Being arrested for drunk driving does not necessarily mean that someone has an alcohol use disorder. An arrest may raise legitimate questions about a person’s relationship with alcohol, but answering those questions requires more than a review of the police report, chemical test results and prior record. A qualified evaluator considers the person’s drinking history, health, personal circumstances, and other clinical information before reaching a conclusion.

At the Barone Defense Firm, we frequently recommend a private substance use evaluation early in the representation. The evaluation can help us understand whether treatment would be appropriate and, when necessary, begin developing a sentencing mitigation strategy. It may also help the client recognize and address problems that extend beyond the criminal case.

The post Substance Use Evaluations in Michigan DUI Cases: What to Expect and How to Choose an Evaluator appeared first on Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog.

What makes the experience particularly frightening for our clients is finding themselves there as a criminal defendant, a role is usually profoundly inconsistent with your sense of who you are. Although an arraignment may last only a few minutes, what happens can have significant consequences for the rest of your case.

A Michigan criminal arraignment serves several purposes. It provides formal notice of the criminal accusation, establishes the conditions of any applicable bond, and in the most serious felonies, also involves a decision about whether the accused will remain in custody or be released while the case proceeds. For someone charged with drunk driving, a firearm offense, a sex crime, or another Michigan criminal offense, understanding this first step can reduce uncertainty and help avoid mistakes.

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A Serum Blood Alcohol Test Answers a Different Question

The post Why a Serum Blood Alcohol Test Should Not Prove BAC in a Michigan DUI Case appeared first on Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog.

What Happens After a Michigan DUI Arrest?

The post How Long After a Michigan DUI Arrest Will Charges Be Filed? appeared first on Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog.

Short Answer

A DUI murder charge in Michigan requires more than proof that a driver was intoxicated and someone died. When a fatal impaired-driving case is prosecuted as second-degree murder, the prosecution must also prove the additional mental state Michigan law calls malice.

A fatal intoxicated-driving crash can expose a driver to one of Michigan’s most serious felony prosecutions. But the fact that alcohol or drugs were involved, even when combined with a death, does not automatically transform an OWI causing death case into second-degree murder.

The post When Can a Michigan DUI Causing Death Become Second-Degree Murder? appeared first on Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog.

Michigan hospital blood results can become evidence in a DUI case even when medical personnel drew the blood for treatment before the driver was arrested. Michigan’s statutory term is operating while intoxicated, or OWI, although most people search for this issue as DUI. The prosecutor’s ability to obtain the result depends on why the blood was drawn, what happened before the hospital transport, who requested the result, and precisely what the hospital disclosed.

The controlling Michigan Supreme Court decision remains People v. Perlos. It upheld the statutory procedure in 1990. More recent Fourth Amendment law creates a principled basis for challenging the statute as unconstitutional as applied to the warrantless acquisition of private medical information and for asking the Michigan Supreme Court to reconsider Perlos. But no controlling decision has displaced Perlos. A careful defense must therefore develop the constitutional challenge while also testing whether the prosecution satisfied the statute in the first place.

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Short Answer

Accidental intoxication is not an automatic Michigan DUI defense. Michigan recognizes involuntary intoxication through the insanity doctrine. An unexpected medication reaction or unknowingly consuming an intoxicating substance may begin the analysis, but the defense requires far more. In a prescription-medication case, the defendant must establish lack of reason to anticipate the intoxicating effect, that the medication itself caused the condition, and that the resulting condition was equivalent to temporary legal insanity.

What Is Involuntary Intoxication Under Michigan Law?

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Short Answer

A Michigan DUI duress defense may apply when another person’s immediate threat of death or serious bodily harm causes an intoxicated person to drive in order to escape that danger. Michigan law formally calls drunk driving Operating While Intoxicated, or OWI. Duress does not mean the person was not intoxicated or did not operate the vehicle. It is an affirmative defense that can excuse otherwise criminal conduct when the evidence satisfies Michigan’s demanding requirements.

The defense is much narrower than simply having a compelling reason to drive. Fear, inconvenience, being stranded, or even a serious argument will not necessarily be enough. The threat must be sufficiently serious and immediate, the defendant must actually have feared death or serious bodily harm, and the decision to drive must have been made because of that threat.

The post Michigan DUI Duress Defense: When Can It Apply? appeared first on Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog.

Short Answer

A GLP-1 medication does not create an automatic DUI defense. But if the medication altered the timing of alcohol absorption, a later BAC may not accurately describe the driver’s BAC at an earlier time. This can become important in a rising-BAC defense and when a prosecution expert uses retrograde extrapolation to estimate the driver’s alcohol concentration at the time of operation.

Why Could GLP-1 Medications Matter in an Alcohol-Related DUI Case?

The post Can GLP-1 Medications Affect BAC Evidence in a Michigan DUI Case? appeared first on Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog.

Victim intoxication can become an important issue in a Michigan DUI causing death prosecution when alcohol or drug evidence bears on the victim’s conduct and the causation analysis. But the legal significance of that evidence is more complicated than simply asking whether the victim was intoxicated or even by learning how intoxicated they were.

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