Thursday, January 27, 2000
Change in DUI dropped
Burden of proof of impairment will remain with state
BY ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS — A state senator is dropping a proposal that would have required some suspected drunken drivers to prove they weren't drunk when stopped by police.
Sen. Scott Oeslager, R-Canton, reintroduced his traffic laws bill on Wednesday to remove the proposal, which affected motorists who refused to take a blood-alcohol test after being stopped on suspicion of drunken driving.
Current law requires the state to prove the motorist was driving drunk.
The Ohio Association of Prosecuting Attorneys and the Ohio State Bar Association objected to the change, saying it raised questions about the violation of drivers' constitutional rights.
“We regard it as almost certainly unconstitutional, and we don't want to spend five years litigating something we're pretty sure we're going to lose,” said John Murphy of the prosecuting attorneys association.
Mr. Oeslager introduced the bill last year after the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission spent several years working on its traffic law report. For the most part, the 900-page bill recommends minor changes dealing with such infractions as driving with a suspended license and speeding.
Mr. Oeslager said Wednesday he knew the blood-alcohol test change would be controversial and assumed constitutionality questions would be raised. But he wanted the issue heard after all the work the commission put in, he said.
The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicle said more than 60,000 motorists were asked to take the test in 1998, and 31 percent refused.
Motorists who refuse the test lose their license automatically for one year, a penalty not affected by the proposed bill.
Another change regarding blood-alcohol tests remains in the bill: It would levy a $405 fee on convicted drunken drivers trying to get their license back regardless of whether they took the blood-alcohol test or refused.
Current law levies a higher fee on those who take the test than those who refuse.
Celeste Teresh, state chairwoman of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, was angered by Mr. Oeslager's move to remove the presumption of guilt clause. The fact that drivers can refuse the blood-alcohol test without being presumed they were driving drunk is “just another one of the loopholes they fall through,” she said.
“If the government continues to allow these loopholes to exist, drunk drivers will continue to win and lives will continue to be lost,” she said.
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