The Oklahoma Legislature amended the forfeiture laws as they relate to Oklahoma DUI or Oklahoma APC charges. Previously, the forfeiture of a motor vehicle used when the driver was driving under the influence required a conviction on the charge and that there be a previous conviction within the preceding ten years for DUI. Moreover, to forfeit the vehicle, either the previous conviction or the new conviction must have involved serious bodily injury to another or death.
Title 47 O.S. Section 11-902b was amended to add an additional way for the state to forfeit any motor vehicle involved used by someone convicted of DUI or APC in Oklahoma. The new amendment allows the State to file a forfeiture action for any person convicted of a third or subsequent DUI or APC charge. There is not a ten year limit on the look back time.
Oklahoma authorities must still comply with procedures outlined in the statute to ensure due process. The forfeiture action does not over ride or extinguish any security or ownership interest in the vehicle providing the person holding the security lien or ownership interest is not he person convicted nor had any reason to know or should have known that the vehicle was being used to commit the crime of DUI or APC.
This is not new as other states have been tightening down on forfeitures for several years. Tennessee will forfeit any motor vehicles used in the commission of a second or subsequent offense of driving under the influence. Also, Tennessee will forfeit and seize any vehicle being used in the commission of the crime of driving under suspension if the suspension is the result of a DUI charge.
About the Author:
Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, John is the lead attorney with the Hunsucker Legal Group. The Hunsucker Legal Group is a multi-attorney firm defending over 300 DUI cases a year. John is a Director on the Board of the Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Association and a Sustaining Member of the National College of DUI Defense.
Serving as Oklahoma’s NCDD State Delegate, John is also a Faculty Member of the National College for DUI Defense. John is one of only a few attorneys in the country that actually owns the Intoxilyzer 8000 and has instructed attorneys in the United States and Canada on the use and problems of the machine as well as other DUI defense subjects. John has co-authored 20 books on the subject of DUI Defense including Oklahoma DUI Defense, The Law and Practice (Lawyers and Judges Publishing).
John has been featured as a legal expert nationally on CourtTV’s Open Court with Lisa Bloom and CourtTV’s In Session with Ashleigh Banfield. Locally, he has appeared on every major news station in the Oklahoma City market and has been quoted in the Daily Oklahoman for his extensive knowledge of DUI law. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, John was selected as the Daily Oklahoman Reader’s Choice Best DUI Attorney.
John may be reached through his website, www.OKDUI.com or by telephone at 405-231-5600.
