It is very common for an arresting officer to detect the odor of an alcoholic beverage soon after a stop for a Columbus, Ohio OVI / DUI.  This presence of an “odor” is used to justify the further detainment in an OVI stop and typically leads to the administration of the standardized field sobriety tests.

Because the detainment further intrudes on a person’s liberty, the sobriety tests must be separately justified by specific, articulable facts that serve as a reasonable basis for the request.

The first thing to assess is the validity of the stop.  Then, the defense lawyer should explore the facts that would justify the prolonging of the stop.  There is a long list of factors that are taken into account in determining if the officer had the right to detain.  Among a few are:

location of the stop, erratic driving, slurred speech, odor of an alcoholic beverage, admission to drinking alcohol and fumbling through their wallet in order to produce requested documents.

The above represent an example of what the court will examine when deciding if an officer had the right to detain a person suspected of a Columbus, Ohio OVI beyond that time that is usually required to write a normal traffic citation.  Make sure your lawyer evaluates the case thoroughly in order to create the best defense possible.