Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

In almost every Drunk Driving case I handle as part of my DUI Practice, the Client will ask about the consequences to their Driver's License. The purpose of this article is to clarify that whatever the consequences in any given DUI case, it is the Michigan Secretary of State, and ONLY the Michigan Secretary of State, that imposes them. In other words, the Court has NOTHING to do with a person's License in a DUI case.

Often, in a DUI case, I am asked if the Judge will "at least" give the Client "some kind of restricted License." I then go on to explain that the Judge cannot Suspend, Revoke, Restrict or otherwise take any action against a person's License in a Drunk Driving case. Many people easily understand that all Licensing actions in a DUI case are exclusively handled by the Secretary of State.

Some people, however, don't quite get it, and very often, that's for a good reason. Prior to the "Habitual Offender" Drunk Driving legislation of 1999, Courts did have jurisdiction over a DUI Driver's License. Thus, a person facing a 1st Offense OUIL (the technical name for a DUI back then), would have their Driver's License Suspended, Restricted of Revoked by the Court in which the DUI charge was pending. The Habitual Offender legislation, which went into effect October 1, 1999, transferred ALL Licensing actions and authority from the Court to the Secretary of State.

Before the Habitual Offender Legislation took effect, when all Licensing consequences in a DUI case were imposed by the Courts, there were still certain, specific Mandatory minimum and maximum Driver's License penalties. Thus, the Law gave the Courts the power to Suspend, Revoke, and/or Restrict a person's License only within a specific, specified range. Even so, the results were all over the board.

In one local Macomb County Court, a certain Judge used to grant a Restricted License in a 1st Offense Impaired (OWVI) case for 6 days per week, 12 hours per day. It didn't matter whether the person worked 14 hours per day, or was on call. Most other Courts would ask a person to specify the earliest time they left in the morning, and the latest they would return home, and grant a Restricted License for that period. A few Courts, noting that someone worked on an "on call basis," would allow them to drive at any time, 24 hours per day, as long as such driving was work-related.

The Habitual Offender legislation of 1999 got rid of all that, and made things simple and uniform. The Law spells out certain specific consequences for each DUI offense. This eliminated any difference in results between two people facing the same charge, no matter which Court or Courts were involved.

Continue reading "OWI in Michigan - The Court and the Driver's License" »

My Practice as a Driver's License Restoration Lawyer in Michigan is resoundingly successful in terms of the percentage of cases I win. While I'm not trying to sound boastful, I win well over 90-some percent of the cases I file. Much of this has to do with screening potential Clients and making sure they meet the State criteria in order to win their Appeal. In other words, it means not taking on Clients who aren't yet "ready," in every sense of the word, to prove their case by the required "Clear and Convincing Evidence."

Over the years, I have won a lot of cases. And in every one of those cases, the Client has been awarded, at first, a Restricted License. This article will focus on how and why a person who files a License Appeal can pretty much forget about getting a Full, Unrestricted License right out of the gate.

Perhaps one of the most common questions I'm asked, as I take on a Client for a License Appeal, is something to the effect of "What's the chance of my getting a Full License?"

My answer is always the same: Essentially zero.

There's a reason for this. When a Restricted License is granted, the Secretary of State must require that the person install an ignition interlock (breath-tester) in any vehicle they will be driving. This gives the Secretary of State an opportunity to monitor a person as they get back on the road, and really amounts to a probationary half-step in the process of eventually returning a Full License. It's kind of like being kept on a "short leash."

When a Full, Unrestricted License is granted, there is no legal way to order an ignition interlock. In a very real way, the granting of a Full License requires the Secretary of State to completely "sign off" on a person as being a totally safe bet to remain abstinent from alcohol. I've never met the Hearing Officer who doesn't want at least a little ongoing proof before that happens. And a year on a Restricted License, while being monitored with a breath-test unit, is exactly how they can get that.

Accordingly, a person filing a License Appeal must be ready to accept that this is the case, because, as the saying goes, "that's just the way it is."

