DUI Defense

Does Driving Under Influence of Ambien in Michigan Require Specific Intent?

Published on: September 2, 2016 | by Patrick Barone

Sleep driving is a well-known side effect of Ambien. Sleep driving is even listed as a side effect of this drug in the product literature. It is nevertheless illegal to be driving under the influence of Ambien. If you are stopped and the police believe that you are under the influence of Ambien in Michigan, then you will be arrested for DUI; just the same as if you were under the influence of alcohol. This might be true even if you never intended to commit this crime.

In Michigan driving under the influence of Ambien is considered to be a general intent crime. This means you do not have the specific intent to commit a DUI to be convicted of it in Michigan. One reason for this is because intoxication is a defense to specific intent crimes. If intoxication was a defense to DUI all persons arrested for it could raise intoxication as their defense.

However, an arrest is not a conviction. Depending on the facts of your case, it may still be possible to raise a defense to the driving element, because even in Michigan a DUI requires the specific intent to drive. This defense has been successful in many prior Ambien cases in Michigan. In other words, even if the totality of the crime is general intent, the driving element is specific intent.

In Michigan DUI Cases Prosecutors have Duty to Provide Evidence of your Innocence

Published on: September 2, 2016 | by Patrick Barone

If you are charged with drunk driving in Michigan the prosecutor has a legal and ethical duty to provide your attorney with any evidence that might be helpful to your defense. This includes things like police reports, witness statements, video recordings or chemical tests.

This legal obligation was affirmed in the recent USSC case of Weary v. Warden.[i] Decided March 7, 2016, this case stands for the proposition that a prosecutor must disclose to a defendant all material evidence. Evidence qualifies as material when there is “‘any reasonable likelihood’” it could have “‘affected the judgment of the jury.’” To prevail on a claim that such evidence is material a defendant not show that he “more likely than not” would have been acquitted had the new evidence been admitted. He must show only that the new evidence is sufficient to “undermine confidence” in the verdict.

In this particular case, the defendant Michael Wearry was on death row in Louisiana. Wearry’s defense at trial rested on an alibi. He claimed that, at the time of the murder, he had been at a wedding reception in Baton Rouge, 40 miles away. Prosecutor argued in closing arguments that all three witnesses establishing the alibi were related to the defendant.

Legal Alcohol Driving Limit

Published on: September 2, 2016 | by Patrick Barone

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 your blood is taken by law enforcement the purpose is to test if for alcohol or drugs. DUI cases involving blood are considered by most DUI lawyers to be more difficult to defend because blood test results are considered to be a more reliable.

Role of the DUI Defense Lawyer

Published on: September 2, 2016 | by Patrick Barone

The attorneys at the Barone Defense Firm have one goal in mind – WINNING! If we accept your case, we will try to win, and we will use all ethical means possible. Winning may mean several different things to different clients, and we don’t win every case, but we don’t lose for not trying. In fact, according the United States Supreme Court, a criminal defense attorney should, whenever possible, always do the following:

Whether innocent or guilty, the most important role of a DUI defense attorney is preventing the conviction of his client. This role is above all others.
Wherever possible, to fulfill this role the DUI Defense attorney should attempt to confuse the state’s witnesses, even truthful ones, and make them appear at a disadvantage and whenever possible, make them look unsure or indecisive.

New FOIA Rules Make Defending a Michigan DUI Easier

Published on: September 2, 2016 | by Patrick Barone

If you have been arrested for DUI in Michigan, and have found and retained a top DUI defense attorney to represent you, then he or she will be using a variety of tools to investigate your case. The purpose of this investigation is to help your DUI defense lawyer uncover defenses applicable to your case.

One under-utilized method of discovery is the Freedom of Information Act or FOIA. In a criminal case, the FOIA can be used to obtain documents from the police agencies involved in your DUI arrest, as well as agencies involved in the oversight of the specific police agency that arrested you for drunk driving.

Of particular interest in a Michigan DUI case is the State Police agency involved in oversight of the state’s breath testing program. In the case of a drunk driving / DUI blood test case, the agency of interest is the laboratory where the blood was tested for alcohol.