In part 1 of this article, we began an overview of breath test refusals in DUI cases, and the larger subject of chemical tests as well as Michigan’s Implied Consent law. We saw how there are really 2 kinds of tests: a preliminary breath test (PBT) which is administered at the side of the road before an OWI arrest, and then a formal chemical test that comes after arrest. Although a “chemical test” can include either blood, breath or urine, in DUI cases, it’s limited to breath and blood, as urinalysis cannot be used to calculate person’s bodily alcohol content (BAC).
I explained that the refusal to submit to a PBT is only a civil infraction, and is very different from the refusal to submit to a chemical test as contemplated by Michigan’s Implied Consent law. If a person refuses a PBT, he or she only faces a fine and a penalty of 6 points on his or her driving record. In the real world, my team and I almost always negotiate the dismissal of a PBT charge as part of the resolution of an OWI charge. Although a person is legally “obligated” to take a PBT test, the failure to do so does NOT carry any potential suspension of his or her driver’s license.
In contrast, we then saw that refusing a breath or blood (i.e., chemical) test after arrest will automatically result in a 1 year suspension of a person’s driver’s license, unless a he or she timely requests and wins a hearing to challenge the refusal for 1 of the 4 specified legal issues before a Michigan Secretary of State hearing officer. We then looked at the how those issues are defined in the law. In this second half, we’ll dig a bet deeper to see what those legal issues really mean and how a person can still get his or her license back even after an Implied Consent refusal.