Many drunk driving cases in Michigan and elsewhere rise and fall on the testimony of experts. This is because the rules of evidence provide that only expert witnesses can offer their opinion at trial. Was the breath or blood test reliable? Only an expert can answer that question. A police…
Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
Mistakes in HGN Test Cause Suppression of Officer’s Testimony
If you have been arrested in Michigan for drunk driving, then the police officer may have administered an eye test called the “horizontal gaze nystagmus” or HGN test. If so, then the results of this test were probably used as part of the probable cause forming the basis of your…
Fraudulent Breath Tests Lead to As Many as 4000 Wrongful Drunk Driving Convictions
The lynchpin of Michigan drunk driving prosecution is a reliable breath testing program. Prosecutors have big problems when this reliability is legitimately called into question. This is exactly what has happened recently in Texas where it is reported that between 1200 and 4000 breath tests were fraudulently verified. According to…
Innocent Owner Defense Doesn’t Apply to DUI Car Forfeiture
Michigan law provides that drivers convicted of drunk driving can have their cars forfeited. This means that upon conviction the state can take the convicted drunk driver’s car. In those cases where the car was used without the permission or knowledge of the owner the “innocent owner” defense would apply. …
Will You Lose Your Car for a DUI Forfeiture?
To help make up for lost revenue, more Michigan counties are seeing forfeiture of the cars driven by people arrested for DUI. Will yours be next? If the Oakland County Prosecutor has her way, then the answer may well be “yes.” Jessica Cooper has instructed her prosecutors to seek forfeiture…
Is Your Michigan DUI Prosecutor Only Interested in Conviction?
Your Michigan DUI will prosecuted by a lawyer who is supposed to be interested in one thing – to be sure that justice is done. That means that if the prosecutor knows of something that shows you are not guilty of a Michigan DUI, then he/she is supposed to let…
Breathalyzers Compromised in 1,147 Drunken Driving Cases
If you’ve been arrested in Michigan for drunk driving then there is an excellent chance that you were asked to take a breath test. If that breath test result was above .08, then the state can use this as the only evidence needed to prove that you had an unlawful…
How to Use Software to Win DUI Cases
Any DUI lawyer who has handled more than a couple dozen Michigan drunk driving cases knows that it is important to know how much alcohol was consumed and how this amount of alcohol impacted his client’s blood-alcohol level at the time he or she was driving. But the driver’s roadside…
Legal Alcohol Driving Limit
Blood Test Drunk Driving | Michigan DUI Attorney When investigating a possible case of driving under the influence, the police may ask you for a sample of your breath or blood. Breath testing remains the most common type of chemical testing, but DUI blood tests are becoming more common. If…
Texting While Driving Unlawful in Michigan
On April 29, 2010 Michigan became the 24th state to make texting while driving illegal when Governor Graholm signed Enrolled House Bill No. 4394. This law now punishes the following behavior, as it is now illegal to: Read, manually type, or send a text message on a wireless 2-way communication device…