A recent USA Today article describes two different technologies that promise to end the occurrence of drunk driving in Michigan within 5 to 8 years. These include a breath monitoring system that does not require the driver to breathe into a tube, and a sort of fingerprint monitor that measures…
Citing the “grisly toll on the Nation’s roads,” and by opinion dated June 23, 2016, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that the police are not required to obtain a warrant in order to obtain a breath sample. The same is not true of blood test where warrants are…
According to the Government statistics, (National Highway Safety Administration), in the last forty years, the number of drunk drivers on the road is down by more than 70%! However, based on statistics from the last seven years, the number of driver with pot in their system is up by 50%!…
Sleep driving is a well-known side effect of Ambien. Sleep driving is even listed as a side effect of this drug in the product literature. It is nevertheless illegal to be driving under the influence of Ambien. If you are stopped and the police believe that you are under the…
I have written previously in this blog about the unreliability of retrograde extrapolation in drunk driving cases. This is an important topic because state experts in drunk driving cases often will come into court and try to convince the jury that the driver’s blood alcohol at the time of the…
Many drunk driving cases in Michigan and elsewhere rise and fall on the testimony of experts. This is because the rules of evidence provide that only expert witnesses can offer their opinion at trial. Was the breath or blood test reliable? Only an expert can answer that question. A police…
If you have been arrested in Michigan for drunk driving, then the police officer may have administered an eye test called the “horizontal gaze nystagmus” or HGN test. If so, then the results of this test were probably used as part of the probable cause forming the basis of your…
The lynchpin of Michigan drunk driving prosecution is a reliable breath testing program. Prosecutors have big problems when this reliability is legitimately called into question. This is exactly what has happened recently in Texas where it is reported that between 1200 and 4000 breath tests were fraudulently verified. According to…
Michigan law provides that drivers convicted of drunk driving can have their cars forfeited. This means that upon conviction the state can take the convicted drunk driver’s car. In those cases where the car was used without the permission or knowledge of the owner the “innocent owner” defense would apply. …
To help make up for lost revenue, more Michigan counties are seeing forfeiture of the cars driven by people arrested for DUI. Will yours be next? If the Oakland County Prosecutor has her way, then the answer may well be “yes.” Jessica Cooper has instructed her prosecutors to seek forfeiture…