Michigan's Leading Drunk Driving Defense Attorney
On June 7, 2018, the Michigan Court of Appeals handed down a FOIA victory, reversing the Monroe County Circuit Court in the case of Radford v Monroe County.
My client sought videos and other materials from the Monroe County Sheriff's department on a misdemeanor charge. Monroe County denied the FOIA. We settled the criminal case but proceeded with a civil lawsuit under FOIA.
Nearly all police officers receive drunk driving detection training in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST), a 24 hour course that trains officers on how to administer 3 standardized field sobriety tests to drivers suspected of alcohol impairment.
Officer Claus is participating in a high visibility enforcement (HVE) campaign. The goal of this holiday enforcement is to crackdown on drunk, drugged and high drivers during the holiday season.
A motorist is charged with OWI after a police officer stopped the vehicle for speeding, but the officer did not write a ticket for speeding. Is this a legitimate OWI arrest or can the motorist challenge the traffic stop?
Getting stopped by the police can be terrifying for many people. You might be really nervous or scared. Your mouth can feel like a desert while you break out into a sweat, even if you have done absolutely nothing wrong. This is perfectly normal. Police officers see it all the time, and it is called “Blue Light Fever.”
So, you (or a loved one) were stopped and arrested for a DUI in Michigan. It's 2:30 a.m., and you can't get an attorney on the phone. When can you bond out? How long are you going to stay in jail on a drunk driving charge? Will you make it to work in the morning? What sort of money do you need to post bail? There are some simple preliminary answers, but this is a complex issue that police and courts get wrong on a regular basis.
The short answer? Maybe.
Discovery is not permitted in misdemeanor cases, but the district court judge ordered it in a case where the client and I intended to present expert testimony. We intended to produce Dr. Ron Henson, an expert witness from Illinois regarding the impact that GERD has on the accuracy and reliability of a breath test. This is not exactly controversial, since numerous studies have shown that gastroesophygeal reflux disease can inflate breath test scores. The prosecutor called it "junk science" and demanded that we produce expert witness reports and articles.
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects "[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." U.S. Const. amend. IV.
"Temporary detention of individuals during the stop of an automobile by the police, even if only for a brief period and for a limited purpose, constitutes a 'seizure' of 'persons' within the meaning of [the Fourth Amendment]." Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 809-10, 116 S. Ct. 1769, 135 L. Ed. 2d 89 (1996).
On December 17, 2013, David Shepardson reported in the Detroit News that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has, "urged all states to require first-time drunken driving offenders to use ignition interlocks that prevent them from operating their vehicles after drinking." He continues:
A Michigan drunk driving charge is very serious. You must treat this charge as potentially life-changing. Many lawyers make a great deal of money on these cases by pleading people guilty to the offense of "operating while visibly impaired" (OWVI) without ever exploring a defense. An OWVI counts as a drunk driving conviction, and a Michigan drunk driving conviction can:
Discovery is not permitted in misdemeanor cases, but the district court judge ordered it in a case where the client and I intended to present expert testimony. We intended to produce Dr. Ron Henson, an expert witness from Illinois regarding the impact that GERD has on the accuracy and reliability of a breath test. This is not exactly controversial, since numerous studies have shown that gastroesophygeal reflux disease can inflate breath test scores. The prosecutor called it "junk science" and demanded that we produce expert witness reports and articles.
