You Have Rights Following a DUI Arrest. You NOW Need to Take Steps to Protect Yourself
Law enforcement authorities are getting more and more aggressive about pursuing and arresting suspected drunk drivers, and not just because they want to take drunk drivers off the road. While that is a big part of their reason for pulling you over, do not kid yourself: this is also about generating revenue for a municipality that may be cash-strapped due to millage elections that repeatedly fail.
Whatever the reason you were stopped, you were stopped and arrested, and now we need to deal with this.
So, do you really have rights, when you really were drinking before you got behind the wheel? ABSOLUTELY. Did the police have reason to stop you? Did they reasonably suspect you of something? Did they properly administer and interpret field sobriety tests? Did they observe you for the requisite 15 minute observation period, before administering a preliminary breath test (PBT)? Once you were arrested, were you given your “Miranda Warnings”?
When the police took you to the station, did they ask you to take the “Breathalyzer” (more accurately referred to as the “DataMaster”)? Did you refuse or comply?
If they did administer the DataMaster at the police station, did they again observe you for the requisite 15 minute period of time before administering that test?
Finally, do you have a date set for the Arraignment?
There are a lot of questions you need to get answered. You need information NOW, and you need an experienced attorney to help guide you through the process.
You need not just the lawyer, or law firm that put the website together. You need to know that the lawyer you hire, is going to be THE LAWYER who helps get you through this.
The lawyer you hire should be the one handling your case. At Frank Law, you will not be shunted off to a lawyer you never heard of.
Text/Call either of my numbers, (877) FRANK-LAW (372-6552), or (586) 727-1900
Line Up Your DUI Defense NOW!
You Need to Act Promptly in MI DUI Matters
Driving Under the Influence. Understand Your Rights in Michigan.
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.
The Client Bill of Rights
Get yours.
Client Bill of Rights
- 100% Client Satisfaction Guarantee
- 48-Hour Open Door Policy
- The Lawyer You Hire Is The Lawyer Who Works on Your Case
- Candid Explanations in Plain Simple English
- An Idea Where Your Case is Heading
- One-Day Returned Phone Call/E-Mail/Text Policy
- Cell Phone Access to Your Lawyer
- Constant Immediate Updating
- You Have A Right to A Lawyer Who Will Respect Nos. 1-8 Above
Being a client sucks. It is a terrible and anxious experience, and I know, because I am not only a lawyer, but I have been a client before, myself. It can be awful, and the lawyer you hire should not make it worse.
Because different lawyers do different work, the problems that bring you to a lawyer will vary. However, one thing is in common: you have to put yourself and a highly sensitive problem into the hands of another person. It means that there is a loss of control. A cloud hanging over your head.
Just you hire me to protect your rights, you have rights THAT EVERY LAWYER SHOULD BE WILLING TO PROTECT.
I AM.
CLIENT BILL OF RIGHTS
1. 100% Client Satisfaction Guarantee
You have a right to be satisfied, and soon, that I am hard at work on your matter, and that your case is not “just another case”, but it is my cause. I cannot guarantee outcomes of personal injury, criminal, or other court matters.
However, if you are not completely satisfied within the first 30 days, or before the first Court appearance, whichever is sooner, that I am working hard on your case, then you can come get your file, or I will send it to you, and you can go hire another lawyer.
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO BE COMPLETELY SATISFIED THAT I AM WORKING HARD ON YOUR MATTER, AND THAT YOUR CASE IS MY CAUSE.
2. 48-Hour Open Door Policy
If you feel that you need to sit down with me face-to-face to discuss your case, I WILL CLEAR MY SCHEDULE, SETTING ASIDE TIME TO MEET WITH YOU IN MY OFFICE. Even if I am in the middle of trial, I will meet with you within 48 hours.
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO MEET WITH ME AT MY OFFICE, WITHIN 48 HOURS OF YOUR REQUEST, AND TO EXPECT ME TO CLEAR MY SCHEDULE, TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
3. The Lawyer You Hire Is The Lawyer Who Works on Your Case
When you hire Jon Frank and The Frank Law Firm, PC, you hire Jon Frank. You will not be shunted off to associates who are off-camera, and whose faces do not appear on websites, or TV advertising. I am the lawyer who will answer your calls.
