Q: I need advice over fighting a OVI charge.
Crashed vehicle Sunday morning around 515am. I had a couple beers the night before, around 11pm. I was completely sober. I crashed due to me lookin at my phone, gps for directions. Lost control at a curve and crashed into a pole and into a ditch. Officer could smell the alcohol on my breath and immediately assumed I was intoxicated. I didn't meet with this officer until a couple hours after the accident as I crashed in the middle of nowbere, my phone died and I was alone. I walked 5 miles before finding someone, used his phone to call the highway patrol.
So this was 2.5 hours after the accident occured. My left leg was hurt. It got caught under the steering wheel somehow and smashed under. I then had to walk 5 mIles on it and was so sore and in pain aftsr. I told the cop my injuries well before any field test.
I know i didn't do the best on the standING on one foot thing as my leg was shaky and weak. He assumed it was alcohol related.never gave me a breathalyzer or anuthing.
A: You present an interesting set of facts. Unfortunately, the best advice I can provide is obtain the services of an experience OVI/DUI attorney. Since there was no chemical test, the prosecution will have to rely upon circumstantial evidence that when you were driving and crashed you were impaired by alcohol or drugs, or a combination of them. They may find that difficult. The most significant of the Standardized Field Sobriety Test is the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test. It has some science to back up the results, however the prosecution will need an expert to provide testimony regarding your results, if in fact one was administered to you.
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