A Michigan operating while intoxicated charge is not a single offense — it is a family of related charges arising under MCL 257.625, each carrying its own elements, penalties, and licensing consequences. An effective defense requires identifying which subsection has been charged, evaluating the scientific evidence supporting the prosecution's theory of impairment, and protecting the client's driving privileges, professional license, and constitutional rights at every stage.
The pages linked below provide detailed analysis of each charge type, the scientific defenses available, and the collateral consequences that frequently outlast the criminal case itself. Attorney William J. Maze has been court-qualified as an expert witness in standardized field sobriety testing, the DataMaster DMT, and the Intoxilyzer 9000, and applies that expertise to every case he defends.
Michigan OWI Charges
Every drunk driving prosecution in Michigan is brought under one or more subsections of MCL 257.625. Identifying the exact subsection charged is the first step in evaluating the case.
First Offense OWI
A first-offense OWI under MCL 257.625(1) is a misdemeanor handled in district court, but the conviction triggers mandatory license sanctions, six points on the driving record, and a driver responsibility assessment. We challenge the stop, the field sobriety tests, and the breath or blood result.
District Court · Misdemeanor
Second Offense OWI
A second OWI within seven years carries substantially greater jail exposure, mandatory license revocation, and vehicle immobilization. Habitual-offender exposure makes early defense intervention critical.
Repeat Offense · Enhanced
Third Offense OWI — Felony
Under Michigan's lifetime-lookback rule, a third OWI is a felony regardless of how many years separate the offenses, with prison exposure, license revocation, and vehicle forfeiture issues that demand experienced felony-level representation.
Felony · Circuit Court
Super Drunk / High BAC
Michigan's High BAC statute applies when the alleged blood alcohol concentration is .17 or higher, increasing the maximum jail term, mandating BAIID-restricted driving, and requiring vehicle immobilization. The reliability of the BAC measurement becomes the central issue.
.17+ BAC · Enhanced Penalties
Operating While Visibly Impaired (OWVI)
OWVI under MCL 257.625(3) requires only that the prosecution prove the driver's ability to operate the vehicle was visibly impaired due to alcohol, controlled substances, or other intoxicants — a lower threshold than OWI but with significant licensing differences. We analyze whether an OWVI plea is advantageous given the facts of the case.
Plea Analysis · Visible Impairment
Drugged Driving / OWPD
Operating with the presence of a Schedule 1 controlled substance or cocaine — Michigan's per-se drugged driving statute — is increasingly charged based on trace metabolite findings rather than actual impairment. Drug recognition expert testimony, blood collection procedures, and laboratory methodology are all subject to challenge.
Per Se · Controlled Substance
OWI With a Minor Passenger
An OWI alleged to have occurred with a passenger under sixteen years of age carries enhanced penalties even on a first offense. The charge frequently triggers Children's Protective Services involvement separate from the criminal case.
Child Endangerment
CDL & Commercial Driver OWI
A commercial driver's license holder faces lifetime CDL disqualification on a second OWI — even when the offense occurs in a personal vehicle. Federal regulations adopted by Michigan create exposure that ordinary OWI defense may overlook.
CDL Disqualification
OWI Causing Serious Injury
A felony charge under MCL 257.625(5) when an OWI is alleged to have caused serious impairment of a body function. Accident reconstruction, causation, and the medical definition of serious impairment become central issues.
Felony · Causation
OWI Causing Death
The most serious OWI charge in Michigan, carrying up to fifteen years' imprisonment under MCL 257.625(4), and twenty years where the decedent is a police officer or firefighter. Causation is frequently the dispositive issue and demands forensic engagement from day one.
Felony · 15 Years
CPL & Firearm Possession
Concealed pistol license holders face additional exposure when alcohol or controlled substances are involved, including suspension of the CPL and possible criminal liability under separate firearm statutes.
CPL · Firearm Liability
DUI & Professional Licensing
For physicians, nurses, attorneys, teachers, and other licensed professionals, an OWI conviction triggers reporting obligations and disciplinary review. Defense strategy must account for both the criminal case and the licensing consequences.
Career Protection
The Science — Defense Strategies
Most OWI prosecutions rest on three categories of evidence: the traffic stop and the officer's observations, the field sobriety tests, and a chemical test result. Each is subject to scientific and legal challenge.
Breath Test Challenges — DataMaster & Intoxilyzer 9000
The DataMaster DMT and the Intoxilyzer 9000 are infrared spectrometers, and like every analytical instrument they are subject to interference, calibration drift, and operator error. Court-qualified expert review of the maintenance logs, calibration records, COBRA data, and the breath sequence frequently reveals reasons to challenge the result. Police must also satisfy the fifteen-minute observation requirement before any evidentiary breath test.
Expert Witness Qualified
Field Sobriety Test Defense
The horizontal gaze nystagmus, walk-and-turn, and one-leg-stand tests are governed by a rigid NHTSA training manual. Departures from the validated procedure — improper instructions, inadequate test surface, environmental conditions, or failure to identify medical conditions affecting performance — undermine the reliability of the officer's conclusions. Attorney Maze is an NHTSA-certified SFST instructor.
SFST Instructor · NHTSA Certified
OWI Blood Test Cases
Blood testing in Michigan is performed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID) for ethanol and by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) for controlled substances. Chain of custody, preservative integrity, headspace technique, and chromatographic interpretation all present grounds for challenge. Warrantless blood draws raise additional Fourth Amendment issues under Birchfield v North Dakota and Missouri v McNeely.
Forensic Toxicology
Implied Consent & Chemical Test Refusal
A driver who refuses an evidentiary chemical test under Michigan's implied consent statute faces a one-year license suspension and six points — sanctions imposed administratively by the Secretary of State separate from the criminal case. The driver has only fourteen days to request a hearing. We represent clients in implied consent hearings and in petitions for restricted driving privileges following an unsuccessful hearing.
14-Day Deadline · Implied Consent
Should You Accept a Plea to Impaired?
A reduction from OWI to OWVI is often offered as a routine plea bargain, but the licensing consequences and the long-term record implications can vary substantially based on prior history, the BAC alleged, and the specific court. We analyze whether the offered plea actually advances the client's interests or whether continued litigation is the better path.
Plea Strategy
Drug Recognition Expert Testimony
The DRE protocol is treated by police as a forensic discipline despite a thin scientific foundation. Officers with as little as sixteen hours of training are increasingly permitted to render expert opinions on drug impairment. Daubert and MRE 702 challenges to DRE testimony are frequently appropriate, particularly in drugged-driving cases involving prescription medications.
Daubert · MRE 702
Collateral Consequences
The criminal sentence is rarely the largest cost of an OWI conviction. Driving privileges, professional licensing, employment, and immigration status are all directly affected.
Why Specialized OWI Defense Matters
OWI defense sits at the intersection of constitutional criminal procedure, analytical chemistry, and administrative licensing law. Few criminal practitioners are prepared to read a chromatogram, cross-examine a forensic chemist, or litigate the technical specifications of a breath testing instrument. Fewer still have themselves been court-qualified to render expert testimony on those subjects. The decisions made in the first weeks of an OWI case — whether to request an implied consent hearing, whether to subpoena maintenance and calibration records, whether to retain an expert — frequently determine the outcome.
Attorney William J. Maze has practiced OWI defense exclusively for over thirty years, has served as President of the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan, has taught forensic science as an Adjunct Professor at Madonna University, and has been court-qualified as an expert witness in standardized field sobriety testing, the DataMaster DMT, and the Intoxilyzer 9000. He brings that combined practitioner-and-expert perspective to every case.
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