Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

In the previous article about Driver's License Restoration eligibility, we learned that 2 DUI's within 7 years requires a License Revocation of at least 1 year, and that 3 within 10 years results in a License Revocation of at least 5 years. In this article, we'll examine how picking up any Driving convictions, including Driving While License Suspended/Revoked/Denied (DWLS/DWLR), will extend that period of Revocation, and for how long.

Many years ago, The Michigan Secretary of State used to impose what was then called a "Mandatory like additional" period of Suspension or Revocation if someone was caught driving during a period of valid Suspension or Revocation. Since those days are long gone, and the lingering cases from that period growing fewer, we won't waste a lot of time revisiting ancient history. The major upshot of the Laws that existed prior to 1999 was that a person who got caught driving during a period of Revocation due to multiple DUI's would get another identical period of Revocation slapped upon them.

This meant that a person with 3 DUI's within 10 years, whose License was Revoked for a minimum of 5 years, and who got caught driving during that period would have another 5 years of Revocation imposed upon them.

If they wound up with 10 years to wait before they could apply for a License Appeal, and got caught driving during that time, then they'd get another 10 years of Revocation added. If, after that, they got caught driving during that 20 year Revocation period, they'd get another 20 years.

Recently, I received a Driving Record from someone who, because of those old Laws, is Revoked until the year 2034.

The good news for this shrinking class of people is that they can go to Court and have those pre-1999 Revocations set aside and become eligible to file a License Appeal. There are, of course, certain requirements and conditions that must be met in order to do this, but if they've not been caught driving within the last 5 years of so, then the way can be cleared in order to file a License Appeal.

More common, however, is the situation where a person has been Revoked for a 2nd, 3rd or subsequent DUI after 1999, and then gets caught driving during that 1 or 5 year Revocation period.

Continue reading "How a Revoked License Charge will Affect a Michigan Driver's License Restoration Appeal" »

In Part 1 of this article, we did an overview of DWLR, compared and contrasted it to DWLS, and left off by noting that anyone facing a DWLR 1st Offense is usually already in "hot water" by virtue of their prior Record. In this second part, we'll look at why that's the case, and how this charge can negatively impact a person's hopes of having their Driver's License Restored anytime soon.

Every Judge hearing one of these cases is going to look at the Defendant's prior Record. That means, to put it plainly (if not harshly), almost every DWLR Driver will be seen as a repeat-offender Drunk Driver who, after all of that, still can't follow the law. That may seem mean spirited (although it's not meant to be), but it's certainly far more accurate than saying almost every DWLR Driver is safe bet to stay out of trouble.

Given that perspective, it only makes sense to make sure the Defendant not only has a Lawyer, but a good one. Hiring some person from far away, or who is not a "regular" at handling these cases makes less sense than taking a Court-Appointed Lawyer. Whatever else, at least the Court-Appointed Lawyer will have an idea of how the Judge will handle the case, which is a lot more than can be said for the Lawyer from far away or the one who doesn't regularly handle this kind of case.

In my Practice, that means only handling these cases when they arise in Macomb, Oakland or Wayne Counties. Whatever "shopping" a person does, bear in mind that the term "local" means a lot here. While it's not for me pass judgment on other Lawyer's practices, or those who hire them, I can certainly give my opinion. Knowing what I know, if I had to hire a Lawyer for a DWLR charge, I'd look for someone from the local, Tri-County area and steer away from those "1-800" number, statewide, "go anywhere, handle any case" kind of outfits. If my case was in a County outside of the Tri-County area, I'd hire a Lawyer from that County. Now, I realize there are exceptions, but a s a general rule, I'd mark that as number 1.

Continue reading "Michigan Driving While License Revoked 1st Offense - Part 2" »

In the previous series of articles, we have examined Driving While License Suspended (DWLS) cases (both DWLS 1st Offense, and DWLS 2nd and Subsequent Offense) and noted that the subject of this series, Driving While License Revoked (DWLR) is a more serious offense.

In Representing Clients with DWLR charges in the Courts of Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties, I have learned that, beyond the actual Law, there is another, real-world dimension to how these cases are viewed and handled.

This article will be broken into 2 Parts, and will deal specifically with Driving While License Revoked (DWLR) 1st Offense. The next articles in this series will deal with DWLR 2nd and Subsequent Offenses.

I point out that DWLR is a more serious Offense than DWLS, but the fact of the matter is that both DWLS and DWLR, and both 1st and 2nd (or Subsequent) Offenses for each are both violations of the very same Law, and are both subject to the exact same penalties. So why is it that I call DWLR more serious than DWLS?

This is what I meant about there being another real-world dimension to these cases beyond the actual, written Law. While it is possible for a person to pick up a DWLS case as the result of a DUI, there is only a very limited scope within which that can happen, and either involves a Breathalyzer Refusal or a 1st Offense DUI (actually and technically, an OWI) wherein a person's License has been suspended for 6 months, and where they were granted a Restricted License for the last 5 months of that period, after they served a mandatory 30 day "hard suspension," meaning no driving privileges whatsoever.

That means that the only DUI matters that can cause a person's License to be Suspended are either Suspensions for Breath-Test Refusal, or a 1st Offense OWI where there was no reduction of the charge to an "Impaired" driving."

However, the number of cases involving Revoked Licenses (DWLR) due to DUI convictions is way higher than the number of DWLS cases attributable to a DUI. That's because unlike the narrow time frame when a person can have a License Suspended because of a DUI, any combination of 2 DUI-related convictions within 7 years will cause a person's License to be Revoked for LIFE, unless and until they are approved, after a Hearing before the Secretary of State's Driver Assessment and Appeal Division (DAAD). Such a Driver can't even apply for this Hearing until at least 1 year has passed.

Continue reading "Michigan Driving While License Revoked 1st Offense - Part 1" »