Michigan DUI Laws, Protections, & Articles

Under Michigan law, your use of roads and highways is held to show your implied consent to provide breath alcohol testing. MCLA §257.625c. Thus, there are consequences for your refusal to submit to the testing, that you have “impliedly consented” to giving... Continue reading.

Michigan recently enacted enhanced penalties for first time drivers, whose blood alcohol level exceeds .17%. Under Michigan’s new “Super Drunk” law, including mandatory one-year alcohol rehabilitation, a one-year license suspension, the first 45 days of which is a so-called “hard suspension”, meaning no driving at all; during the remaining 320 days, the driver can seek restricted driving privileges, but only if monitored by a breath alcohol ignition device (or “breath interlock device”), installed and maintained in the vehicle, at the expense of the driver... Continue reading.

Using the Widmark formula, as breath alcohol testing machines do internally, and mechanically, you can calculate the anticipated blood alcohol level one would expect from consuming a certain amount of beer, wine, or hard liquor. One can also calculate how many drinks of different types of intoxicant, it would take to elevate one’s blood alcohol level to a given number. Constants are built into this well-accepted formula, to account for physiological differences between men and women, and between heavier and thinner people... Continue reading.

If this is a first time offense, YOU SHOULD COMPLY WITH BREATH ALCOHOL TESTING. You will likely be able to retain your driving privileges, and there is no reason to risk a 1 year suspension of your license.
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Field Sobriety Tests (FST's) are used by police officers to determine if you are driving under the influence. While police officers administer a number of FST's, only three are recognized by the National Highway Traffic & Safety Administration, because only these three tests are associated with data sufficient to indicate their reliability in identifying intoxicated drivers.
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At the time of your arrest, you will be given a date for an arraignment. An Arraignment is where the Court explains the charges, and where you are represented by an attorney, some District Courts will waive this hearing, thinking that your attorney will explain things to you. Arraignment is also the hearing where the Court makes decisions about bond, and conditions of bond.
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Because drunk driving is a criminal offense, with lifetime implications for your driving record, you need to be aware of your rights at each stage, not just as it relates to your arrest, but also as it relates to legal proceedings. The typical issues are as follows:
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The third drunk driving offense - over the course of a lifetime -- is automatically a felony charge, meaning that it carries with it, the possibility of jail for one year or more.  No longer are drunk driving offenses "wiped off" the record after a certain period of time; by definition, drunk driving charges follow you around for life... Continue reading.

I am limiting my comments here to misdemeanor drunk driving & drug possession cases.  (Don’t try handling your own felony cases either, folks)
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PBT's are administered by officers out in the field, to help verify if the motorist has been driving under the influence. Because PBT's are not as accurate as the in-station DataMaster machines, the results are typically not admissible, although there are exceptions to that rule (e.g., to help defend against a challenge to the arrest; by the motorist to rebut testimony obtained by the prosecution on cross examination that the motorist’s breath alcohol was higher at the time of the offense, than when the test was administered, or by the prosecution to rebut testimony obtained by the Defendant on cross examination that the motorist’s breath alcohol was lower at the time of the offense, than when the test was administered (the “rising blood alcohol defense”)
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Insurance
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