Commercial Driver’s OVI / DUI Charge Reduced to Physical Control

A gentleman in his forties was out with his friends and was heading home. While driving home, he was pulled over for speeding by a sheriff deputy. While at his car window, discussing the speed, the sheriff deputy smelled an odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle. He then asked the driver if he had been drinking. The driver admitted to drinking earlier in the evening. He then asked the driver to step out of the vehicle and perform the roadside field sobriety tests. Feeling he was not drunk and there was no reason to take the tests, the driver refused to take the roadside field sobriety tests. He was then arrested and charged with first offense OVI / DUI. His case was then scheduled in Washington Court House Municipal Court.

The gentleman did quite a bit of research online and decided to call the Columbus Criminal Defense team to discuss his case. Columbus drunk driving lawyer Ben Luftman spoke with him and after doing so, was hired to represent the commercial driver on his case.

At the pretrial, attorney Luftman was able to review all of the police reports. After reviewing the police reports, he had a lengthy discussion with the prosecutor about the evidentiary issues the prosecutor would have if he decided to litigate the case. The prosecutor agreed and offered to amend the OVI / DUI offense to a lesser charge of Physical Control.

This reduction was particularly appealing to our commercial driver client because it is a non-moving violation and therefore carries 0 points on his license. Additionally, the judge agreed to terminate his license suspension all together and he was not put on probation. This result allowed him to save his job and move on with his life.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome in your case. Individual results may vary based on the facts, injuries, jurisdiction, venue, witnesses, parties, and other factors. The results and client testimonials provided are not necessarily representative of the results obtained by all clients or their satisfaction with the firm’s services.