Steve Palmer [00:00:00]:

Alright. Steve Palmer here back with another DUI 360. Before, though, we get into that, let's talk about the podcast generally. You can check us out at lawyertalkpodcast.com. You can check us out on all the socials. YouTube is blowing up. Thank you for everybody who's watching and commenting. We're getting to all your questions and, topics as we speak.

Steve Palmer [00:00:18]:

You can see us on Facebook. If you get your own question, whether it's DUI or OVI in Ohio as we call it related, just check us out there. Send us a comment. Shoot us a question on the website, and we'll get to it. Alright. DUI three sixty where we cover a 360 degree view of DUIs. In Ohio, we call this OVI. Other states call it DUI or whatever whatever they might call it, but it's all the same.

Steve Palmer [00:00:40]:

It means you can't get behind the wheel when you're drunk and drive your car, and we are breaking it down. Today, I wanna talk about we'll just call this what happens when a DUI gets worse. And you'd be thinking, alright. Well, how possibly can a DUI get any worse? Well, there's a few different ways. First, even if it's just your first offense, if you get in a crash while under the influence of alcohol or at least while the police think you're under the influence of alcohol and you hurt somebody, and not just somebody in another car, somebody in your own car, then that can get a lot worse very quickly. And and in Ohio, we would call that ag vehicular assault if somebody is just hurt, or you can call it aggravated vehicular homicide if somebody dies. And the idea is or the basic elements are, if as a result of the driver operating a car under the influence of alcohol or with a prohibited blood, breath, or urine concentration of alcohol in their system and somebody dies as a result or somebody is hurt as a result, that becomes the felony aggravated aggravated vehicle assault or aggravated vehicle homicide. So that gets bad.

Steve Palmer [00:01:41]:

And and let me tell you, when these these are the stories that you see on TV where you've got a family with a loved one, and maybe it was, two teenagers and the best friends. And one was driving. The other was in the passenger seat and died as a result of the crash. This gets horrible. I mean, if you wanna bring yourself to tears, go look at some sentencing hearings with that kind of stuff going on. And you've got a young kid, sometimes even under 21, or just turned 21 in college, and it ruining his life. I mean, these are the ruin ruins too big of a word, but life altering for certain, sometimes multiple years in prison, and it just doesn't have to happen. So anybody who has any questions, check out first, do no harm.

Steve Palmer [00:02:20]:

In other words, don't drink and drive. Now the second way you can get into bigger trouble with just a regular OVI is if you if you start stacking up multiple offenses. In Ohio, you start talking third, fourth offenses, you're gonna get indicted as a felony. And felony OVIs are sort of these weird hybrid things in Ohio where, there's some mandatory jail time, not necessarily prison. Sometimes there's prison time. But, you know, I have clients call me all the time. They've got two priors within ten years, two prior convictions, and they've got their third or maybe three priors and they got their fourth. And they're looking at a felony, and they don't really even realize it because it just feels like a normal OVI at first.

Steve Palmer [00:02:58]:

And then I had this conversation and I say, listen. I don't wanna be the bearer of bad news, but you're looking at a felony here, and you're probably gonna get indicted. And people you wanna see jaws hit the table, that's when it happens because it stacks up quickly. Ohio particularly, if I always tell people, if you get a first offense OVI hits you hard in the pocketbook, it costs for a lawyer. It costs to reinstate your driver's license when your suspension is up. It costs to do a three day driver's intervention program or weekend drunk school. It it costs, to take Ubers when you can't drive because you're going I mean, really expensive, but you can get through it. Most people can absorb a first offense OVI.

Steve Palmer [00:03:40]:

Once in Ohio, you start getting to the second offense. You're talking a mandatory 10. If you just go plead guilty on a second offense OBI, the judge has to put you in jail for ten days. Now, hopefully, you hire somebody like us, and we can help work around that. But trust me, it's not a problem you wanna have. Third offense in Ohio, you're talking thirty days in jail. And, you know, it it it these are consequences that people don't always realize when they're making that decision. So how does a DUI get worse? Well, one of two ways.

Steve Palmer [00:04:08]:

Either you hurt somebody or kill somebody, heaven forbid, or you start stacking up priors. Either way, don't do it. You got questions about OVI, you wanna check out the DUI three sixty series here at lawyertalkpodcast.com, where we are coming at you each and every week, at least until now.