Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drug of Abuse
OVI / DUI / DWI
It
is important to retain the services of an attorney who has
practical experience handling Driving Under the Influence
(“DUI/OVI/DWI”) cases.
You should consider if your attorney has practical, on the road experience with what happens during the arrest. I have experience in what happens during an arrests. If there is a problem, I will see it. I was a police officer for thirty-two years and bring that practical experience to your case.
You should consider an attorney that is professionally trained by manufacturers of breath test instruments. If there is a problem, I will find it. I was trained by National Patent Analytical Systems, Inc. to repair the Datamaster down to the component level. I bring that experience to your case.
This area of the law is highly technical and is filled with negative consequences for people who are not prepared to handle the complex nature of these cases.
The penalties for a DUI offense vary greatly depending upon the circumstances surrounding your arrest and the specific facts of your case, that is why it is critical you consult with us immediately upon you or a loved one's arrest for DUI. Some penalties required by law:
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Mandatory Driver's License Suspension
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Mandatory Jail Time (For Misdemeanor DUI)
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Mandatory Prison Time (For Felony DUI)
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Vehicle Immobilization (90 days impoundment or higher)
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“Party Plates”
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Mandatory Vehicle Forfeiture (State takes the car permanently)
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Mandatory Alcohol Treatment
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Driver's License Suspensions
These are just some of the ways that the law provides for punishing and handling individuals convicted of OVI. It is a very serious offense that can impact your personal life as well as your professional life.
It is important to remember that at every stage of a criminal investigation, especially with an OVI, you have many rights. The right to remain silent is perhaps one of your most important rights, you should not feel that you have to discuss your situation with anyone but your attorney. However, it is important that you are always polite and courteous with any police officer or agent of the police that you encounter.
If you are reading this it is probably well past time that you contact me to discuss your situation.
It has been my experience that when a person retains me to represent them in a driving under suspension charge, it is most often because that person pled guilty to a first-offense OVI and failed to insure he or she was given privileges. Had they had representation, this would not have happened.
Cleveland Click-It-Or-Ticket OVI dismissed
My client was stopped at a sobriety check point. Having an attorney that understands the workings of these check points is vitally important. In this case, my client was cited for having a blood alcohol reading of 0.48 grams per 210 liters of breath. You are normally dead if your BAC hits 0.35. You're in a coma long before that. Never mind, the operator of the testing device had to operate the machine while talking on a cell phone. That's a big problem as their machines cannot have radio frequency interference in the area. Never mind the one officer was going to release my client but was countermanded by his sergeant. The list of errors went on and on. In the end, my client plead to a no-point seat belt violation, paid his $170.00 and went home. He really wasn't wearing his seat belt.If you have a "Click it or Ticket" OVI, make sure you get an attorney. My experience, both as a defense attorney and through my thirty-two years as a police officer, is that these are assembly line operations that greatly increase the chance of error. Also, if they aren't getting enough tickets to pay for the cost of the check point, it appears they lower their standards and start arresting borderline cases. In the above case, my client's actual BAC was 0.048, not 0.480. A reading of 0.048 proves his blood alcohol is well under the legal limit of 0.08.
Change in medications = dismissal
A pharmaceutical company stopped making a drug which had been prescribed to my client. His doctor ordered another drug in its place. An unforeseen interaction resulted in my client being found sleeping in his car in a gas station parking lot. He was charged with physical control. I was able to show evidence that it was not physical control but a medical emergency that caused my client to appear drunk. The case was dismissed.