Land-Grant Holy Land spoke with a legal expert to outline what happens next in the Buckeye coach’s OVI case.
On Tuesday, Kevin McGuff had his day in court, in a way. The Ohio State women’s basketball coach did not physically set foot into the Dublin Mayor’s Court, instead, his lawyer Richard Piatt acted as magistrate and entered a not guilty plea. While that might seem peculiar from a non-legal viewpoint, considering the released bodycam footage showing an obviously inebriated McGuff on the evening of May 6, 2025, from a legal standpoint, it was the logical, and expected next step.
“Please understand that Kevin McGuff is presumed innocent and, like everyone else charged with an offense, deserves to have this case resolved on the merits and the facts that actually occurred,” said Piatt in a statement to the Associated Press.
The not guilty plea should not surprise people. It is how the system works.
“As a defense attorney, I would always advise someone to enter not guilty first,” attorney Don Olsen explained to LGHL. “There’s a process here.”
Olsen is not involved with the McGuff case, but has experience working with OVI charges as a partner at Bowen, Scranton & Olsen, LLC. McGuff’s plea of not guilty is not to deny the fact that he was intoxicated when Dublin police approached the Buckeye coach last week; instead, it is a common step in the process.
There are three main pillars lof egal defense: evidence, procedure, and mitigation. Concerning evidence, if McGuff went with a guilty plea, both he and his lawyer would never get the chance to see what evidence the state has collected.
“Evidence may seem clear, but the defense can’t review the evidence until after they enter a ‘not guilty,’” Olsen said. “A person should always exercise their rights and make an informed decision before giving up the right to make the state prove them guilty.”
There is also the other side of that coin; once Piatt and McGuff receive the evidence, after reviewing it, they can decide that it is strong and change his plea to guilty in hopes of securing a plea bargain.
For procedure, when McGuff entered the not guilty plea, it means that the burden is on the state to now prove his guilt. That means getting potential witnesses, like the person who called in the allegedly erratic driving on May 6, and reviewing any additional details from the Dublin Police’s investigation.
In some cases, the witness forgets details, or cannot be reached, or the evidence is obtained via non-legal methods. Again, there is no idea of knowing until the defense receives the evidence during the discovery period.
“I have that conversation weekly. That’s why the process is there,” said Olsen.
Mitigation is when the defense presents information to receive a lesser charge. In the case of McGuff, the May 6 OVI charge is his first offence. The defense will likely leverage that in hopes of the charges being reduced, mitigating their impact.
Up next in the case is the pre-trial hearing. For this case, it stays in the Dublin Mayor’s Court, where the defense and prosecution teams meet to discuss a potential plea.
“Two most common are a physical control or a reckless operation,” Olsen said. “Physical control is a zero-point operation, saying, ‘I was not driving but I was in the car with the keys in the ignition.’ Physical control also requires admission that a person was impaired.”
A reckless operation charge is a misdemeanor that usually ends in a fine, but some versions have potential penalties including jail, probation, and license suspension as well.
Should the pre-trial process not end in a plea decision, and McGuff and his lawyer push for a trial, it will move to the Franklin County court system, the county in which he was arrested.
If the case escalates to the trial level, which is believed to be unlikely, and McGuff is found guilty of an OVI, the minimum sentence in the state of Ohio is three days in jail or three days in a driver prevention program. Plus a fine of $375, and additional fees. The crime also includes six points on his license and a one-year license suspension.
The maximum penalty is six months in jail, a three-year license suspension, and a $1,075 fine. There are also numerous levels between the minimum and maximum.
According to McGuff’s contract, if he is found guilty, there would be cause for the university to terminate the final year of employment on his contract. That would mean that he would not receive a buyout, severance, or additional paycheck.
Until the case goes through the legal process, it is not likely to see any action from the university.