The First District Court of Appeals recently decided a case involving a driving under an OVI suspension charge. A woman was driving her daughter’s car, was pulled over, and subsequently charged with driving under an OVI suspension. The problem was this: the officer did not cite her with any other traffic offenses. Moreover, since was driving her daughter’s car, the stop couldn’t have been related to her prior OVIs.
At the hearing, the officer couldn’t remember why he stopped the car. He said he only vaguely remembered the stop at all. Based on this, Defendant filed a motion to suppress—arguing that the officer lacked reasonable suspicion or probable cause for the traffic stop. The case went on to the Court of Appeals.
Based on the officer’s inability to remember any reason for initiating the traffic stop, the Court of Appeals found she was the subject of an unjustified warrantless seizure. The state did not provide any evidence that the officer had reasonable suspicion or probable cause to initiate the traffic stop of the vehicle. Therefore, the stop violated her Fourth Amendment rights and the Motion to Suppress should have been granted.
If you are charged with Driving under an OVI suspension, talking to an attorney about the underlying facts can be helpful in your defense. Was there a reason the officer pulled you over? Were you charged with any other traffic offenses? If not, you might have a good defense to the charge.
The full text of the case can be found here: State v. Watts, 2024-Ohio-635.
