OVI / DUI High Test Case Dismissed

A young man in his early 20s was pulled over for a marked lanes violation by an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper. The trooper engaged the driver in conversation. While speaking with the young man, the trooper asked him if he had been drinking. An admission of drinking was made. The young man was then asked to step out of his vehicle and complied. The trooper then asked the young man to take the roadside field sobriety tests. The driver complied. After completing the tests, the trooper placed him under arrest and charged him with a first offense OVI / DUI.

The young man was then transported back to a local station and asked to submit to a breath test. He agreed to take the test. The result of the test was above the .170 Ohio Legal Limit. Consequently, he was charged with an additional OVI / DUI High Test offense. His license was taken and he was placed under a 90 day administrative license suspension. His case was scheduled for arraignment in Franklin County Municipal Court.

This was an extremely scary time for this young man. If convicted of the OVI / DUI High Test charge, he was facing mandatory jail time and mandatory yellow plates on his vehicle. He is young and there was a strong likelihood that he would carry an OVI / DUI conviction around with him for the rest of his life. He was referred to the attorney Ben Luftman by one of attorney Luftman’s former clients. After speaking with attorney Luftman, the Columbus Criminal Defense team was hired to represent him on the case.

Initially, we requested and were granted limited driving privileges for our client so that he was able to maintain his job. Thereafter, the attorneys with LHA represented our client on the case. After seven court dates, we litigated a suppression hearing, where he cross-examined the state trooper. The judge agreed with our arguments and suppressed key evidence.

As a result, the Columbus City Prosecutor’s office agreed to dismiss both the first offense OVI / DUI and OVI / DUI High Test charges for our client’s agreement to plead guilty to the minor misdemeanor marked lanes violation. Our client, of course, was all too happy to do that and paid a small fine to resolve his case.

This resolution ultimately allowed our client to avoid mandatory jail time, mandatory yellow plates on his car and the OVI / DUI convictions on his record.

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