Continue reading "Winning a License Restoration Appeal in Michigan Means a Restricted License First" »

As a Criminal Defense Lawyer who handles a substantial number of DUI Cases each year in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties, there are some questions that I am asked again and again. Chief among them are questions about what will happen to the Driver's License. This article will focus on what happens to a person's Driver's License as a result of an OWI (Drunk Driving) conviction.

Let's begin with the arrest part first. Under Michigan Law, when a Police Officer arrests someone for Drunk Driving, they must confiscate and destroy that person's Driver's License. In its place, the person will be given a Michigan Temporary Driving Permit, sometimes called a "paper license." Because the person is presumed innocent until proven guilty, that paper license is every bit as good as the original which it replaces. In other words, a person still has the same license they did before the arrest, except that their picture ID has been replaced by the "paper license."

If a person is subsequently convicted of a Drunk Driving offense (whether by a Plea, Plea-Bargain, or a Trial Verdict), the Michigan Secretary of State, and NOT the Court, imposes the License Penalties. These penalties are absolute; they cannot be modified in any way, under any circumstances. They are as follows:

1st Offense:

OWI (Operating While Intoxicated) - 6 month suspension of the Driver's License, with no driving whatsoever for the first 30 days, and a Restricted License for the remaining 5 months. Restricted License allows driving to, from, and during the course of work, school, and to and from any necessary medical treatment, AA or support-group meetings, and to complete anything the Court ordered as a result of the conviction.

OWVI (Operating While Visibly Impaired) - 90 day Restricted License.

2nd Offense (within 7 years of the 1st):

OWI and OWVI - Mandatory 1 year minimum License Revocation. This means no License, and NO POSSIBILITY for any kind of License, for at least 1 full year.

3rd Offense (within 10 years of the 1st):

OWI and OWVI - Mandatory 5 year minimum License Revocation. This means no License, and NO POSSIBILITY for any kind of License, for at least 5 full years.

These License Penalties kick in after the Court handling a Driver's case sends Notice to the Secretary of State of the Conviction. The Secretary of State then sends a Notice of the Licensing Penalty (called an Order of Action) to the Driver. Usually, the Driver will receive the Notice several days before the License Penalties start.

In the previous two sections of this series on Restricted Licenses, we talked about Drunk Driving and Drug Cases. This section will review what can be done in those cases in which a Michigan Driver accumulates too many Driving Points, or is otherwise notified of a license suspension due to bad driving. Most drivers are aware that you lose your license after you rack up 12 points. Suspensions resulting from too many points, and many other kind of "Bad Driving" suspensions can be appealed in Court, and surprisingly often some form of a restricted license is granted after such an appeal.

Some suspensions are automatic, like those called "Mandatory Additional Suspensions" which occur when a person is caught driving during a period of suspension. These "Mandatory Additional Suspensions" cannot be appealed or modified, and no restricted driving privileges are available or possible until the mandatory additional period has passed

The two most important terms to understand are "Revocation" and "Mandatory." "Mandatory" means just that; there is no possibility of obtaining a restricted license during a period of mandatory suspension.

A Revocation means the driver's license has been "revoked." In schoolyard terms, a revoked license is the same thing as being expelled from school; there is no automatic readmission, or in the case of a license, reinstatement. Instead, a driver (or student) has to reapply and start from scratch. This is the most serious consequence that can occur to a driver's license, and generally, (but not always) only the Secretary of State can restore a revoked license, and only then after a hearing.

Now, bearing those two terms in mind, in most other circumstances, there is a good possibility of appealing, either to the Secretary of State or to a Court, and then winning some type of restricted driving privileges. Of course, that's a very general statement, and lots of exceptions apply. However, in virtually every license suspension that I have appealed to a Court, I have won some kind of restricted driving privileges for my client.

Continue reading "Restricted Licenses in Michigan - Part 3 - Bad Driving Records " »

This section examines what happens to a driver's license after a conviction for a Drug Crime, and what can be done about it.

