Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Anyone facing a DUI understands that the breathalyzer results are very important. Those numerical results are supposed to equate to a person's Bodily Alcohol Content (BAC), and are used by the Police and Prosecutors to show that that a person was "under the influence" or "over the limit" in any Drunk Driving Case. Beyond that, once a person's BAC has been measured at the Police Station, they are not released until that number has fallen low enough to be sure the Police aren't responsible for letting an intoxicated person out of their care and custody.

In my DUI Practice, this number is important to me for a variety of reasons. It goes without saying that any DUI Lawyer, like me, looks at that number with the hope that it can somehow be challenged in a way that makes the whole DUI charge collapse. In this article we'll briefly examine the whole notion of challenging the breathalyzer.

I have pointed out that those situations in which a case can be "knocked out" because of some breathalyzer problem are more the exception, rather than the rule. This is a phrase that we'll repeat a number of times throughout this article. I simply will not set up shop and "cash in" by selling, and telling people, what they want to hear, as opposed to telling the truth. And the truth is that most DUI cases are not going to be dismissed on some breathalyzer technicality.

In a prior article entitled Michigan DUI - How the Rich and Famous Beat the Charges," I pointed out that, in most cases, they don't. I think that's a fact worth repeating. If these charges could be beaten by simple persistence, then every single celebrity and person of fame would just plunk down the cash to "Lawyer up" and get the case dismissed. Yet, almost every day, we hear of someone famous getting charged with DUI, and, sometime later, you hear about them being placed on Probation.

Why?

Because those DUI cases that can be easily knocked out are the exception, and not the rule.

Consider, for a moment, the garden-variety DUI charge. The Officer will claim to have observed the Driver swerve or in some way drive erratically. Sometimes, these observations are made (or at least claimed) after a cell-phone tip. When the person is pulled over, the Officer notes all the usual characteristics of DUI driving. Fast-forwarding a bit, after being taken to the Police Station, the end result is usually a breathalyzer (BAC) score of over, if not well over, the legal limit of .08.

Continue reading "Michigan DUI - Understanding and Challenging Breathalyzer Results" »

In part 1 of this article, we began examining the role of in-car Police video in DUI cases. We left off after reviewing the role of in-car video right up through the Traffic Stop. In this 2nd part, we'll pick up with what typically follows in any DUI Traffic Stop, the Field Sobriety Tests.

Beyond the Traffic Stop itself, in-car video can record the Field Sobriety Tests. In these cases, the audio is also important. Therefore, it shouldn't come a surprise that in any number of these videos I've obtained, there was no audio, or the Sobriety Tests were performed outside the angle of view of the in-car camera.

To be fair, in most of the videos I've seen and heard, the Client has, to put it nicely, not been at their best. Told, for example, to count backward from 89 to 72, the Client will continue on past 72 into the 60's. Letters are skipped during alphabet recitals. "I've seen enough. Turn it off" is a request that has been made of me any number of times while the Client and I watched the video.

Again, even if the video offers no help in avoiding a DUI, it does bring a certain peace of mind to the Client, because they can at least move beyond any belief (or clouded memory) that they did "fine."

Although it may be exception, rather than the rule, finding that video where the Client does just fine is a bonus. It's like finding a pound of gold in a ton of dirt.

Before any of this can be done, however, it must be determined whether or not there was any in-car video. As a general rule, most Police departments will "recycle," or erase over any video in about 30 days after it is recorded. This means a person must not delay in hiring a Lawyer to make that inquiry to prevent destruction of this evidence.

Which should bring to mind two very important questions. Why would the Police destroy any video that supports their case? Wouldn't they really only be interested in getting rid of any video that did NOT help their case?

Continue reading "The Role of Police Video in a Michigan DUI Case - Part 2" »

In my capacity as a DUI Lawyer, I have read, in my 20-plus years, thousands upon thousands of Police Reports. Careful examination of the Police Report in any DUI case is absolutely essential to proper handling of the case. In the last number of years, however, the presence of Police in-car video has added another ingredient to the mix of things that must be reviewed by the Attorney before any plan of intelligent action can be formulated. This article will be a bit longer than most of the others in the Drunk Driving section of this blog, and therefore will be divided into 2 parts.

We live in a video world. The advent of shows like "Cops" introduced us to seeing Police in action. And if you want to take about media "bias," how often do you see Police video of innocent people being questioned, and the let go? Short of the Rodney King video, and perhaps a few other examples of Police misconduct, all captured by third parties, by the way, we've essentially been trained to expect Police video to demonstrate guilt.

If you tune in to the local news, and there is Police video being run as part of any story, it almost always shows the Police arresting someone who should be arrested. DUI drivers are shown as staggering, and if there's audio, you hear them slurring their speech, or sounding otherwise drunk.

In DUI cases, it is not uncommon for me to be asked by a new Client, before I ever even get that far, about the Police video. "Can you get it? I'd like to see it."

In-car Police video has the potential to derail a DUI prosecution more than any other single piece of evidence. Admittedly, those examples of cases where the Police video contradicts the Officer's written version of events aren't very common, but for an investment of about $50, it amounts to a small price that can result in a huge payoff.

