Being arrested and charged with DUI can feel disastrous and overwhelming. You may be stressed out and anxious as you deal with the fallout from your charges. If you are unable to drive, how will you get to and from work to make a living? Perhaps you drive your children to and from school. Most of us spend a considerable amount of time behind the wheel as we buy groceries and run errands. The financial cost of a DUI conviction may also be weighing heavily on you. Future consequences can be equally devastating. You may be denied a job you are otherwise well-qualified for with a DUI conviction on your record or may be unable to rent an apartment or obtain a federal student loan for college.
Then there’s the social aspect of a DUI conviction. Your co-workers and others you know may judge you based on this one mistake and friends and family may even be judgmental. Should you find yourself being charged with a Beavercreek DUI, there is one thing you can do that can potentially make a significant difference in the outcome of your charges. That one thing is to contact a Beavercreek DUI attorney from Horwitz & Horwitz as quickly as possible following your charges. Our attorneys have 45 years of combined legal experience. This experience allows us to accurately assess your situation, then provide you with the highest quality defense.
What Areas Related to DUI Can be Helped by a Horwitz & Horwitz Attorney?
The defense your Horwitz & Horwitz attorney will use on your behalf will depend on the facts and circumstances surrounding your charges. We will dig through all the evidence to find any mistake made by police during your arrest. First, we will determine whether the police officer had reasonable cause to stop you. You must have committed some traffic offense or given the police officer a good reason to pull you over in the first place. Once stopped, there must be reasonable cause for the officer to believe you are intoxicated. Perhaps the officer witnessed you slurring your words, smelled a strong odor of alcohol, or had other good reason to believe you were driving while intoxicated.
Once arrested, the officer must read you your Miranda rights. If you clearly state you will not answer further questions and want to speak to an attorney, yet the questioning continues, your rights may have been violated. You should always exercise your right to remain silent. The police may give you the impression that if you cooperate and answer questions you will be allowed to go home. This is virtually never the case. Any “explaining” you attempt to do will only give the police more evidence against you when your words are taken out of context. Your Horwitz & Horwitz attorney will help you through your DUI charges with a goal of the least possible consequences.
About Beavercreek, Ohio
As the largest city in Greene County, Beavercreek is also the second-largest suburb of Dayton with a population of nearly 47,000. Settled in the early 1800s, Beavercreek Township was incorporated, becoming the City of Beavercreek in 1980. The Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is one of the primary employers for Beavercreek residents. In 2007, Beavercreek was named the 84th best place to live in the United States. With two golf courses, 23 parks, and a bike path stretching more than 15 miles, residents have plenty of choices for outside activities. Greene Town Center is an open-air mall that contains retail stores, dining options, office space, entertainment venues, and more. While Beavercreek is a great place to live and work, residents can make errors in judgment, driving while under the influence. When that occurs, strong legal counsel who will mount an immediate defense on their behalf is crucial.
Overview of Ohio DUI Penalties and Consequences
Under Ohio law, if you are being charged with a first-time DUI/OVI (within the past ten years), and your BAC was between 0.08 percent and 0.16 percent, you could spend up to 3 days in jail or 3 days in a driver intervention program. These penalties may be avoided by having an ignition interlock device installed on your vehicle. You could also be assessed fines from $375 to $1,075, have your license suspended for 1-3 years, be placed on probation for up to 5 years, possibly be sentenced to restricted DUI license plates, and have 6 points added to your driving record. If your BAC is over 0.16 percent, you could spend up to 6 days in jail or a combination of 3 days in jail and 3 days in a driver intervention program.
A second DUI/OVI in ten years with a BAC between 0.08 percent and 0.16 percent could result in a minimum of 10 days in jail, or 5 days in jail and 18 days of house arrest with continuous alcohol monitoring or electronic monitoring. The maximum jail sentence is 6 months. You will additionally: be placed on probation for up to five years, have fines as high as $1,625, have your driver’s license suspended for 1-7 years, be required to have restricted license plates and an ignition interlock device, may be sentenced to alcohol and drug assessment and treatment, could have your vehicle immobilized for 90 days, and will have six points added to your driving record. Penalties for subsequent DUI convictions significantly increase in severity.
Do I Really Need a Beavercreek DUI Attorney Following My Charges?
Unless you have a deep knowledge and understanding of all the laws related to an Ohio DUI/OVI—and are self-confident and knowledgeable enough to argue your case in court, you should always let an experienced Beavercreek DUI attorney handle your DUI charges. DUI is a serious offense that can affect your future, your employment, your ability to drive, and much more. Your attorney knows how to spot weaknesses in the prosecution’s case and will be looking for any errors made by the police during your stop and arrest.
The police may not have had probable cause to pull you over or may have conducted an illegal search. They may have neglected to read you your Miranda rights or may have ignored your requests for an attorney. Additionally, there can be a whole host of problems associated with Breathalyzer machines. The machine itself may not have been properly maintained or calibrated, or the officer may not have been properly trained to use the machine.
Many different personal issues on your end can also affect the BAC reading, including where you work (those who work around paint, varnish, or other chemicals may have a falsely high reading), what medications you are taking, what medical conditions you have, and even what type of diet you are on. While you are unlikely to know what to look for or how to look for it, your Beavercreek DUI attorney from Horwitz & Horwitz will know and will fight for you from beginning to end.
If You’ve Been Charged with DUI, Horwitz & Horwitz Can Help
If you want an attorney who will clearly put your needs and your future first, call a Beavercreek DUI attorney from Horwitz & Horwitz. We understand this is a stressful time for you and will do our best to ensure your DUI charges do not derail your life. We will search for evidence that will allow us to negotiate lesser charges or lesser penalties. We believe in our clients and will work with integrity to help you during this difficult time. Our highly skilled attorneys will never hand your case off to others as many law firms do. When you contact Horwitz & Horwitz, you will speak directly to the attorney who will be with you for the remainder of your DUI case.
