Expert Witnesses in OWI Cases in Michigan

Answer: An expert witness is any witness that brings a specialized or particularized knowledge to the case. Most people in drunk driving are unfamiliar with either the mechanical or technical aspects of the machines, or the scientific or medical aspects of drunk driving. With that said, many times it is important to bring in an expert when we're talking about the reliability of the various testing methods used to try and convict people of drunk driving. Whether those testing methods are conducted field sobriety tests on the side of the road, or whether they're breath or blood tests post-arrest, there is a variety of scientific, mechanical, physical or medical loopholes that might explain why somebody was not intoxicated but appeared to fail these tests.

It's important to note that most police officers and most prosecutors have extremely limited knowledge outside of what they were trained in this field, and their training is generally flawed. Because of that, bringing in the expert cannot only help aid the jury in understanding what is and is not true regarding drunk driving, but can also help the prosecutor and the police officer understand as well, which could lead to a resolution prior to a trial.

The time to bring in an expert would be whenever anybody feels that they need to have an additional level of understanding by a jury or by a judge. However, it's also important that instead of just hiring a great expert, you focus on hiring a great attorney who has a base of knowledge that the expert can use to explain more thoroughly their case, but also that the expert can communicate with and if the expert is to be fully utilized, the attorneys themselves must also understand the underlying science of the underlying medical conditions, the underlying physical conditions that make something happen. So it has to be a combination of a good expert witness combined with an attorney who already has a solid base of knowledge within those types of fields.