The Dominy Law Firm represents clients charged with OVI / DUI in Canal Winchester, Ohio. Whether you are a Canal Winchester resident with a DUI/OVI case in a central Ohio court or you have a DUI/OVI case in Canal Winchester, you may have questions about your situation. Questions are commonly asked about topics such as court procedures, potential sentences, what the prosecution must prove, and what defenses are available. Those topics are covered in this website. Those topics and more are covered in the guide ‘Ohio DUI / OVI Guide’. The guide is a quick read, and although it is for sale in bookstores online, you can download the e-book for free from this website.
Canal Winchester is a fairly small village outside the city of Columbus, and there are relatively few DUI/OVI cases which occur in this village. The village does not have its own police department, so it contracts with the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services. As Canal Winchester is located in two different counties, DUI/OVI cases originating there may be filed in one of three courts: the Canal Winchester Mayor’s Court, the Franklin County Municipal Court, or the Fairfield County Municipal Court. The location of the alleged offense and the record of the driver dictate the court in which the case is filed. If the case is filed in the Canal Winchester Mayor’s Court, you have the right to transfer the case to a municipal court. Whether you do that is an important decision, so you may want to consult with a Canal Winchester DUI / OVI attorney before deciding.
In DUI/OVI cases, there are two broad categories of evidence. The first category is observations. This category includes the observations of any witnesses, including law enforcement officers and civilian witnesses. Observation evidence is typically used to prove the defendant’s ability to operate a vehicle was impaired. The second category is tests. This category includes field sobriety tests administered at the scene and breath tests administered at the police station, as well as blood tests and urine tests conducted by a crime lab or medical facility. Test evidence is typically used to prove the defendant had a prohibited amount of alcohol and/or drugs in his or her breath/blood/urine.
The law enforcement agency in Canal Winchester is using the Intoxilyzer 8000 breath-testing machine. The Dominy Law Firm is familiar with the Intoxilyzer 8000. Shawn Dominy was defense counsel for a case in which the judge ruled the Intoxilyzer 8000 test results cannot be used in court because the machine is too unreliable. Both Shawn Dominy and Bryan Hawkins are currently involved in cases with this breath-testing machine.
If you would like the opportunity to review the evidence in your case, you should not finish the case at the first court appearance. If you finish the case at the first court appearance, you will not be able to review the evidence, evaluate the strength of the evidence, and explore defenses. This is not to suggest every person charged with DUI/OVI should fight it. That decision needs to be made on an individual basis. If, however, you are hoping to avoid a DUI/OVI conviction on your record, you should plead not guilty at the first court appearance. You should also consider hiring an attorney with a practice focused on DUI/OVI defense.
The Dominy Law Firm is focused on DUI/OVI defense. Approximately 80% of the firm’s cases involve DUI/OVI. Both of the attorneys in the firm have developed expertise in this area, and the firm puts that expertise to work for its clients, including clients from Canal Winchester and clients with cases in Canal Winchester.
For more information about us, please see the attorney profile page. If you are interested in the outcomes of past cases and the satisfaction level of past clients, please see our case results page and the client reviews page. To schedule a free phone consultation with us, please call 614-717-1177 or by email the Dominy Law Firm.