It has been held in Ohio courts that an accident and an idea of alcohol is enough to establish probable cause to arrest. This was defined in State v. Hummel in which there was a motorcycle accident that was not observed and the motorcycle was lying in the middle of the road. The defendant as observed going in and out of consciousness in the back of the ambulance and had a strong odor of alcohol about his person. The court rationalized the probable cause as the standard is less than would be required to obtain a conviction.
In contrary, it has been held that when there is no evidence of bad driving, other than by an independent witness, even though the defendant had an odor of alcohol, bloodshot eyes, and labored speech, this was not enough evidence to establish probable cause to arrest for OVI.
In conclusion, it is vital that your DUI defense attorney explore the totality of the circumstances if a crash is involved in order to establish if the State had probable cause to arrest.
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