Short answer: The distinction between a question of law vs question of fact is fundamental to understanding how a Michigan DUI case is decided. A question of fact asks what happened. A question of law asks what rules apply and what those rules mean. In a jury trial, the judge explains the law and the jury generally decides disputed facts bearing on guilt. But that is only the starting point: judges also decide facts when ruling on preliminary issues, and a judge decides both law and facts in a bench trial.^[1]