Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

My Criminal Practice is made up, in significant part, of driving-related cases, from DUI, to License Restorations, to Traffic Tickets. Perhaps one of the most common Offenses I see is DWLS (Driving While License Suspended). In other Blog articles about DWLS and DWLR, I have discussed various aspects of these cases, from explaining the different terms used to describe this category of Offenses, explaining what happens in Court, to pointing out what the first thing anyone charged with such an offense should do.

In this article, we'll look at those cases where a person is facing two or more DWLS charges almost simultaneously. This happens a lot more frequently than you might imagine. Often, when I receive a call from a person facing multiple DWLS charges, they want to know if I can cut them some kind of "package deal" on the Legal Fees (and yes, I can and do).

Legal Fee "package deals" aside, the real problem is that there are generally no "package deals" available in Court, at least at the outset of these cases.

Perhaps the most common scenario for multiple DWLS charges involves a person who, for whatever reason, has their License Suspended and gets caught driving. Instead of following up on that charge, they let it slip their mind, and all but forget about it.

Until they are pulled over again, and find out that there is an outstanding Bench Warrant for their arrest because they failed to show up in Court for that first DWLS case.

Eventually, the person is released from custody, usually after being required to post a Bond for the first case, and a Bond for the new case, as well. They leave the Police Station with a notice to contact the Court in which their first, unresolved DWLS case is pending, as well as instructions for Appearing in Court on the new charge.

At this point, most people will look for a way to get these cases handled. Some people, however, will repeat this cycle of events any number of times before they get serious about fixing things up. I have been hired to represent people who have done this so many times that the last place they were arrested finally got so fed up with this pattern that they set a Bond too high for the person to post.

Continue reading "Driving While License Suspended - Multiple DWLS Charges in Michigan" »

This article will focus on License Revocations that occurred after January 1, 1992, but prior to October 1, 1999, when Michigan's Habitual Offender Drunk Driving Laws went into effect. This Blog article follows one about Licenses that were Revoked, prior to 1992, for multiple Drunk Driving convictions. As a Lawyer who concentrates a significant part of his Practice in License Restorations, my experience with Suspended and Revoked Licenses pretty much runs the gamut of possible circumstances and situations.

Prior to the Habitual Offender Laws of October 1, 1999, a person who was caught Driving on a Suspended or Revoked License was punished by having their License Revoked for an additional number of years similar to whatever their then-current suspension or revocation period was. In other words, if a person had been revoked for 5 years for 3 DUI's within 10 years, then a Driving While License Suspended/Revoked/Denied (DWLS/DWLR) conviction would automatically get another 5 years tacked onto that Revocation. And this kept adding up for every DWLS/DWLR case they got. The end result was that some people were Revoked for 20, 30, or even more years!

In 1999, the Habitual Offender Laws, which made pretty much everything connected with Drunk Driving even tougher, did, however, lighten up the penalties for what are known as "Mandatory Additionals." Instead of compounding Revocations until the end of time, that same person who was Revoked for 5 years (due to multiple DUI's within 10 years) and who got another DUI would simply be Revoked for 5 years from the date of his or her last conviction.

This was great news for anyone arrested after October 1, 1999, but kind of shut out in the cold anyone whose arrest occurred before then. In particular, it tended to treat more harshly (or at least it appeared to) those whose Revocations occurred from January 1, 1992, up to September 30, 1999. Those whose DUI's occurred before the 1992 laws went into effect were still eligible to file and Appeal in the Circuit Court in the County in which they lived, and to have a License Restored based simply upon their need for one. This was known as a "Hardship Appeal."

The "Hardship Appeal" was completely and totally eliminated by the 1992 laws. When the Repeat Offender Law became effective on October 1, 1999, one of the big changes was that anyone who got another DUI, even if it was their 5th, or 15th, or 20th, would still be eligible to file a License Appeal 5 years from their last one.

Continue reading "Michigan License Restoration Appeals - Revoked Until the Distant Future" »

In the previous article on this Blog, we examined the difference between Misdemeanor and Civil Infraction Traffic Offenses, and learned that Misdemeanor Traffic Offenses can NEVER be removed from a person's Criminal Record. In this article, we'll look at the consequences of that permanence, and see how it applies in the real world.

