Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
As Michigan driver’s license restoration lawyers, we work on license appeals every day. There are a lot of “moving parts” in these cases, and even the most straightforward of them calls for a significant amount of attention. One thing we frequently hear from callers is a sense of frustration that they “have to go through all of this” to get their license back. The point of this article is to try and explain that, while the license restoration process is, in a manner of speaking, a pain in the rear, it is also non-negotiable, and that either you do what the Michigan Secretary of State requires, or you won’t get your license back.
It’s a given that it was a hassle to have gone through all the court stuff from a DUI, including probation and testing and having had to paid fines and costs and whatever else. The problem, however, is that the frustration most people feel about having, as they say, “to jump through hoops” to win their license back, while very real, also misses the fact that after racking up multiple DUI’s, the license revocation process is every bit as much about protecting the public as it is about punishing the offender.
Michigan’s drunk driving law clearly states that if a person racks up 2 DUI’s within 7 years, or 3 within 10 years, his or her license will be revoked. Most people, however, never read the law, and are surprised to learn that having their license “revoked” means having it taken away for good, and not just suspended for a certain period of time. This is often why they’ll say things like, “I thought I did everything I had to do – I went to the classes, paid the fines and went through probation” when they learn they have to file an appeal to even be considered for the return of driving privileges.
In this article, I want to briefly make clear that despite similarities, no 2 cases are alike, and that trying to gauge what is likely to happen in your case based upon what did, or supposedly did happen to someone else can often lead to either unfounded fear (when that “someone else” got hammered by the Judge) or unreasonable expectations (when that other person got lucky). It’s never a good idea to base one’s forecast on another person’s experience.
This really is something of a problem in a license appeal case. Every substance abuse counselor can look at the official substance use evaluation (SUE) form and figure he or she could complete it without any difficulty. In one sense, they’d be right, but not in the sense of winning a license appeal, and that’s what really matters here. Let me explain what I mean:
The first thing we should do is to clarify the name, “substance use evaluation,” because many, if not most people, call it a “substance abuse evaluation.” I’m as guilty of that as anyone, both terms are used to mean the same thing. To keep things simple, we’ll often refer to the evaluation by using the abbreviation “SUE” in this discussion.
The second consideration is the important role of the lawyer’s experience. This really cannot be overstated. In my office, we concentrate in DUI and certain criminal cases in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne Counties. Because we focus our practice on criminal charges like indecent exposure, driving on a suspended license, and embezzlement, we have handled them, quite literally, more times than we could count. There does come a point when, after having done so many of the same kinds of cases, you actually have “seen it all.”
There are, of course, many more things that go into finding the right lawyer for your case than the 3 we’ll go over here. Money is one of them. Although we won’t be examining the subject of legal fees in this article, price is a big deal for some people. Without going too deep into it, the simple fact is that is that what a person cannot afford is a limiting factor in the kind of representation he or she can have. The reality is that you’ll need to fork out more money for a better grade of lawyer
My team and I deal with the problems caused by the state’s use of this indecisive language (‘advisable”) all the time, in real hearings. One of the first things most hearing officers will ask if a person has a failed or missed rolling retest is whether or not he or she got a PBT or EtG test. If a person says “no,” then they’ll be asked, “why not?” Most often, the person will try and explain that they weren’t clear on the need to do that right away, or just had forgotten. Then they’re asked the most dreaded question of all: “didn’t you read your entire order?”
The instructions in each winning order lists the things that should be done if a person has a power loss (listed as “tamper/circumvent”), misses a test, or provides a positive breath sample. Even if it’s too late for those recommended PBT or EtG tests (see below), there may be enough time left to take other remedial action in order to challenge a violation. Whatever else, any problems are going to have to be satisfactorily explained to a hearing officer, whether at a violation hearing, or when a person files for full, unrestricted driving privileges. Much of this could be made better if the state fixed the language and placement of the interlock use directions.
Although most IE cases DO NOT arise because of some kind of mental health issue, there are times when it can be a symptom of either an existing or potential problem, and it falls to the courts to figure out if that is or isn’t the case, and, if so, to take the appropriate remedial action. In that regard, the 2 of the biggest risks for problems are that the person is inclined toward exhibitionism, or worse yet, does suffer from some kind of sexual deviancy problem, and needs help.
The very fact that we see less simple indecent exposure charges and more of the aggravated variety makes a good starting point. Just as about everything goes up in price over time, it seems that criminal laws always get tougher. Criminal offenses are easy targets for politicians, because there is never any partisan divide over wanting to protect the public by cracking down on drunk drivers, flashers, or the like. Being tough on crime looks good on anyone’s resume, and nobody wants to be seen as “soft.”