Unlawful Detainment in Ohio Traffic Stops for OVI / DUI Investigations

Ohio OVI defense attorney Brian Joslyn explains unlawful detainment in Ohio traffic stops for OVI / DUI investigations. Joslyn Law Firm is experienced in defending people accused of OVI offenses in Ohio. If you have been accused of a crime or arrested in Ohio, please call (614) 444-1900 to schedule a free initial consultation to discuss your case.

Now in a further analysis, after we look at the video, sometimes there’s a valid stop, okay. The next part of the analysis, give me my traffic ticket and let me go on my way. And here we’re looking for an officer’s U-10 report to see how did they justify further detaining my client, and taking them out of the car, and asking them to perform field sobriety tests. Frequently what we’ll see in these police officer reports, also called U-10 reports, is that officers use this bolstering language to justify their detainment, using things like “there was slurred speech”, “there was odor of alcohol emanating from the vehicle”, “the person was fumbling for their ID, or couldn’t find their registration or insurance.” as indicators as though if our client was impaired. This is what they use to justify then pulling you out of the car. And before pulling you out of the car, a common question is asked, “did you have anything to drink tonight?” my hopeful answer is, is that you will always say no. and I don’t really care what your circumstances are, you don’t have to answer any questions to law enforcement. But the second that you tell them you’re drinking, it now becomes a case where are you impaired. We established that you’re drinking, are you impaired? And you handed them a piece of evidence, they otherwise shouldn’t have. But regardless what your choice was in answering that question, they’re going to then pull you out of the car. Once out of the car, they’re gonna have you perform, or request that you perform, field sobriety tests.