As a practicing Criminal Defense Lawyer, I spend a lot of time in the Metro-Detroit area Courts. A recent experience in a city outside the Suburban-Metro area (hereafter referred to as the "other place") serves as the inspiration for this installment. To be fair, I cannot say where this case was handled, other than to point out that it was not in Macomb, Oakland, or Wayne County. In fact, an experience like this tends to reinforce my general policy to limit my Practice to the Tri-County area, with certain, limited exceptions. And I got into this case as one of those exceptions.

My Client was charged with Driving While License Suspended, Revoked or Denied (DWLS/DWLR), 2nd Offense. His last DWLS/DWLR conviction occurred more than 10 years before this most recent charge. He has 4 total prior DWLS/DWLR convictions. His License was Revoked due to several DUI convictions, the last also occurring nearly 10 years before this arrest. To be clear, his last DUI did, in fact, occur after his last DWLS/DWLR case.

Somehow or other, my Client was able to get a License from another State right after his last DUI conviction (definitely an error on that State's part), and returned to Michigan for a visit a little over 5 years ago, when he held the then-valid, out of State License. He got pulled over in a local city, and because his Michigan License was revoked, was still cited for DWLS/DWLR. He returned to the other State without taking care of this Michigan matter, and all but forgot about it.

Until he got arrested for DWLS/DWLR in the "other place." When his LEIN record was run, it came up that he had an outstanding Bench Warrant for his failure to show up to Court for the local DWLS/DWLR case. The end result to all this was that he had to post a Bond for the Old, local case, as well as the new, "other place" case.

Continue reading "Driving While License Suspended or Revoked - a Return to Forever" »

As a Criminal Defense Lawyer who Practices exclusively in the Metro-Detroit area, I handle loads of Driving on a Suspended License (DWLS) Cases. In my attempt to use this Blog to answer some of the more common questions I hear, let's address a question that is not often, but should always be asked by someone looking to hire a Lawyer to help them with one of these cases. That question is (or at least should be) "What should I do first?"

And the answer is pretty simple. For a good many people, perhaps even most of those charged with DWLS, the reason their License was suspended in the first place is either due to an unpaid, outstanding Traffic Ticket or Tickets, or their failure to pay an outstanding Driver Responsibility Fee to the Secretary of State. In either case, the first thing a person should do after being arrested for DWLS is to clear up the outstanding matter or matters. This means that if there is an unpaid ticket, or tickets, they should be paid. If there is an outstanding Driver Responsibility Fee, it should either be paid off, or arrangements made with the State for a payment plan, which can now spread the outstanding balance over a period of 24 months.

As a Lawyer for someone charged with a DWLS, the first thing I think about is trying to keep the DWLS completely off of their record. DWLS carries some consequences which, to be honest, are rather harsh. First, a person will receive a "Mandatory Additional Suspension," meaning their License will be suspended for an even longer period of time. Second, DWLS carries a mandatory Driver Responsibility Fee of $500 for two consecutive years. Also, and on top of a potential (but usually unlikely) Jail sentence, and additional fines and costs, a DWLS conviction carries 2 Points on a person's Driving Record.

When I represent someone who has been charged with DWLS, if I can show the Prosecutor that the person has paid their outstanding tickets, or scheduled them for Court dates, or paid their outstanding Driver Responsibility Fees or otherwise arranged a payment plan, I can usually get the Prosecutor to agree to reduce the DWLS charge to one that carries no "Mandatory Additional Suspension," no Driver Responsibility Fees, and no Points. Most often, this plea deal allows the DWLS to be dismissed and the person will instead Plead guilty to "No Ops," which means No Valid Operator's License on Person. Although "No Ops" is still technically a crime, I have never, in nearly 20 years of doing this, even heard of a person getting any jail time for it.

Bottom line: If someone calls me, the first thing I'm going to talk to them about is clearing up their outstanding matters. Even if a person cannot afford to do it all at once, a Defense Lawyer will know how to buy time so that the person can get enough accomplished to make a "No Ops" deal a reality. If you're facing a DWLS charge, the first thing you should do is fix whatever got your License suspended in the first place, or at least start fixing it, if it cannot all be done at once..

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 first Blog post of this 2-part series, we examined the differences between Suspended and Revoked Licenses in Michigan. In this second part, we will look at how these each of these cases is usually handled in Court, and what a Lawyer can do to help the Client avoid the negative consequences that go along with each.

