Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
Every DUI case is unique unto itself. Although everyone understands that, a lot of people still want to compare their situation to someone else’s. This is a natural tendency, but when it comes to DUI charges, it can also be very misleading. Comparing your DUI case to any other person’s can lead to serious misunderstandings. On one hand, it can cause a person to freak out for no good reason. On the other hand, it can result in someone being very disappointed if his or her case, which may seem similar, doesn’t turn out as well as that other person’s.
The simple fact is that very few people really know the full details of anyone else’s case. Someone may actually know that so-and-so didn’t go to jail for his or her DUI, but beyond that, all anyone can know is what another person chooses to tell them. As Michigan DUI lawyers with more than 30 years of experience, we have, quite literally, “heard it all.” We have handled thousands upon thousands of cases. As a result, we have learned, countless times over, that how people describe things isn’t always spot-on accurate.
In real life, a person’s summary of his or her own case will often miss key points. It’s hardly surprising, then, that any such description is likely to be even less accurate when a person is trying to describe someone else’s DUI case. Chances are, when someone says, “a guy I work with got a DUI and all he had to do was pay a fine,” that’s probably not all that happened. Every single aspect of one case makes it different from all others, and there are countless aspects to each and every case. Indeed, there is a lot that goes into even the most garden-variety of DUI cases.
We’ll come back to that statement shortly, because as our talk progressed, it became clear that I was not seeing the full picture of what she meant. I had thought, at least up until that moment, that the main reason people would be afraid to call (or otherwise contact) an attorney was a fear of being “hounded.” I can relate to that, because it’s the very reason I don’t want to give out my contact information online. Plenty of sites offer something like a “free quote,” but the catch is that you must provide a phone number and/or email, first. Then, they never leave you alone….
Unfortunately, this happens more than the reader might imagine. In the criminal and DUI world, this is particularly true when people act out of fear. Too many will sign on with the first lawyer who calls them back after-hours, or over the weekend. In license appeal cases, this often happens when a person chooses a lawyer based primarily on price. Neither of those is the right way to secure quality representation. In fact, they reinforce the notions that a good hiring decision should be explainable by answering the questions posed above.
To be clear, we don’t know who lawyer is (other than having been identified as “he”), but whatever else, if what his client told us is even remotely true, it is the worst DUI legal strategy we’ve ever encountered. There are countless legal reasons that would prevent a person who has already lost his or her license for multiple DUI convictions from winning a license restoration appeal while he or she is facing a new, 3rd offense DUI charge.
Even if the evidence in the evidence is strong in a High BAC (super drunk) case, my team and I can often negotiate a plea bargain down to a lesser offense for our client. This will allow a him or her to avoid a conviction and potential penalties for the more serious offense by taking a deal and pleading guilty to something less severe. Of course, the first order of business in every DUI case is to try and find a way out of the matter completely, but when that can’t happen (and to be fair, such outcomes are far more the exception, rather than the rule), a plea bargain that avoids a super drunk conviction is always a good thing.
Everyone begins their lawyer search looking to find the “best” representation possible. Some people, understandably, have only a limited financial ability, but as I often point out, while a person will never get top quality legal help at bargain prices, it is also true that many lawyers charge way too much for nothing more than just average services. In reality, there’s a far greater risk of overpaying for mediocre legal help, rather than anything else. As with many other things in life, cost (meaning price), does NOT equal value. In DUI cases, only results equal value.
Michigan launched its sobriety court program as part of a 2011 initiative. At the time, the program was authorized for 3 years, in a handful of courts, but it worked so well that it has since been been made permanent and expanded all over the state. Although they are all authorized under one law, each program is unique to the court that runs it, meaning there are differences from one place to another. Some are of longer duration than others, and even though they are all “intense,” each has its own set of requirements, with some being more demanding than others.
Instead, anyone facing a repeat offense DUI, meaning anyone facing his or her 2nd offense, much less dealing with drunk driving charges for a 3rd (or even subsequent) time, needs to at least get out of his or her own way and stop trying to win a losing argument. Although it really is beyond dispute that anyone who has racked up 3 or more DUI’s has a troubled relationship to alcohol, the simple fact is that he or she can’t be forced to believe that unless and until he or she is ready. For some, this realization comes as the result of his or her last DUI, while for others, it never happens.
Years ago, because the work of our firm is concentrated specifically in DUI and driver’s license restoration cases (which are a direct result of having racked up multiple DUI’s), I realized how beneficial it would be for me to expand my understanding of alcohol and addiction problems. Although my team and I spend all day, every day, working with alcohol and drug-related issues, I wanted to learn the clinical side of things, as well and recognized the value of being able to see the whole picture, and not limit my knowledge only to the things at issue in DUI and driver’s license restoration cases.