The Oklahoma Supreme Court has overturned a sweeping 2017 DUI law for due-process flaws and for violating constitutional single-subject requirements. The entire law was set aside before it even took effect. The decision means ongoing uncertainty for thousands of drivers accused of DUI – and police enforcing DUI laws – with regard to the procedure for contesting drivers license revocations after DUI arrests.
DUI
James M. Wirth, Esq.
James M. Wirth, Esq. 
The Oklahoma Supreme Court handed down speedy trial guidelines for DPS drivers license revocation hearings, suggesting the hearings must be scheduled within 60 days after DPS receives a request for a hearing. But DPS has been notoriously reluctant to accept its losses. While the new precedent could pave the way for streamlined hearing process, we anticipate the DPS docket will remain clogged with cases the Supreme Court would likely dismiss but DPS will more likely refuse to let go until told to do so by a superior court.
James M. Wirth, Esq.
The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals decided year-long delays before DUI drivers license revocations hearings amount to speedy trial violations. While Oklahoma DPS says the delays are the result of budget constraints, the agency is also awaiting the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s possible review of a decision that undermined the agency’s reliance on a current generation of breathalyzers. The Intoxilyzer 8000 is used to gather evidence for drivers license revocations and for DUI criminal cases.
James M. Wirth, Esq.
Decision Could Affect Oklahoma DUI Prosecutions The state’s highest criminal appeals court has driven another nail in the coffin of the Intoxilyzer 8000 breathalyzer used in Oklahoma driving under the influence cases. Unfortunately, this robocop machine might be counted among the undead. Here is why. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Sept. 11, 2014 […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
Thousands of drivers who paid fees to have their drivers licenses reinstated after Oklahoma DUI arrests could be in line to receive refunds from the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety. The revocations could also be expunged from their records if they prevail in a class-action lawsuit filed in Tulsa County District Court Dec. 2. 2013. […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
An Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals has upheld a trial court’s decision to toss out a police officer’s revocation affidavit because it was legally inadequate. The decision means the driver who appealed a DUI revocation gets to keep her Oklahoma drivers license after being arrested for DUI. The decision calls into question potentially thousands of […]
DCollins 
Tulsa DUI Attorney James Wirth talked with News on Six at KTUL-Tulsa this week about Oklahoma’ metabolite DUI-D law. The law, which took effect Oct. 1, 2013, allows prosecutors to charge anyone with driving under the influence if they have any metabolites of any Oklahoma Schedule 1 drug in their blood, saliva, urine or other […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
Oklahoma’s new metabolite DUI law sets the strictest standard possible for evidence of forbidden drugs potentially found in drivers’ blood. The standard is so strict that, technically speaking, everyone who gets behind the wheel is guilty of violating the law. Those who are in pain, even more so. Sound unbelievable? Here’s how it works. Instead […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
Police call it DUI-D. A new law that takes effect today, Oct. 1, 2013, makes it a crime for anyone driving in Oklahoma to have any detectable amount of marijuana in their blood, saliva, urine or “other bodily fluids.” Drivers on Oklahoma highways need to be wary. Police may soon be using new tactics to […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
An Ohio appeals court ruling this month delivered a severe body blow to a breathalyzer machine now being used in Oklahoma DUI cases to infer blood alcohol levels in drivers suspected of driving under the influence. A judge ruled the results from the Intoxilyzer 8000 are “not scientifically reliable.” In Ohio – as has been […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
An Oklahoma Highway Patrol captain in command of troopers in seven south-central counties wants to expand the use of forced blood draws in DUI traffic stops. The initiative comes on the heals of an April U.S. Supreme Court decision that put a stop to most forced blood draws by police unless they first obtain a […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
A new Oklahoma drugged-driving law set to take effect Oct. 1, 2013 may encourage prosecution of drivers who are not intoxicated. The new metabolite DUI law makes it a crime for a driver to operate a vehicle with any amount of certain drugs – or metabolites of those drugs – in the driver’s bodily fluids. […]
