Charles Melville Rowland II’s Answers

Sending this letter without talking to your son's attorney would be a monumentally bad idea. Good intentions do not a legal strategy make. Criminal charges affect the entire family, but only one person bears the burden of the punishment. Please speak with his attorney before sending this letter. Best of luck!

Jeff Meadows nails the law in this area. I would only recommend that you consult with an attorney who is familiar with the court you are going to appear in. Sometimes experienced counsel will know whether or not the judge/magistrate who will hear your case has any particular sentencing proclivities for 2nd offense DUIs. Often judges look at certain facts (how close was the prior, cooperation with police, treatment efforts, etc) to reach a sentencing decision. Don't go in unprepared.

The BMV sends out an initial letter upon receiving the Automatic License Suspension information informing you of your ALS suspension. The initial information is sent based on the charge of OVI. Therefore, your letter may say "first OVI" when in fact your "record" will reflect the reduction to Physical Control. Physical Control is a separate (and very much better) charge than OVI. DUI is O.R.C. 4511.19 and P.C. is O.R.C. 4511.194. It is not the same thing to the BMV.

This question should be answered by the attorney that represented you. He or she will have the best recollection of what was said in court and what you did not did not get told at the time of the plea. Another place to look is at the Judgment Entry that resulted from your appearance. It sure looks like your attorney did a fine job in saving you from a DUI conviction.

Attorney Jeff Meadows nailed it. His answer is great.

From your question I surmise that the error did not occur on the charging document (the ticket) but on another piece of paper that you signed. If that is the case then you would not likely prevail by challenging this error. If, however, the officer's report, the 2255 (goldenrod paper) and the ticket all have the incorrect information, then the prosecution may have a problem establishing the correct date of the offense. The officer may testify to the incorrect date at a motion to suppress...

You must file a valid request for criminal discovery pursuant to Ohio Criminal Rule 16. You only get what you ask for and you must be specific enough for the prosecutor to know what you want. Further, the prosecutor is under no obligation to give you a copy, but only to make it available to you. You need an attorney and it is foolish not to hire one. I dare say that you will not know what to look for when you see the video because you won't know the proper NHTSA procedures, whether there...

It is unusual in Ohio to have a DUI conviction based on drugs (see my previous posts). DUI in Ohio is not subject to expungement. Your record can follow you and many professional licenses can be placed in jeopardy due to a DUI conviction. You should contact an Ohio attorney near your home in Sandusky to discuss your rights and your cases.

The good news is that you have available to you many scientific defenses because your test was .117. You should hire an attorney who knows how to handle an Ohio DUI and is familiar with the defenses available to you. Your past record is relatively clean and should not serve as an aggravating factor in your case. Hiring an attorney is one of the most important steps you can take to protect yourself.

You should consult an attorney. A challenge may exist in the formation of what Ohio law calls reasonable and articulable suspicion to ask you to submit to field sobriety tests. The NHTSA manual provides insight into what is required to formulate reasonable and articulable suspicion as well as what is used to constitutes probable cause for your arrest. Obviously, any attorney would need to hear more of your story and see the discovery before making a determination. Other issues may exist as...