It is important to note, however, that Police are not required to have video-equipped Police cars. And even if the car has such equipment, there is no Law requiring that it be operational.

In the real world, Police video can really impact 2 major areas of a DUI arrest: The initial Traffic Stop, and the Field Sobriety Tests.

Continue reading "The Role of Police Video in a Michigan DUI Case - Part 1" »

As a DUI Lawyer who has been in practice for over 20 years, I have seen the landscape of the whole Drinking and Driving field change considerably over that time period. Within the body of articles in the Drunk Driving section of this Blog, I have covered many aspects of DUI cases, from the Traffic Stop, to the Field Sobriety Tests, to the actual Breath Test, right up and through how a DUI case is handled in Court, including the Alcohol Assessment Test, how and why that is so important, the steps in the DUI process, through what actually happens to the Driver in Court.

This article will not be as informational as are most of my others. Instead, my aim here is to look at how the DUI world has changed in the last 2 decades. I don't do this because I'm getting long in the tooth, or anything like that. Recently, a number of my DUI Clients have come to me with a prior DUI conviction or two from many years past, and can hardly believe what I'm telling them about how these cases are handled today.

To start with an example, I remember well when many Judges, in Sentencing someone for a DUI, would Order, as a condition of Probation, that the person simply NOT drink and drive. Today, there isn't a single Judge who does not, as a matter of course, Order a person to not drink at all during the term of Probation. In the overwhelming majority of cases, including most 1st Offenses and all 2nd and 3rd Offenses, this is backed up by an order for breath and/or urine testing. Sometimes this testing is done at random, other times it is carried out more regularly.

A number of years ago (okay, at this point I'll admit I've been doing this so long that I don't remember exactly when) a few Courts would order someone with a DUI to complete an "Impact Panel," often called a "Victim's Impact Panel." Now, every single Court, without exception, includes this as part of the punishment for a DUI. If the Pope got a DUI, the Judge might kiss his ring, but he or she would next order His Holiness to complete an Impact Panel.

Similarly, there has been an explosion of "Classes." With names Like Alcohol Highway Safety Class, to Alcohol Awareness Class, to what's called the ARM (which stands for Accepting Responsibility is Mandatory) Class, there seems to be no end to the kinds of Alcohol Education Classes a DUI Driver faces.

Today, just paying Fines and Costs is a relatively rare exception. 15 or 20 years ago, it was far more common.

Continue reading "DUI in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties - How Things Have Changed" »

At the outset, I'll admit that the tone of this article is sarcastic. My DUI Practice involves handling real-life cases for real-life people. From time to time, I hear about someone having spent a royal fortune in an attempt to "beat" a case, only to wind up "discovering" that the case against them was rock-solid. Then they cut a Plea deal, having spent thousands more than they otherwise would or should have if they had been told, up front, what the real chances were that some over-priced Lawyer could just get the whole thing "thrown out." That makes me mad.

I find it frustrating, at times, to accept that people are far more willing to shell out money for what they want to hear, rather than for what they need to, or ought to, hear. In other words, the appeal of having a DUI case dismissed outright is so strong, that any number of people will plunk down a ton of cash just for the chance to buy into that hope.

So that got me wondering about all those Hollywood Celebrities who seem to get popped every week for DUI. Why is it that for every one I hear about getting arrested, I hear about another being placed on Probation for an earlier arrest?

From what I can tell, they certainly have the money to hire some big-time Lawyer who can challenge the evidence every which way under the sun in an effort to get the case dismissed. And if getting the case dismissed costs only what can be called "pocket change" to them, why would they do anything else?

Because, for a very good reason, the overwhelming majority of DUI cases are resolved by a Plea bargain. Most cases are "solid." For almost every case where some aspect of the DUI process has been held to be unlawful, or legally unsound, there has been a corrective action on the part of the Police to eliminate the problem. The DUI process is designed to comply with the Law. When some aspect of that process is found to not be in compliance, and adjustment is made.

Why do you think we have Breatlayzer tests in the first place? To provide evidence of a person's Bodily Alcohol Content (BAC) at or near the time of their arrest. While there is a certain protocol that must be followed when administering these tests, and while there is a certain "margin of error" inherent in these tests (and every test I've ever heard of, for that matter), those cases which are so profoundly flawed in failing to follow that required protocol, or in which the margin of error, for some reason or another, renders the test results so unreliable, are the exception, and not the rule.

Otherwise, every single celebrity popped for a DUI would just "Lawyer up" and get the case dismissed. But that doesn't happen.

Continue reading "Michigan DUI - How the Rich and Famous Beat the Charges" »

It's kind of funny to be called "The License Guy" by your fellow Lawyers, but because such a large part of my Practice involves Driver's License Restoration cases, I take it as a compliment. Occasionally, I am pulled aside in Court by some Lawyer (even on the Prosecutor's side) and asked a question about License Restoration. Frequently, the question involves a complicated issue, and within a minute or two, the person to whom I'm speaking says something like "give me your card, I'll have them call you."