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO EXPECT THAT THE LAWYER YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO HIRE, IS THE ONE WHO IS ACTUALLY WORKING ON YOUR CASE.
4. Candid Explanations in Plain Simple English
Personal injury, no-fault, and criminal matters, while commonly settled “out of court”, are ultimately matters decided “in court”, and therefore, no guarantees can be made as to outcome. Anyone who says otherwise, is not being truthful with you.
So, too, where you hire me to deed a property into trust, handle a probate matter, or anything else that I might do as your lawyer, there is a process that we must follow, and as the “paying customer”, you are entitled to understand just what that process is.
These are often complex matters that need to be explained to you, by your lawyer. Not only should your lawyer GLADLY explain the process to you, your lawyer should explain to you, in plain simple English – without formal, condescending “legalese”.
Not every lawyer is willing to give their client a full and candid explanation, for good or ill, and in plain simple English, of just what is going on with their case.
I AM.
THEREFORE, YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING ON WITH YOUR CASE, AND TO KEEP ASKING ME TO EXPLAIN IT, UNTIL YOU DO UNDERSTAND.
Lawyers are paid to provide a service, and should not complain, when their clients ask for the service they have paid for.
5. An Idea Where Your Case is Heading
As I just mentioned, there is a process that your matter will follow, from start to finish. One of the biggest causes of client stress, is not knowing just what that process is – ahead of time. Knowing what road you will be taking, makes the trip easier, not just as a traveler on an Interstate, but also as a client in a legal matter.
THEREFORE, YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW IN ADVANCE, WHERE YOUR CASE IS HEADING, AS TO:
- PROCESS AND PROCEDURE
- STRONG POINTS AND WEAK POINTS OF YOUR CASE
- DESIRED OUTCOMES
- LIKELY OUTCOMES
6. One-Day Returned Phone Call/E-Mail/Text Policy
If it is important enough for you to reach out to me, to call, e-mail, or text, it is important enough for me to return the communication, and to do so promptly.
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO EXPECT ME WITHIN ONE BUSINESS DAY, TO:
- RETURN YOUR PHONE CALL
- RETURN YOUR TEXT MESSAGE, AND/OR
- RESPOND TO YOUR E-MAIL
7. Cell Phone Access to Your Lawyer
You have just hired me to help you through one of the most sensitive, gut-wrenching episodes you will ever have in your life, as long as you live.
One of the deepest expressions of trust, one human being can give another, is to be vulnerable enough to ask for help. By hiring me as your lawyer, that is what you have done. Therefore, I make a point of giving my clients my cell phone number, so that they can contact me, day or night, 24/7/365, by phone or text message
While you ARE WELCOME TO MY CELL PHONE NUMBER, I have enabled my land lines, (586) 727-1900 and (877) FRANK-LAW (372-6552) to receive text messages. While I may not always be available to talk, I want to make it easy for you to contact me; if I am not readily available, I will get back to you, often within minutes or hours, but always within one business day.
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO MY CELL PHONE NUMBER, AND TO HAVE ACCESS TO ME 24/7/365 BY CELL PHONE AND TEXT MESSAGE.
8. Constant Immediate Updating
It is bad enough to have to put your life in someone else’s hands. When you have to put your life into my hands, you have an absolute right to be kept updated as to the progress of your matter. My policy is to send a copy to you, by email, of all correspondence I send to other people (lawyers, insurance companies, prosecutors, police agencies, etc.).
Receiving copies by email, will enable you to see what I am doing on your case, as I am doing it.
I will send you email copies, usually by “blind copy”, to protect your email privacy; sometimes, I will forward to you, a previously sent email. If you do not have email, then I will send you copies of outgoing correspondence, by regular mail.
YOU HAVE AN ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO BE COPIED ON ALL OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE ON YOUR MATTER, BY E-MAIL, OR BY REGULAR MAIL, WHEN THAT CORRESPONDENCE IS BEING SENT.
9. You Have A Right To A Lawyer Who Will Respect Nos. 1-8 Above
If you are looking for a lawyer who can help guide you through your injury matter to a great recovery, at the earliest possible time, or someone who can help protect your rights in a drunk driving, or criminal matter, you have a right to a lawyer who will respect these rights you have as a client.