In the first installment of this series on Restricted Licenses, we saw that in Drunk Driving Cases, the action taken by the Secretary of State against a driver's license is mandatory, and cannot be appealed. When Drug Crimes are involved, things aren't so bleak. Sometimes it's quite possible to avoid any license consequences altogether. In many cases involving a first-time offender, a "deferral" or "under-advisement" deal can be worked out which avoids an actual conviction for the offense, and therefore there are no consequences to a driving record. When that is not possible, even though the Court must impose some suspension of driving privileges, it can be modified, and some sort of restricted license is almost always available, although not necessarily immediately. In the end, it's up to the Judge.

The most common drug crimes are Possession charges. Marijuana Possession is a misdemeanor, and Possession of all Other Drugs is a felony. Like Drunk Driving charges, penalties and license sanctions increase depending on whether the person is charged as first or second (or subsequent) time offender.

Other, less common Drug Crimes involve Possession with Intent to Deliver, and Delivery or Manufacture. These offenses, like simple Possession offenses, carry mandatory license sanctions. This means that after a conviction, whether by guilty plea or trial, the Judge must suspend the driver's license. In first offense cases, the suspension is for 6 months, and in second-offense cases, the mandatory suspension is for 1 year.

With Drug Crimes, it is the Court, and not the Secretary of State, that imposes the driver's license suspension or restriction. Exactly what the Court does, and is required to do, is mandated by state law. Most Judges in the Tri-County area tend to be understanding of a person's need to drive, and are usually more lenient than not in granting Restricted Driving Privileges. The point here, though, is that the Court has discretion to order some sort of restricted driving privileges in Drug Cases.

Continue reading "Restricted Licenses in Michigan - Part 2 - Drug Cases " »

The list of criminal offenses that involve some sort of Driver's License Suspension or Revocation is long, and always seems to be getting longer. Everyone knows that Drunk Driving convictions result in some loss of license, but many people are not aware that Drug Possession offenses also require license suspensions.

Whether due to a Drunk Driving, a Drug Crime, or simply a Bad Driving Record (too many points), anyone who has lost, or is facing the loss of their license, usually asks "Isn't there some kind of Restricted License I can get to at least go to work?"

And the answer to that question is always the same: Maybe.

To make things easier to understand, we'll look at the three of the most common situations that occur. We'll examine each of these three areas in a separate article, beginning with Drunk Driving Cases. In the second installment, we'll examine the availability of restricted licenses in Drug Cases, and in the third and final installment, we'll review what can be done for drivers who lose their license because of too many Points, or a Bad Driving Record.

First, certain kinds of offenses, like Drunk Driving, require that the Michigan Secretary of State automatically take certain, specific actions against a license. These are known as mandatory penalties. They cannot be appealed in Court, nor can they be modified in any way.

When a person is convicted of a Drinking and Driving offense, the Court immediately sends notice of the charge they pled to or were found guilty of to the Secretary of State. Based upon the person's prior driving record and the conviction offense (the one that the Court is notifying the Secretary of State about), certain specified-in-the-law Driver's License sanctions must take place.

Consider this example: A Detroit-area resident with no prior drug or alcohol convictions on their record receives a First Offense Drunk Driving charge (OWI). If the person pleads to, or is found guilty of, that original charge, then once the Court sends notice of that to the Secretary of State, that driver's license will be suspended for6 months. Under the law, the driver will not be allowed any driving privileges for the first 30 days, and will then have a restricted license for the remaining 5 months of the suspension period.

If that same driver is able to have their lawyer work out a deal to reduce the charge from OWI to the lesser charge of Impaired Driving (OWVI), then upon notice from the Court, the Secretary of State will suspend the driver's license for 90 days, with a restricted license being granted for all of those 90 days. In other words, that driver will basically have their license restricted for 90 days.

Continue reading "Restricted License Availability in Michigan - Part 1 - A Definite "Maybe" " »