Whatever the reason or reasons, the most common Misdemeanor Driving Charge is Driving While License Suspended, or DWLS. Driving While License Revoked, or DWLR, while not as frequently cited a charge as DWLS, is still a common Misdemeanor Driving Offense. Here's where things can get strange.

Remember how, in part 1, we learned that DWLS and DWLR are part of the same statute (law), and carry the same penalties for violation? While that's true, in the real world of Courts and Judges, they are often looked at very differently, and a violation for DWLS is often treated much more leniently than a violation for DWLR. Here's why:

As we noted in the first Blog post of this series, most (but not all) License Revocations result from an accumulation of alcohol-related (or sometimes drug-related) Driving Convictions. When a person is cited for DWLR, it often means they are what's known as a "Habitual Offender" of Drunk Driving (of DUI) Laws and has had their license Revoked. In part 1 we saw that we can compare having a License Suspended to being suspended from school, and having a License Revoked to being expelled from school. From a Judge's point of view, a Revoked Driver causes the biggest concern, because not only do they (often) have a demonstrated record of DUI convictions, they also demonstrate a lack of ability to follow the law even after their license has been yanked.

My job in representing a Client in this type of case is to demonstrate that, aside from whatever caused their License to be Revoked in the first place, the Driver is not nearly as defiant as the charge may at first make them appear.

Continue reading "Driving on a Suspended or Revoked License in Michigan - Part 2 - What Happens in Court" »

Most people don't know that the terms DWLS, DWLS/R/D, Driving While License Suspended and Driving While License Suspended, Revoked or Denied are all violations of the same Law. A person arrested for Driving on either a Suspended or Revoked License goes home with a Ticket that has one of the above-mentioned terms written on it. As a Criminal Defense Attorney who handles Driving Cases of every kind, from Traffic Tickets and Criminal Charges to Reinstatements and Restorations, I am often asked why someone's Ticket says "Revoked" when their License was only "Suspended?"

Fortunately, that's an easy question to answer. By answering that question, we learn quite a bit about the whole subject of Suspended and Revoked Licenses, and what can be done about them. Because there is no quick explanation of all this material, we'll divide the discussion into two parts. In this first of the two-part series examining these Charges, we'll learn about these terms and what they mean. In the second part, we'll look at what can be done in the Court case involving on of these Charges.

First, let's clarify the difference between the terms:

Suspended License means the driver has a License, but driving privileges have been suspended. Think of it like you would a student in school. A suspended student is still a student at the school, but is not allowed to come back for a specified period of time. The same is essentially true with Licenses. The vast majority of suspensions have a "From-To" date, meaning, for example, the Driver's privileges have been suspended from September 1, 2009 through July 4, 2010. This means that on July 5, 2010, the Driver can go to a Secretary of State Branch Office and get their License reinstated, usually upon payment of a $125 Reinstatement Fee.

Sometimes, although less often, a Driver's License has been Suspended "Indefinitely." Unlike the usual "From-To" suspension, there is no absolute duration for this type of suspension, although there can be a minimum period of suspension. Instead, the Driver can have their License Reinstated upon the completion of or the happening of some event. This most often involves something like the payment of outstanding Court fines and Secretary of State Driver Responsibility Fees (more on those later). To use our school example again, a Driver with an Indefinite Suspension is like a student who has been suspended until they complete a certain, specific task, like write an essay or turn in a bunch of overdue homework assignments. The sooner whatever needs to be done gets done, the sooner they're back "in."

Revoked License means that a Driver once had a License, but it has been taken away, or "Revoked" by the Michigan Secretary of State. Using our school example again, a Revoked Driver is the same thing as a student who has been expelled. That person is no longer a student, and they may not return to school until they re-apply and are approved for readmission. In the case of both the Revoked Driver and the expelled student, there is no automatic reinstatement or readmission after a specific date, or upon the happening or completion of some particular thing. Instead, both the Driver and the Student must start from "square one" by reapplying and proving that whatever got them in trouble in the first place is no longer a problem. In the world of Michigan Driver's Licenses, this is done through the process of License Restoration.

Continue reading "Driving on a Suspended or Revoked License in Michigan - Part 1 - The Different Charges and Meanings" »