What Should Someone Do After They Are Arrested For DUI/OVI In Ohio?
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What Are Some Common Mistakes People Make When Someone Do After They Are Arrested For DUI/OVI In Ohio That Can Hurt Their Case?
Just like in a criminal case, people like to try to help themselves by trying to talk to the police. They will say, for example, “I only had a couple” or “I didn’t drink that many”, but what happens then is that statement “I only had a couple” comes into trial is they admitted to drinking.
It gets subtly shifted and it ends up hurting them. The best thing to do, just like in a criminal case, is just not make any statements without talking to an attorney.
When People Are Arrested For A DUI, Do They Just Assume The Should Plead Guilty, Get This Over With And Move On? Why Is That Not The Best Approach?
Pleading guilty is not the best approach because you always want to take the chance to try to get a better resolution. There are many cases where you can work out a reduced charge, or some lower punishment.
One common resolution to a case, if it is a first DUI with no prior criminal history, an attorney can have it reduced to reckless operation or called a physical control which is being in physical control of the vehicle under the influence but not actually driving which is no points on your license. It is not a moving violation and it does not affect insurance the same way. It has a much better result than a straight OVI. So you always want to at least take a chance to pursue those opportunities.
What happens from the Point of Being Pulled Over For Suspicion Of DUI To Being Arrested, Going to Court, Until You’re Released from Jail?
When they arrest you, they will take you to the jail. They will ask you if you want to take the breath test or they will ask you to blow into the machine. You can typically get out of jail within a few hours, but somebody will have to come and bail you out.
Your first court date will be a few days after that. That is called an arraignment where you will go in front of the judge, you’ will be informed of your rights in court, your right to an attorney, your right to have a trial, all of the things you might see on TV. If it is a client at the law firm of Bangerter, most likely than you will just plead not guilty and the case just starts from there.
Attorney Bangerter has represented people who go in and plead guilty at that point, but there is no advantage at all to doing that. From there, it will get set for a couple more court dates which will allow the defense attorney to work on the case and to negotiate with the prosecutor and try to resolve the case. If it does not resolve then it will be set for trial.
Most OVI cases are probably handled within two to three months but that varies based on how busy the court system is.
For Someone Who Has Declined The Breathalyzer, What Is The Time Frame They Have To File For The DMV?
There are ways to appeal the suspension but you have to have that appeal filed within thirty days of your arrest. That is one deadline that your attorney needs to know about. There are a couple of other ways to handle it as the case goes on.
One of them is you can ask the courts to stay the suspension, meaning just make it not effective, delay it for a while so you are not suspended at the moment but at some point they might impose that you have to serve the suspension.
The other way to deal with it, is just ask the court for driving privileges. If you need to drive to work, school, doctors’ appointments, things like that, the court will often just grant you privileges to do those things so you can still go about your life with the license suspension.
Depending on the exact statute that they suspended the license under or how many OVIs you have had, there could be a fifteen to thirty day hard time with that suspension where you cannot get any privileges until that time is up. So if you have thirty days of hard time for refusing to take a breath test, you cannot get those privileges for thirty days.
If you have been Arrested For a DUI in Ohio, call the Law Office of Matthew Bangerter for an initial consultation at (440) 306-3205 and get the information and legal answers you’re seeking.
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