What is OWI?
- Thread starter NVboiler
- Start date
It's technically Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated (OVWI) in Indiana (it's under Indiana code chapter 9-30-5, I think section 2). But there's no distinction between DUI, DWI, OWI, OUI. Those are just different abbreviations that people use in common language for the same thing.
OWI (operating while intoxicated) is what you hear more often in Indiana these days because it more closely matches the actual name of the charge in Indiana which is actually OVWI (Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated). Intoxication is most often BAC (blood alcohol content) but could also be intoxicated by drugs. OVW BAC of more than 0.8% is a separate charge- so if you test higher than 0.8 you will be charged with both.
Source- I was a marion county court officer for 5 years
Source- I was a marion county court officer for 5 years
Actually, Russia is much different than the USSR/Soviet Union, if you want to play semantics...
Actually USSR and Soviet Union are the same, Russia was one of 15 Republics (former countries) that made up the USSR. Wouldnt want the falsehood that Russia = USSR. I mean this is supposed to be a college message board, we should have college level knowledge, lol.
DWI and OWI are quite different. Someone who is intoxicated, sitting in a car while it is running or listening to a radio, is operating the vehicle. There have been cases of OWI that have occurred in Allen County, simply because someone used a key to open a driver side door.
We have Tom Weiss to thank for this one. He was a former state senator from Allen County, who introduced SR1 at the start of each session to bring about some rather ridiculous laws.
I don't know Tom Weiss or anything about his work at the statehouse, but your first paragraph is 100% wrong.
I've prosecuted probably 1,000 drunk driving cases. It is NOT DWI in Indiana. It's OVWI. There is no DWI here, it's just one of those things people call it and it makes no difference. You can scour the Indiana code all day long and you'll never find a DWI offense. There's the "operating a vehicle while intoxicated," "operating a vehicle with a BAC of .08-.14," operating a vehicle with a BAC of .15 or greater," and "operating a vehicle with Schedule I or II controlled substance." The only thing remotely close is an obscure charge I've seen used one time where it's an infraction for a minor to operate with a BAC of .like .02 or greater.
Finally, the case law is 100% clear that sitting drunk in a running car alone is not sufficient to sustain a OVWI conviction. LINK. Allen Co. might have overzealous prosecutors (I don't know them), but if they prosecuted someone for unlocking a door, the defense bar needs to up their game.
Oh yeah, you might have prosecuted 1,000 drunk driving cases, but i have been drunk well over 1,000 times and I call it DWI.
Sure you are 100% correct, but every now and then you have to try the Chewbacca defense, lol.
