While most law enforcement officers try to do the right thing when checking for impaired driving, they are prone to bias and mistakes that, left unchecked, could devastate your future.

Scott Rubenstein can help defend you through many different methods:

  • Law Enforcement did not have a reason to pull you over in the first place.
    • The Fourth Amendment in the Bill of Rights protects Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures without warrants. The amendment was written to protect people’s homes but later was interpreted by the courts to include their vehicles. That means that police need probable cause to make a vehicle stop, which counts as a “seizure” for purposes of the Fourth Amendment. To have probable cause, the police officer, deputy, or trooper making the stop must have a reasonable suspicion that you’ve broken a law, and the officer has to provide “specific and articulable” facts to support the stop.
  • The field-testing was not properly conducted.
    • Ohio has complex and detailed regulations for how breath, blood, and urine tests must be administered when a person is arrested for an OVI charge. When these regulations aren’t followed, the test results may be invalid. A skilled criminal defense attorney with experience challenging the test results will look at everything with a sharp eye for any mistakes that may open the door to getting your test results suppressed so that they can’t be used as evidence against you in court.
  • Law Enforcement persuaded you to answer questions.
    • You have a constitutional right under the Fifth Amendment of the Bill of Rights not to make incriminating statements against yourself.  This may have been the situation when you were pulled over by law enforcement. You may have been manipulated into making statements that are now being used as evidence against you in court. Hiring the best criminal defense attorney may be able to argue that these statements were taken in violation of your constitutional rights and possibly get a judge to agree that your statements should not be used as evidence. Without your statements, the prosecutor might have a tougher time proving the charge and might be willing to negotiate a reduction or dismissal of your charge.

The Bottom Line:  When faced with a DUI / OVI / OUI / DWI in Ohio,  you want an advocate in your corner who is going to protect you and will have your best interests in mind.  Of course, you have a constitutional right to defend yourself, although to do so is ill-advised.  Driving under the influence is one of the most difficult areas of the law to understand, involving complex issues of criminal procedure, evidence, constitutional law, administrative law, and forensic science.  Scott Rubenstein can help you. Call 513-260-2099