Ohio's OVI (Operating a Vehicle under the Influence) law is one of the toughest in the nation. Beside the possible incarceration and financial burdens incurred, the automatic license suspension provisions can have a devastating affect on your right to drive for an extensive period of time. New enactments added such penalties as mandatory treatment and interlocks, restricted plates, and immobilization or even forfeiture of your car. And your conviction stays on your driving record for life. Your OVI conviction will remain on you record forever.
In addition to these provisions, recent amendments to the law exact greatly enhanced and mandated jail sentences for multiple offenders and the possibility of incurring a felony record. Additionally, if you own a commercial driver's license, an OVI conviction could mean a possible loss of your CDL for a minimum of one year and in the case of multiple offenses, for life.
It is vitally important that any one accused of an OVI seek immediate advise from a professional having the training and education to handle these matters. The law is extremely complicated and requires the utmost knowledge and experience to defend. Your life and livelihood depends on a thorough and meticulous defense.
The purpose of this website is to give you some understanding of the Ohio's OVI law.
In Ohio, there are three forms of pleading in traffic or criminal cases, guilty, not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. For purposes of this blog entry, I will not be discussing the third. But, the reader should be aware of the issues involved in entering a plea of guilty or no contest.
A plea of “guilty” is a complete admission of guilt, Crim.R. 11(B)(1). A plea of no contest indicates that, while you are not admitting guilt, you do not dispute the charge. In most instances, a no contest plea prevents any conviction being used in a civil action. This is most prevalent in traffic accident cases where the defendant is charged with causing the accident. By pleading no contest, the defendant can adjudicate the traffic case and prevent their plea from being used in a subsequent civil law suit for damages.
In the case of an OVI your plea takes on a much important role. The nature of your plea determines your rights on appeal. An example of this issue was illustrated in the recent case of State v. Ramsey, 2012 Ohio 134. In the case, the defendant was arrested for OVI. He filed several pre-trial motions which were all denied. Subsequently, he entered a plea guilty to a lesser and charge and then appealed the lower court’s denial of his motions.
The appellate court refused to rule on his appeal reasoning the “A plea of guilty is a complete admission of guilt...A defendant who enters a plea of guilty waives the right to appeal all nonjurisdictional issues arising at prior stages of the proceedings, although the defendant may contest the constitutionality of the plea itself. Ross v. Common Pleas Court of Auglaize Cty. (1972), 30 Ohio St.2d 323, 285 N.E.2d 25. "Thus, by entering a guilty plea, a defendant waives the right to raise on appeal the propriety of a trial court's suppression ruling." State v. McQueeney, 148 Ohio App.3d 606, 774 N.E.2d 1228, 2002 Ohio 3731, ¶13.
Therefore, once a defendant pleads guilty they waives all appealable issues other than the plea itself. Therefore, be forewarned, if your intent is to appeal the findings of the lower court, an entry of no contest will preserve that right as it is not a complete admission of guilt but merely an admission to the facts.
Those who are regular readers of this blog are very familiar with the case of State v. Homan, 89 Ohio St.3d 421, 732 N.E.2d 952. The case was a landmark as it precipitated a change in Ohio law regarding the level of compliance necessary to accept field [...] Continue Reading…
As many who follow this blog are aware, the sentence for an OVI can not be enhance unless the prior conviction was “counseled.” Therefore, if one is convicted of a subsequent OVI, the court can not sentence a defendant to the enhanced penalties unless the defendant was properly [...] Continue Reading…
Readers of this blog are aware of my discussions of Probable Cause to stop. As discussed, an officer need not have probable cause to stop a vehicle but must posses a “reasonable suspicion” that a traffic violation is occurring. As established by a number of courts, “…an officer [...] Continue Reading…
Past blogs have identified areas of concern resulting from an OVI conviction. As discussed, an OVI conviction not only has severe penalties, but can materially affect employment, insurance, and professional licenses.
A recent court of appeals case points to another possible consequence of multiple OVI convictions – child custody. [...] Continue Reading…
