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If you are charged with drunk driving in Michigan, then at some point after your arraignment you will need to decide if you wish to plead guilty or stand trial. This is because all Michigan drunk driving crimes are classified as either misdemeanors or felonies.  This means that all people accused of drunk driving in Michigan have an absolute right to trial.  The trial can be either by a jury or by a judge.  Misdemeanor cases in Michigan are tried before juries of 6 people whereas felony cases are tried by juries of 12.  Verdicts in all criminal cases require that juries be unanimous, either in favor of conviction or in favor of acquittal.

The trial/no trial decision is a complex one and requires the assistance of an attorney familiar with the trial process, particularly, one familiar with drunk driving trials. However, relative to the trial option there are many things to consider in making this decision.  The first is the likelihood of conviction but this likelihood is best viewed within the context of the plea offer being made on the part of the prosecutor. Has the prosecutor offered to reduce the charge in exchange for your plea of guilty?  If so, then how “valuable” is that plea offer?  You are the only person who can assess this value.

When there is a plea offer, or in those cases where no plea offer is made at all, and your only choice is to plead guilty as charged, it may be useful to weigh this fact against the right(s) you are giving up by foregoing trial and pleading guilty.  Everyone accused of a crime has many trial rights, including the presumption of innocence, the right to call witnesses and the right to remain silent.  These are valuable rights and ones that should not be lightly waived or given up.

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Recently, several House Bills have been passed in order to regulate medical marijuana in the state of Michigan. However, these bills are not absolute. Instead, they are subject to change as the state determines more effective ways to govern medical marijuana businesses and seeks to fill gaps that the original bills left out.

On October 19th, 2017, a bill (House Bill Number 5144) was proposed to provide such amendments. The new bill amends 2016 PA 281, also known as the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act. What follows is a review of the major changes implemented along with House Bill No. 5144.

The Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act licenses and regulates those involved in the commercial aspects of a medical marijuana business in Michigan. It also outlines the duties of local and state government officials when regulating such marijuana-related businesses. In addition, the act establishes the medical marijuana licensing board and the advisory panel. It provides guidelines for interacting with the statewide monitoring system when it comes to marijuana transactions, outlines penalties, taxes, and other fees related to having a medical marijuana business, and establishes that those with such a business are protected from prosecution.

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Barone Defense Attorney Ryan Ramsayer recently handled a case in the 48th District Court and his representation resulted in the case being dismissed.  The reason for the dismissal was an unlawful traffic stop. The facts of this case are as follows:

Client (initials HN) was an OWI 2nd and leaving the scene of an accident. She was a .20 and repeatedly admitted she was drunk on the video. The allegation was that she had rear-ended a car at Orchard Lake and Maple. According to the victim, the subject vehicle then drove west on Maple and turned north on Rose Blvd. The BOL was a “white sedan” heading north on Rose from Maple.

The responding officer arrived at an intersection just north of Maple (a few hundred feet) and encountered a white Buick Verano driven by HN who was westbound and turning North on Rose.

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Entrepreneur’s Guide to Michigan Medical Marijuana Laws Now Available

Soon, Michigan entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to apply for one of five commercial medical marijuana licenses.  This how-to book covers all the bases and will help those interested in applying get a jump-start on the competition.

Written by some of Michigan’s top legal and financial experts, this 230-page book includes essential information and advice about successfully running a medical marijuana business that that includes;

  1. Easy to understand summaries of the three Michigan Medical Marijuana Acts.
  2. Detailed descriptions of the five-available commercial medical marijuana licenses.
  3. Detailed instructions for applying for the license(s) of your choice.
  4. Instructions for creating a successful business plan, a necessary step in the application process.
  5. Information for identifying and protecting your business’ intellectual property.
  6. Advice on safeguarding your business and your employees.
  7.  Information on financing and insuring your medical marijuana business,
  8. Accounting information that will assist you in ensuring proper accounting, record keeping, and tax compliance.

Author’s include:

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Michigan will let large marijuana growers apply for and obtain multiple licenses in a single location. Michigan’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs recently published an advisory bulletin that will allow a licensee to apply for multiple, or stacked, class C grow licenses. Each class C license allows a grower to cultivate up to 1,500 marijuana plants in one location.

One person or business can apply for an unlimited number of Class C licenses, which allows mega-marijuana growers to compete in Michigan’s marketplace. The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs explained that offering stacking of the licenses will allow medical marijuana growers to operate more efficiently, which helps consumers.

Critics opine that the large growers will squeeze the smaller operators out of Michigan’s lucrative medical marijuana industry. Michigan’s medical marijuana business is expected to generate over $700 million and $20 million yearly in tax revenues.

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One of the goals of Michigan’s new medical marijuana laws was to increase product safety, and so, one of the five available commercial licenses are for compliance labs.  The law is not totally specific as to what the compliance labs will do, nor are they entirely specific as to what types of testing will be required.  Consequently, LARA is charged with the role and responsibility of “filling in the gaps” and this is done through the promulgation of administrative rules.  The full set of administrative rules are due out in December 2017.

