OUI Question

[SqueakMouse]

What is the name of your state? OH

First off, I have retained an attorney but will not get a chance to meet with her for quite a while to discuss this, and it's been weighing on my mind. This seems relatively unique, so I thought I'd toss it out to the fourm for some pre-consultation advice.

I was escorted out of a tavern the other night and subsequently arrested for OUI. The city police officer observed my car parked awkwardly in the parking lot with a flat tire, pulled through, and observed that it had nicked the vehicle in front of it. There was some apparant damage, and im not asserting that the officer was in any means out of line for checking into the situation. After running my plate, and discovering my wifes name, he entered the establishment to look, I would assume, for her or myself. After identifying me sitting there enjoying a beverage, he asked me to come outside to have a little chat. He asked if I had been driving that evening and why I hadnt reported the apparant accident.

At that point I clammed up. I had had a few drinks and only thought I blew out my tire (I had brake issues as well and had to slam my p.o.s. Toyota into 'Park' to even stop). Realizing I did not like where this line of questioning was going at all, and obviously at that point having consumed a few drinks, I decided to begin exercising my right to remain silent immediately. I was then arrested for suspicion of OUI and taken immediately into custody.

After about a half hour of what I assumed was the officer standing around writing out an accident report or what have you, he returned to the cruiser I was sitting in and pulled me out to try to administer a field sobriety test, which i refused. He then attemtped to administer a BPT, which I also refused. Se we took a ride down to city lockup and what amounted to about 2 1/2 hours after our initial contact, I had my blood drawn. I am going to assume the results of that test to show a decent amount of intoxication.

My question (finally) is: How can they allege OUI, or more to the point, prove it? I am completely agreeable to coping to the accident...hell, there's a better than average chance that I know the other guy who's car was hit and I'll owe him and apology w/interest, but...I wasnt drunk when I arrived. I had not spent a terribly long time in the tavern, and I'm not going to be disingeneous and say I hadnt consumed a few before heading over there, but how can I, or the police for that matter, pinpoint at what level i was when the fender bender occured? I'm sure the amount i had previously, plus what I had consumed at the tavern, would stack up to a BAC that would prove me over the limit.

I have no past record, and im comfortable admitting to things I am sure that are true, but with the increasingly ridiculous penalties and things associated with OUI/DUI charges in this state, I'd like to know how much of a chance I have of beating (I hate that term) the OUI charge?

[BigMistakeFl]

I know it's hard to have grace under fire in that type of situation, but why didn't you take the tests? You were pulled out of a bar where you'd been drinking AFTER you drove the vehicle there. So what if you're fubar'd at that point? Ohio DMV will probably automatically suspend you now for refusal. Maybe another member can offer more, but it seems like you may only have gotten hit with the accident and leaving the scene.

[outonbail]

I'm not sure refusing to take the test can result in his drivers license being suspended unless they can prove that he was the one driving. Who's to say that he was actually the one who drove the vehicle and parked it there? (pushing a few cars out of his way in the process)

If he clammed up and didn't claim to be the one operating the vehicle, then the prosecution would first have to have enough evidence, like an eye witness or two, who could place him behind the wheel, then they would have to prove that he was drunk when he arrived, not hours later.

Of course if you were driving on a flat tire and didn't notice that you hit another car, chances are you were $hit faced when you arrived,,,,if, of course, you were the one driving.

But I have to say this much, anyone who is so desperate to get to the bar, that they would drive a car with a flat tire and no brakes, so when they need to stop, they have to throw the transmission into park, is really an idiot. Lets face it, this POS vehicle you're using to go bar hopping, is an accident waiting to happen, even if you're not driving it around drunk.
I hope the officer had it towed and I hope that you didn't retrieve it from the tow yard. This way the tow yard can scrap it like you should have done months ago.

[SqueakMouse]

Outonbail, I do not disagree about towing the POS or scrapping it! Should have done that a bit ago.

As for being "...so desperate to get to the bar..." the tire blew out while turning into it, and i wasnt '$hit faced' nearly at all, but your sarcasm is well noted. You are not the first to direct the smarta$$ery towards me, and I know it's well deserved. I couldn't feel more like an idiot, to be honest.

Thanks for the previous, and further advice!

[BigMistakeFl]

DMV has neither the ability nor the power to decide whether the driver's refusal was baseless or not, short of a DMV hearing. The suspension will happen automatically, from the point of the refusal forward. The DMV hearing is always a possibility, but by refusing he began a process which is going to be very tough to stop.