ATTACKING THE VERY BASIS FOR STOPPING YOU COULD RESULT IN A DISMISSAL OF YOUR DUI CASE

            Many of the officer’s initial impressions of you will be made before he even pulls you over.  If you are driving in what he believes to be an unsafe manner, his attitude of who he will encounter will be skewed.  A good Michigan OWI attorney can use this bias to show that the officer was predisposed to arrest you. 

When it comes to a Michigan DUI, realize that speeding does not mean you are operating while intoxicated.  In many cases, the officer will state that he pulled you over for speeding.  This simple fact could be favorable to you.  A careful questioning of the officer and prosecutor in your case could demonstrate that it takes more skill and control to drive a car when exceeding the speed limit, than when moving at a slower pace.  If the posted speed limit is designed for safe travel by “sober” drivers, then exceeding that speed requires even more care and caution, and is, therefore, a strong indicator that your speed was not affected by your drinking.  This is an important topic to raise in your Michigan DUI defense, since the officer will no doubt claim in his police report that you were driving erratically, and that such driving alerted him to the possibility that you may be driving under the influence.  Stone sober people speed every day.  Do not allow the prosecutor to convince you that your speeding directly reflects your level of intoxication.  Your Michigan DUI lawyer should question the officer and prosecutor in a way that proves that speeding, alone, proves virtually nothing.  If, after all, speeding played as big a role as the police wanted it to play in your arrest, they could have arrested you simply for that.  The fact that the officer observed your speeding and allowed you to drive on for a while before pulling over, only shows your driving was not so atrocious to justify an immediate stop and arrest.  It takes a lot to be convicted of drunk driving; don’t make presumptions about your guilt.  Doing so only helps the police make their case against you.  Your Michigan DUI lawyer is your legal protection from many of these assumptions.  Make sure your lawyer attacks any claim that you were “speeding” as an insufficient basis for arresting you.

            Other alleged symptoms of drunk driving can be discredited, as well.  If, for example, the officer indicates that you were swerving or “all over the road,” you should once again question why the officer did not immediately arrest you for operating while intoxicated.  You should once again criticize the officer’s decision to follow you rather than immediately stop your “erratic” behavior.  Decisions by the officer to allow your driving to continue for a period of time only shows that your driving was not so dangerous that it required your immediate stop and arrest for DUI.  If the way you drove at the time of your arrest is safe enough to be observed by the officer for a period of time, it is also safe enough to discredit any wrong assumptions the officer made about how drinking affected your ability to safely drive.  For a more complete evaluation of your Michigan DUI, call Attorney Joseph Awad for a free and confidential evaluation of your case today.  1- 877 – MY CRIME. 

At the hearing, only four issues matter:

• Did the police officer have reasonable grounds to believe you committed the crime of drunk driving or another related offense? (See MCLA 257.625( c ) (1) for the other offenses that are included in this issue)
• Were you placed under arrest for drunk driving (or another drunk-driving related offense listed in MCLA 257.625( c) (1))?
• Did you reasonably refuse to submit to the chemical test offered to you by the officer?
• Were you advised of your chemical test rights?

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10.                  The process for expunging your record is involved but can be fairly straightforward with the proper guidance and use of the ebook you have the ability to get from this website.

9.                  You must show that the facts and circumstances in your life since your conviction demonstrate that clearing your conviction is “in the best interest of the public” by showing the Court that you have turned your life around for the better.

8.                  The Attorney General must get notice of your request to set aside your conviction and can oppose your request.  They can also do nothing and leave the decision about your conviction entirely up to the Judge where your conviction took place.

7.                  It will usually take a few months before you can set aside your conviction because the State Police must run a background check on you that usually takes several weeks to finish.

6.                  The Attorney General will check to see if you have any pending charges against you as you seek an expungement and will generally oppose your request to seek an expungement if you have a case pending, even if you have not yet been found formally guilty of the new offense.

5.                  You must wait 5 years from the date of your conviction to set aside your conviction, if you were not imprisoned for your crime.

4.                  Police agencies, Courts, and other law enforcement personnel will always have some record of your conviction, although they are not allowed to share these records with the public at large, after your expungement.

3.                  Some criminal charges such as Domestic Assault and Battery, Possession of Marijuana, and some Retail Fraud charges will fall off your record automatically if and only if your plea was accepted under special provisions of law that would allow you to do so.  Check your court record history to determine if your offense falls under any special statute exceptions.

2.                  Many juvenile offenses will automatically be sealed after a certain number of years but should still be double-checked to ensure these offenses do not show up on your record.  There would be no need to expunge a conviction that is no longer public record.