Ever wonder how lawyers fight a Michigan drinking and driving offense? Seems hopeless, right? It's not . . .
Many people charged with a drinking and driving offense will simply just plead guilty because they do not know what their legal rights are, or because a machine says that their blood alcohol level was over the limit.
You may think from television, movies, and media that every drunk driver is behind the wheel completely inebriated beyond belief. While there are some terrible drunk driving cases out there, the majority of them are people who had one too many or ½ of one too many; thought they were alright to drive and made a mistake.
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Police are under tremendous pressure to produce numbers. While you may have heard quotas are illegal, let it be known that officers are expected to produce numbers for drinking and driving arrests. As a result, we often see sloppy cop work.
Fighting Drinking and Driving
The prosecutor always has the burden to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, each and every element of a criminal offense. In a drinking and driving charge, or Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) the prosecutor must prove:
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1. The defendant was operating a motor vehicle;
2. On a public road or road generally accessible to the public; and,
3. That the Defendant had a blood alcohol level of .08 grams per 100 milliliters or more.
If even one element is not proven beyond a reasonable doing the defendant must be found not guilty.
Legal Challenges to Drinking and Driving
Besides the fact that the prosecution must prove all the elements to the offense, they must also prove that the stop, the arrest, and the chemical testing were legally done.
Stopped for Drinking and Driving
Police can stop you for two main reasons. One, that you committed a civil in fraction e.g., speeding, running a light, not coming to a complete stop; or two, reasonable suspicion that you are committing or about to commit a crime. If the officer can not show that you committed a civil infraction, or the officer cannot point to facts that would indicate you were about to commit a crime then any information the officer gains after stopping you, including evidence of blood alcohol must be suppressed.
Arrested for Drinking and Driving
Even if police have a valid reason to pull you over they must have a valid reason to arrest you for drinking and driving. In order to gain enough evidence against you they will ask you to perform field sobriety tests and submit to a preliminary breath test – you absolutely do not have to take these tests and are probably better off refusing them. If the officer does not gain information to show that a crime was committed and you probably committed they must let you go on your way. If they arrest you and later search your breath of blood that evidence must be suppressed and your case dismissed.
Chemical Testing in a Drinking and Driving
Volumes of books are written on chemical testing. The bottom line is that if the proper procedures are not followed, and sometimes even when they are followed, you cannot be certain that the test results are accurate. Often times police fail to comply with mandatory observance periods, blood sits in hot weather when it should be cooled, etc., these deviations from proper testing protocols result in unreliable results.
Michigan DUI Lawyer, Aaron J. Boria
In even the worst cases we are able to deliver powerful results. I want the roads safe too but not at the cost of my freedom or invasion of my privacy from the government. If you have been charged with drinking and driving or any other crime contact my office today at (734) 453-7806.
Click here to visist my website, borialaw.com.
