A Felony DUI in Ohio is when someone is charged with DUI or OVI within three years of a previous offense and they have a certain amount of additional priors. In Ohio, whether you have four (4) DUI’s within a twelve (12) month period or twelve (12) DUI’s within a thirty (30) day period those are all felonies. Also if you’ve ever been convicted of another felony DUI, each subsequent DUI is now a felony as well. The penalties for first, second and third infractions don’t change based on the type of crime.
There are many elements that come into play when a judge sentences someone to a felony in a DUI case. Any time an officer suspects the person of driving under the influence there must be some reasonable suspicion to support the arrest. If the officer does suspect the individual, but there is not reasonable suspicion present then the case can still be contested. If there is reasonable suspicion to support the arrest then the individuals Fourth Amendment protection against warrantless searches and seizures is honored.
Unlike most other types of criminal charges, there is a difference between felony dui and misdemeanor dui. With a misdemeanor DUI, the penalties aren’t necessarily going to be very high. For a conviction dui in excess of one hundred and fifty pounds can be levied. However, the penalties do not include parking fines or anything like that. The penalties will vary from state to state.
There is another form of felony dui in Ohio, this time a gross vehicular manslaughter. This charge is punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than ten years. If the person convicted of this offense is found guilty again of vehicular manslaughter then their second conviction will be applied to the first. This means that if they are convicted once they are accused of vehicular manslaughter once more then they will face the maximum penalties again. As you can see, the penalties do not decrease with the number of times someone is charged.
The last element of what is a felony dui in Ohio is for the crime of driving while intoxicated or DWI. The punishments associated with this are quite severe as well. A person who is charged with DWI in Columbus may be required to serve jail time or be on probation. The same holds true for someone who is charged with the same offense in Lorain County.
When a person is first charged with a DUI, there are some common penalties that apply. However, these penalties will vary according to the judge and the state that the case is in. A first offense DUI can result in a misdemeanor, which will be punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to one thousand dollars. A second DUI can result in a misdemeanor, which will also be punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to three thousand dollars. A third or fourth DUI can be considered a felony in which the defendant can be given a sentence of not less than one year in jail and a fine of up to five thousand dollars.