An Ohio woman drove to the sheriff’s office about a personal matter but reportedly ended-up being arrested for OVI while she was there. Six days later, the same woman was stopped for disobeying a traffic control device and ultimately charged with a second OVI. Within four hours of being released for the second OVI, she was stopped again. This time she was charged with OVI and driving under suspension. What sentence is she now facing?
Ohio OVI Sentences
Ohio has mandatory minimum sentences for OVIs. For a first offense, there are three parts to the mandatory sentence. The first part is a fine, which is a minimum of $565 and a maximum of $1,075. The second part is a license suspension, which is a minimum of one year and a maximum of three years. The third part is a jail term, which is a minimum of three days and a maximum of six months. For the jail term, a judge can allow the defendant to attend a three-day driver intervention program instead of three days in jail. In addition to the mandatory parts of the sentence, a judge has the option of imposing additional sanctions such as probation (aka ‘community control’), substance abuse counseling, restricted (yellow) license plates, and an ignition interlock device.
Ohio’s mandatory OVI sentence increases with subsequent OVI convictions within ten years. For a second offense, the sentence includes a jail term of ten days to six months and a license suspension of one year to seven years. For a third offense, the jail term is 30 days to one year, and the license suspension is two years to 12 years. For a second or third offense, substance abuse counseling is mandatory, as are the restricted (yellow) plates and the ignition interlock device. In addition, the vehicle driven at the time of the offense is subject to immobilization or forfeiture.
What Sentence is this Ohio Woman Facing?
Interestingly, this Ohio woman is not facing the mandatory penalties of a third offense. In all three cases, the OVI charge will be treated as a first offense. That is because the possible penalties in Ohio Revised Code section 4511.19(G) are determined by the number of prior convictions within ten years. At the time she was arrested for the second and third OVIs, she had prior charges of OVI but did not have prior convictions for OVI. Therefore, she is facing three first-offense OVIs.
Although each OVI will be treated as a first offense, it is unlikely the judge will impose the minimum sentence in each case. The judge will take into consideration the fact the three OVIs occurred within a week and will almost certainly conclude the minimum sentence is not appropriate. The judge can impose up to six months in jail for each of the first two cases and up to one year in jail for the third case. The judge can order the jail terms to run consecutively, so the possible jail term is two years.
Although the cases will each be treated as a first offense, each convictions will enhance the sentence for subsequent OVI convictions. If she is found guilty in all three first-offense cases, she will have three separate OVI convictions. If she is charged with another OVI within ten years, she will be charged with a felony. A felony OVI is charged when a person has three OVI convictions within the last ten years or five OVI conviction within the past 20 years.
What About the Charge of Driving Under Suspension?
It is reported the woman refused to submit to a breath test in the first two cases. If so, she would have been subjected to an Administrative License Suspension. For the first refusal, the driver’s license suspension is one year. For the second refusal, the suspension is two years. When she was stopped for the third OVI, she was charged with Driving Under Suspension. For that charge, she is facing an additional jail term of up to six months.
About the Author: Shawn Dominy is a leading OVI lawyer in Ohio and the founder of the Dominy Law Firm in Columbus, Ohio. He can be reached through his law firm’s website: Dominy Law Firm.