As a client, you should never have to worry or wonder if your lawyer cares about your rights as a client, or whether they respect you as a human being. You deserve, and have a right to a lawyer, who will do both.
TEXT OR CALL ME, Jon Frank, at 877-FRANK-LAW, or at (586) 727-1900, if you want me to protect your rights as a citizen – and as a client. You can email me as well, at jon@jonfranklaw.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
Frequently Asked Driving Under the Influence Questions. Michigan Based Legal Answers.
How Can I Beat A DUI Charge?
Once you hire an attorney, he/she needs to immediately get a copy of the Prosecutor’s file, and the police cruiser “dash-cam”. These resources will contain information critical to your defense... Load complete answer.
Once you hire an attorney, he/she needs to immediately get a copy of the Prosecutor’s file, and the police cruiser “dash-cam”. These resources will contain information critical to your defense.
The initial police stop must be justified by some reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. If there is no reasonable basis to suspect you of wrongdoing, there may be a basis to invalidate everything that followed the improper stop, including the field sobriety tests, the preliminary breath test (PBT), any admissions you may have made, and the results of the DataMaster testing conducted at the police station.
With that information in hand, I will be in a better position to file a Motion to Suppress, and indeed, to dismiss the entire case.
Why Would I Need an Attorney If I Really Was Driving Drunk?
Drunk driving is a serious offense, so serious that a conviction may bar you from entering Canada and other countries; so serious that any personal injury judgments resulting from your drunk driving will not be dischargeable in bankruptcy; so serious that a conviction may bar you from certain job, and other opportunities... Load complete answer.
Drunk driving is a serious offense, so serious that a conviction may bar you from entering Canada and other countries; so serious that any personal injury judgments resulting from your drunk driving will not be dischargeable in bankruptcy; so serious that a conviction may bar you from certain job, and other opportunities.
Just because you may have actually driven under the influence does not mean you forfeit your rights as an American. Indeed, when you are charged with any crime, that truly is where “the rubber meets the road”, as far as your constitutional rights are concerned.
You have a right to understand the charges levied against you; you have an 8th Amendment right to have bond set at a reasonable level; you have a right to obtain “discovery”, i.e., a copy of the Prosecutor’s file; you have a right to challenge probable cause in felony cases; you have a right to suppress unlawfully obtained evidence, and you have a right to force the Government to prove its case against you, beyond a reasonable doubt.
You may well have some soul searching to do, on the subject of why you were driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol, in the first place. While you do that soul-searching, be assured that I will be aggressively defending your rights in court. Call Jon Frank today.
When Can Police Stop a Vehicle?
There must be reasonable suspicion, that a crime was committed, and that you committed it. That reasonable suspicion may come in the form of a citizen complaint to the police, or by means of the officer’s own observation of your behavior. Police are not allowed to simply stop vehicles and persons, because of some vague hunch. An officer’s failure to demonstrate the requisite “reasonable suspicion” may result in the suppression of all after-acquired evidence, and in the dismissal of charges.
There must be reasonable suspicion, that a crime was committed, and that you committed it. That reasonable suspicion may come in the form of a citizen complaint to the police, or by means of the officer’s own observation of your behavior. Police are not allowed to simply stop vehicles and persons, because of some vague hunch. An officer’s failure to demonstrate the requisite “reasonable suspicion” may result in the suppression of all after-acquired evidence, and in the dismissal of charges.
What is Meant by “Super Drunk” or “High BAC”?
Starting in October 2010, motorists with more than .17% BAC are subject to enhanced penalties, for the newly created offense of “super drunk” or “High BAC”... Load complete answer.
Starting in October 2010, motorists with more than .17% BAC are subject to enhanced penalties, for the newly created offense of “super drunk” or “High BAC”.
Still a misdemeanor, a “super drunk” charge comes with stiffer fines and jail time (180 day maximum sentence v 93 days for non-High BAC charge; $700 fine v. $500 for non-High BAC charge); license restrictions for one year, with a “hard suspension” (no driving at all) for the first 45 days; mandatory installation of ignition interlock for the remaining 320 days, at owner’s expense; 6 points v. 4 for “visibly impaired”. Finally, conviction on a charge of “Super Drunk” requires mandatory alcohol education for one year, and not the shorter term alcohol education classes often ordered by courts in non-High BAC offenses.