court Can Find a Reason - DUI News - 7/29/2016

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The Police Can Pull You Over, Even if They Don't Know Why, If the Court Can Find a Reason - DUI News - 7/29/2016

The Second District upholds a traffic stop where the officer initiates the stop under the erroneous belief that the driver was committing a lanes of travel violation of R.C. 4511.25, because the court believed he could have initiated the stop for a marked lanes violation ofR.C. 4511.33.

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Shotgun Motions to Suppress Are a Real Thing in Cincinnati - DUI News - 7/26/2016

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Shotgun Motions to Suppress Are a Real Thing in Cincinnati - DUI News - 7/26/2016

The 1st District relies on its legal theory of a "Shotgun Motion to Suppress," to reduce the state's burden to merely "general and slight" when showing substantial compliance with field sobriety tests.

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Mistake of Law is No Excuse, Unless You Are the Police - DUI News - 4/22/2016

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Mistake of Law is No Excuse, Unless You Are the Police - DUI News - 4/22/2016

The Fifth District held that an officer's mistaken belief that stopping prior to a stop sign was a violation was an objectively reasonable belief, and therefore the resulting traffic stop was based on sufficient reasonable suspicion.

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Motorcycle Passenger Turn Signals Not Good Enough - DUI Appeals - 4/18/2016

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Motorcycle Passenger Turn Signals Not Good Enough - DUI Appeals - 4/18/2016

Traffic stop of motorcycles for failure to give turn signals OK, even if officers cannot see whether hand signals were given? Fifth District says yes, at least when the defendant reports the hand signals were given by a passenger.

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Being Placed in a Police Car While Denied Use of a Cellphone is Not an Arrest - DUI Appeals Reports - 4/13/2016

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Being Placed in a Police Car While Denied Use of a Cellphone is Not an Arrest - DUI Appeals Reports - 4/13/2016

The First District holds that a woman, placed in a police car, and denied use of her cellphone, is not under arrest until the police officer intends to put her under arrest.

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