In the meanwhile, LARA has released an advisory that assists compliance lab licensees in understanding what type of testing will be required and allows other license holders to know when testing is optional or required.  According to this advisor, LARA has indicated that testing must occur in the supply chain at the following points:

After harvest:  Harvested marihuana must pass required tests before it is transferred from a grower to a processor or a provisioning center.  The nature of these tests, tolerances, what constitutes a pass/fail, etc. is not set forth in this advisory.

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If you own any kind of firearm in Michigan, chances are good that at some point you will want to transport that weapon using a motor vehicle. Doing this responsibly requires some knowledge of the law, and if you are uncertain how the law applies to your situation, then you may consider contacting one of the Michigan Gun Crimes Lawyers at the Barone Defense Firm.

As a general principle, any time you have a firearm in a motor vehicle, that weapon is considered concealed. This is true whether the firearm is open and obvious inside the vehicle or not. Carrying a concealed weapon is a five-year felony in Michigan. There is no such thing as “open carry” inside a car. A violation of this law is a five-year felony. See Michigan Compiled Laws Sec. 750.227. Persons with a valid Concealed Pistol License (CPL) are exempt from this law.

If you have a CPL, then you may carry a loaded pistol inside the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle anytime you like. However, if you do not have a CPL a whole different set of rules applies, and it is important for you as a gun owner to understand these rules. Otherwise, you might inadvertently find yourself charged with serious felony.

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If you are interested in obtaining one of Michigan’s five commercial Medical Marijuana licenses, then as part of the application process you will need to demonstrate that you have the financial ability to obtain and maintain adequate premises liability and casualty insurance for its proposed marihuana facility.  See MCL § 333.27402(2)(e).  What is “adequate” is not otherwise defined by statute, though it may be set for the administrative rules when they are promulgated later this year.

LARA and the Michigan Medical Marijuana Board have the right to set rules when necessary that are related to the administration, implementation, and enforcement of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. Some examples of appropriate rules include setting appropriate standards for marijuana facilities and their equipment. In addition, they can establish minimum insurance levels that licensees must meet.

Also, the Medical Marijuana Act specifically requires that you obtain insurance to reimburse someone for bodily injury suffered because of the manufacture, distribution, transportation, or sale of adulterated marijuana or adulterated marijuana-infused product. The insurance must be for at least one hundred thousand ($100,000.00) dollars. However, since obtaining insurance can be difficult considering marijuana remains a “schedule 1” drug, the proof of financial responsibility may be in the form of cash or unencumbered securities or a constant value bond. You are not allowed to cancel your insurance as required unless you give 30 days’ notice to the department, and provide a reasonable and acceptable substitute. See MCL § 333.27408 Proof of financial responsibility.

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Last year Michigan passed sweeping legislation ushering in the age of commercial medical marijuana.  There are five different kinds of commercial licenses available, including those needed to commercially grow, transport and sell marijuana.  The administrative rules have yet to be written, so it’s not clear exactly how many licenses will be available.  However, entrepreneurs hoping to cash on the “gold rush” are already starting to lay the groundwork for their future business enterprises.

Once such entrepreneur was a restaurant owner who allegedly attempted to bribe Garden City workers into guaranteeing him a commercial marijuana license. Apparently, he gave an envelope filled with $15,000.00 in cash to a Garden City official.  He didn’t know at the time that he was actually handing the money over to an FBI agent.

In addition to whatever federal crimes this person may have broken, he also violated state law.  According to Michigan’s Penal Code, section 750.117, it is unlawful to give things of value to public officials, the intent or purpose of which is to influence the act, vote, opinion, decision or judgment of such public officer.  This would include a medical marijuana permit.  A violation of this law is a felony.

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Many judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys have mistaken beliefs about alcohol tolerance.  In a drunk driving trial, these mistaken beliefs can lead to misleading arguments which might further lead to wrongful convictions.  A recent article from the peer-reviewed science journal article Psychopharmacology[i] helps support a defense lawyer’s attempt to preclude a wrongful conviction based on these misleading arguments.

Generally speaking, most drunk driving trials include observations of the police leading up to the arrest and a subsequent breath or blood test, generically called a “chemical test.”  Therefore, winning a drunk driving trial requires reasonable doubt as to both.

Issue With Alcohol Tolerance

There are many ways to approach the defense of a drunk driving crime, and a defense should always be matched to the facts and science of a particular case.  However, one way to explain to jurors that there is a reason to doubt the chemical test is to show that there is a disparity between the breath or blood test result and the physical and mental condition of the driver.  This might occur in cases where the driver performs well on the field tasks, such as the one-leg stand or walk and turn.  This evidence, usually collected at the roadside, is often referred to as the “observational evidence.”

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