One of the things I have learned from these "do you have a minute?" questions is that there is a prevailing belief that has almost reached mythical status about the impossibility of winning back a Driver's License once the person has had it Revoked because of multiple DUI's. Most people are surprised to learn that winning back a License is very possible. A few, on the other hand, think all a person has to do is file for an Appeal, show up, and say they haven't been drinking, and the License will be Restored. Neither of these are true at all. The truth, as usual, lies somewhere in the middle.

Even the Secretary of State knows that lots of people think that once the License has been Revoked, it's gone forever. In the Secretary of States' Official Publication, the DLAD Practice Manual (published before the DLAD, then known as the Driver Appeal and Assessment Division, changed it's name to the DAAD, or Driver Assessment and Appeal Division) the Secretary of State even says, about itself, that:

The Department is aware that there is a perception that the agency "never returns a license" in habitual violator appeals.

This underscores the fact that there is a widespread belief that these cases are impossible to win, and yet nothing can be farther from the truth. In the previous Blog entry, I noted that of the 25 or so Appeals I had filed and for which I had gone to Hearings at the time of the article, I HAD WON EVERY ONE!

Now, there's no magic wand that I have that allows me to do that. Sure, I'm darn good at this, but part of that being good is deciding which potential Clients are ready to file an Appeal, and who needs some more work and must wait.

Continue reading "License Restoration in Michigan - Getting Back on the Road Legally" »

In the previous article, we dismissed the scam-notion about someone who knows someone who knows some Lawyer who can get a DUI "dropped" to the Civil Infraction of Careless Driving. In this article, we'll tackle another "urban legend" that has some people literally shaking in their boots when they contact me about their DUI charge. Again, I need to make clear that I only handle DUI cases in the Courts of Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties, so although I suspect that what I'm about to say is true everywhere, I can only confirm that it's true in the Tri-County area.

Part of my job as a DUI Lawyer is to make sure my Clients are well-informed. In order to be able to fully explain what will and will not happen in any given case, I believe it's essential for me, at least, to limit my practice geographically so that I appear in the same Courts, in front of the same Judges, day-in and day-out. This allows me to learn how each Judge handles a DUI case, and in turn, I can prepare my Client for what to expect.

The "urban legend" that I hear often enough to warrant addressing is that the Judge who will be hearing my Client's case had a son or daughter killed by a Drunk Driver. In certain cases, it may be that the person has heard that one of the Judge's in a particular Court has suffered this loss, but the point is the same. So let's get rid of this rumor right now:

There is NO JUDGE in any of the Courts in the Tri-County area who has lost a child to a Drunk Driver. Not one.

If there was even a grain of truth to any of this, you would expect that either that Judge would recuse (disqualify) him or her self from hearing DUI cases, or at least have faced a rash of motions for recusal by Lawyers for those facing DUI charges.

But it never happened.

If you or someone you know is facing a DUI charge in the Tri-County area and have heard this rumor, you can take it to the bank that it's absolutely, 100% false.

DUI charges come loaded with enough problems, but this, at least, isn't one of them.

I handle a lot of DUI cases, and I speak with a lot of people facing this charge. Over the years, I have repeatedly heard a few things that could politely be called "urban legends," but that I think are more accurately described as bulls**t. To be clear, I am about to dismiss these notions completely, but once again I must repeat that since I only handle DUI cases in the Courts of Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties, I cannot say for sure what happens in other places (although I strongly suspect that neither of these "fables" is true outside of the Tri-County area, either). In this article, we'll deal with the "deal of the century" scam involving the worlds greatest Plea Bargain. In the next article, we'll dismiss another often-mentioned, but never-true rumor.

The first "urban legend" I hear is that someone knows someone else who knows some lawyer who can have a DUI dropped to the civil infraction of Careless Driving. This "deal" is usually available for a hefty legal fee, all paid in advance. This deal does not happen. Ever. Alcohol-related Traffic Offenses are never, ever, ever "dropped" to civil infractions, or any other kind of non Alcohol-related Traffic Offense, except in the most unusual, exceptional and rare kind of case. This kind of case comes along once every few years, at most.

When someone runs this kind of hair-brained idea by me, I first tell them that such "deals" don't happen, and then I suggest that if it's such a sure thing, they should work out some kind of arrangement with the lawyer which provides a refund of some of that hefty fee if the deal doesn't go down as they've been made to believe.

Not surprisingly, that kind of deal doesn't happen, either.

Think about this for a moment; the internet is filled with all kinds of Legal websites dealing with DUI. Some, like mine, detail how DUI cases are usually handled. Others focus on (very expensive) ways to challenge the case, but absolutely none of them even hints at the "dropped to a careless" deal. Could it be that, different as the approaches of the various Legal websites may be, they are all at least above-board, whereas the phantom "deal" which always comes secondhand is a scam?

Listen, if you think a deal like that can be had, let me help you get rich. See, I got an e-mail from this Princess in some far away country who has a few hundred million dollars stuck in her bank account, and in order to get it out, she needs your help....

Read on to the next article to find out which other completely untrue rumor often freaks out someone facing a DUI in any particular Court.