DUI OVI Transcript
Good afternoon my name is Jeremy levy and I’m an attorney in Toledo Ohio, handling cases that deal with criminal defense civil litigation and domestic relations. Today I’m going to be talking about DUIs and OVI which are the exact same thing.
People always say to me, Jeremy, what should I do if I’m ever stopped in and the police officers suspect that I’m intoxicated? Well I tell them DUIs are tough because it’s a crime that you don’t know if you’re committing or not. If you are at .07 blood-alcohol content you are not violating the law and if you’re at a .08 higher you are.
There’s also a section of the statute that says if you’re intoxicated in that intoxication impairs your ability to operate a motor vehicle it doesn’t matter what your blood alcohol content is, you still can be found guilty of a DUI.
Now there are some things that you can do to help prevent the charging of a DUI. If you are stopped and the police officer does believe that you have are intoxicated here are some things to consider; you are under no obligation to perform the field sobriety test this includes to Gaze Nystagmus the walking turn and the one-legged stand. Gaze Nystagmus is when the police officer takes a pen and ask you to follow it with your eyes without moving your head. He’s watching the pupils in your eyes go left to right anything it there’s a smooth pursuit or if it shakes a little bit as it goes by. That shakiness is considered a sign of intoxication. The one leg stand is standing on one leg and holding your balance and the walk in turn is walking nine steps turning and walking back.
As i said before you’re under no obligation to perform these tasks and there are no repercussions if you do not follow those instructions. If you simply tell the officers you do not wish to perform the field sobriety test there are no repercussions that will come to you. Now that’s different from the blood alcohol machine, a breathalyzer, at the station.
The breathalyzer at the station is admissible in court unlike the portable breath test on the scene. The blood alcohol machine or the breathalyzer at the station does have a repercussion if you refuse to blow that repercussion is an administrative license suspension which is automatic at the time that you refused. However, I should mention that if you blow a .08 or higher you will receive the same ALS suspension, so if you believe that you are intoxicated you should not blow the repercussion will be the same.
That’s my advice for today I DUIs if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to give me a call (419) 243-8989 Jeremy Levy Attorney at Law. You can also visit my website at www.toledo-attorney.com. Thank you