DUI Category Archives — Page 2 of 8 — Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog Published by Michigan Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Arraignment in Michigan – First Court Appearance

Published on: December 12, 2022 | by Patrick Barone

Michigan criminal defense lawyer explains arraignment or first court date in Michigan criminal cases.
The criminal arraignment in Michigan is your first court date. In all criminal cases you have an absolute right to an arraignment. This is an “absolute right” because it is protected by the U.S. Constitution’s Sixth Amendment. This Amendment reads in part “in all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation.”

Will I Learn What Criminal Charges I Face at My First Court Date?

The “nature and cause of the accusation” is set forth in a document called a complaint. The complaint sets forth the criminal charges. If you were given a ticket, such as in an OWI arrest, a complaint will be issued by the prosecutor before you are arraigned.

DUI Expungement in Michigan – Talk to Our Lawyers First

Published on: December 1, 2022 | by Ryan Ramsayer

A drunk driving conviction has lifelong consequences. Long after your driver’s license has been restored, you’ll still have the DUI conviction on your permanent record. The good news is that the expungement laws in Michigan for DUI cases have recently been changed.

Michigan DUI expungement lawyer Patrick Barone leads the Barone Defense Firm and is partners with some of the best DUI attorneys who handle the toughest DUI cases.
This means your conviction involving an operating while intoxicated OWI offense can now be removed. And this removal or expungement comes with many benefits. Many kinds of DUI convictions are eligible, sometimes even those drunk driving convictions involving injury or death can be expunged.

What Does DUI Expungement Actually Mean?

Drunk Driving Lawyer: OWI Defense Attorney Near Me in MI

Published on: November 7, 2022 | by Barone Defense Firm

Being arrested for drunk driving is an unexpected and often traumatic experience. Individuals charged with operating while intoxicated are often stigmatized and portrayed as an irresponsible, dangerous criminal. Many arrested Michiganders think of how this will affect their driving record, but the impact of being convicted for intoxicated driving extends far beyond that trivial concern.

The truth is that an average of over 2000 people per day in America are faced with these motor vehicle drunk driving cases. Many DUI law firms claim to be the top “operating while drunk” lawyers but clearly lack the consensus legal industry credentials to back up such claims.

Plus, although the acronym used in Michigan is O.W.I., no major distinctions exist between DUI vs OWI in our state. All the best driving while Michigan lawyers handling OWI cases are aware of this.

Can You Get a DUI for Being High?

Published on: October 10, 2022 | by Patrick Barone

Marijuana DUI, OWI Cannabis, Michigan OWI Weed Lawyer Many people ask us if you can get a DUI for being high? The answer is yes, you can get a DUI in Michigan for being high on Marijuana. If you use cannabis for medical or recreational purposes, you might wonder “how do cops test for a weed DUI? Police officers will use the same kind of roadside tests used for one involving alcohol. So from this perspective there is little difference in a DUI with weed vs. alcohol.

Without getting to technical, one difference is that a DRE officer might be involved if the cops suspect marijuana impairment. Another difference is that there is currently no DUI breath test for weed.

There also is currently no legal limit for THC in the blood for DUI. However, the police will want to know your blood THC level for the DUI. This means more lawyers are being called upon to understand the complexities of forensic blood testing.

Legal Driving Limit BAC in Michigan

Published on: October 3, 2022 | by Patrick Barone

Pleading-guilty-in-a-michigan-dui-case-300x225 The legal BAC for Driving in Michigan is .08. This means that if you drink enough alcohol to reach a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath or 100 milliliters of blood, then you should not be operating a motor vehicle.

How Many Alcoholic Beverages are Needed to Reach .08 BAC?

As a very general rule of thumb, each standard drink can add .02 to your blood. This means about four standard drinks are need to raise the alcohol in your system to above the legal alcohol limit to drive.

When Selecting a Top Michigan DUI Lawyer Don’t Trust Bogus Credentials

Published on: September 28, 2022 | by Barone Defense Firm

The Best Drunk Driving Lawyers in Michigan Have One Thing in Common

Patrick Barone is well-known in Michigan as a tough criminal defense lawyer. Attorney Barone is an expert OWI lawyer who has helped hundreds of people facing the same nightmare.

Expertise is the one thing the best drunk driving lawyers in Michigan have in common. Trouble is, non-lawyers can’t easily separate the best from the fakers. And fakers are takers. They take a large legal fee based on their “expertise,” then they under-perform, leaving you to pay the bill.

Finding Top-Rated Michigan DUI Lawyers Near Me

Published on: September 24, 2022 | by Patrick Barone

Our drunk driving defense team is often asked this question: how do I find a top-rated DUI lawyer in Michigan? For OWI Michigan charges, our lawyers for DUI in Michigan always answer this question the same way – there is only one way to find a top-rated Michigan DUI lawyer, and that is by finding one who has honestly and objectively developed the reputation for getting great results.

And there’s only one way for those facing DUI charges to do that, and that one way is the hard way. The best Michigan DUI attorneys have earned it by knowing Michigan DUI laws from every angle. That includes being willing and able to go to trial to win, and also knowing when a plea bargain is going to provide the likely best outcome.

OWI vs DUI Michigan. Do not get confused about acronyms for the criminal charge of impaired driving. Nationally, DUI is the most widely used, but in Michigan, OWI is written into our intoxicated driving statutes.

Michigan Democratic Lawmaker Charged with Second Drunk Driving

Published on: April 12, 2022 | by Michael Boyle

A recent news report outlines some of the circumstances surrounding the arrest of Michigan Democratic state Rep. Mary Cavanagh of Redford, and as true with many media outlet stories it seeks more shock than substance. To help elaborate on substance, and dispel some myths and misunderstandings about drunk driving laws, this article addresses the following three topic:

A second DUI arrest does not necessarily mean enhanced DUI penalties, driver license sanctions or conviction,
Being unable to stand on one leg is only a part of standard field sobriety tests, and;

Should I Refuse the Breath Test If Stopped for DUI in Michigan?

Published on: March 29, 2022 | by Patrick Barone

Why Does Michigan’s Law of Implied Consent Exist?

The first DUI laws went in the books all the way back in the 1950s when cars where just starting to become very common. Back then, there were no breath tests, so that law enforcement tool in a DUI investigation was not available to police officers. That only happened ten years later, in the 1960s. Technology has improved a lot since then, and the law has changed too, because the law of implied consent is younger than the first breath tests. Back in the “olden days” people could refuse a breath test in a drunk driving case without an possible sanction. That is no longer true, and today, there are serious consequences if you unreasonably refuse to to a breath test.

The Michigan Law of Implied Consent

Michigan Drunk Driving Lawyer Explains NEEDS Assessment

Published on: March 28, 2022 | by Barone Defense Firm

By way of introduction, Michigan statutory law calls drunk driving “operating while intoxicated” (OWI). Drinking and driving is not against the law. To violate Michigan’s OWI law a person must be driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. If you operate a vehicle after drinking enough alcohol to become intoxicated, then you’ve committed the offense of drunk driving. In other words, DUI and OWI are essentially the same thing.

Michig michigan drunk driving field sobriety test an law provides that for every person convicted of drunk driving must be subjected to substance use evaluation prior to sentencing. More specifically, Michigan Compiled Laws sec. 257.625b indicates that such individuals must undergo a screening and assessment to determine if the person would benefit from “rehabilitative services,” which may include such things as alcohol or drug education or treatment programs.

What is a NEEDS Survey?