DUI Stops

Police Car Dash Cam Video and MI DUI/OWI Cases

Published on: November 1, 2022 | by Patrick Barone

Michigan police cruisers all aere equipped with video cameras (dash cam) that begins recording the moment a cop decides to pull you over.
Most police agencies in Michigan use dash cams to record citizen interactions. This means that if you’ve been arrested for DUI or

Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) in Michigan, there is an excellent chance that a dash-cam video exists.

Every drunk driving arrest is different, and not every video recording is the same. However, this arrest video may capture all the interaction you had with police, beginning with an audio of the officer’s first words to you as you were sitting in your car after being stopped. Next, the video may show you stepping out of the car and then walking to the rear and waiting for the officer to give you instructions on the field sobriety tests. If the officer asked you to state the alphabet, count backwards, pick a number, etc., then your responses to these requests may also be captured on the audio portion of the video recording. Also, it may be possible to determine how well you performed on the walk and turn and the one leg stand exercises. Finally, a careful observation of the video recording will allow your attorney to determine if the officer followed his or her training regarding these tests, and particularly, if the officer properly administered the horizonal gaze nystagmus test (DUI eye test).

Should I Refuse the Breath Test If Stopped for DUI in Michigan?

Published on: March 29, 2022 | by Patrick Barone

Why Does Michigan’s Law of Implied Consent Exist?

The first DUI laws went in the books all the way back in the 1950s when cars where just starting to become very common. Back then, there were no breath tests, so that law enforcement tool in a DUI investigation was not available to police officers. That only happened ten years later, in the 1960s. Technology has improved a lot since then, and the law has changed too, because the law of implied consent is younger than the first breath tests. Back in the “olden days” people could refuse a breath test in a drunk driving case without an possible sanction. That is no longer true, and today, there are serious consequences if you unreasonably refuse to to a breath test.

The Michigan Law of Implied Consent

Michigan Drunk Driving Case Dismissed After Anonymous 911 Call Ruled Insufficient to Support Traffic Stop

Published on: January 28, 2022 | by Patrick Barone

Michigan drivers are sometimes stopped under suspicion of intoxicated driving after a concerned citizen calls 911. The validity of these traffic stops are highly fact-specific, and depending on exactly what is reported to 911, the stop may or may not be sufficient to support a DUI conviction.

One case in Michigan where the DUI traffic stop was deemed to be invalid, and the drunk driving case dismissed, is People v. Pagano, 507 Mich. 26, 967 N.W.2d 590 (2021). In this intoxicated driving case the Michigan Supreme Court specifically found that the traffic stop based only on the 911 was insufficient to establish a reasonable suspicion that the driver was drunk. Because the stop was therefore legally invalid, the Court had no other choice but to dismiss the case outright.

In Pagano, the 911 caller reported that they had observed a woman driving while yelling at her kids and generally behaving in an obnoxious manner. While the caller indicated that they believed the driver was intoxicated, no other information was provided in support of this contention. However, the caller did provide much identifying information relative to the car being driven, including the license plate number, the make model and color of the car, and the direction the vehicle was traveling.

Common Michigan Police DUI Arrest Phases

Published on: January 1, 2022 | by Patrick Barone

Most people arrested for drunk driving in Michigan first encounter the police as part of a traffic stop. The traffic stop might be for something unrelated, such as speeding, or it might be because of something more commonly associated with intoxicated driving, such as weaving. Either way, the police investigation in a DUI/OWI case begins as soon as the officer begins to observe your car.

Michigan DUI attorney Patriick Barone covers the entire State of Michigan.

Phase 1 – Vehicle in Motion Clues (Speeding, Weaving)

Law enforcement thinks of this as the “vehicle in motion” phase of their investigation. During this phase the officer will be taking notes about your driving so that they can justify the stop, and will also take notes relative to how you respond to their stop signal. In other words, what did you do when the police activated their flashing lights? Did you pull over normally? Or were you slow to respond? Were any other traffic violations observed? Did you stop inappropriately, or try to flee, etc.

Court Ruling Could Lead to Dismissal of Drunk Driving Causing Serious Injury Charge

Published on: April 26, 2021 | by Patrick Barone

The Michigan Court of Appeals has indicated, in the unpublished opinion of People v. Adam Robe, (COA# 355005); that a failure to wait 15 minutes before administering a roadside preliminary breath test (PBT) meant that the trial court could not consider the PBT in determining if the arrest is valid. This ruling may lead to the dismissal of the intoxicated driving causing serious injury charges pending against Mr. Robe.

The Robe case involved a two-vehicle accident. When the police arrived to assist, they immediately went to the vehicle where the driver had sustained serious injuries. Later then went to talk with Mr. Robe, and after about 3 minutes asked him to take a PBT. He consented, and thereafter was arrested and charged with drunk driving causing serious injury. Before trial, the defendant’s attorney filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the PBT was not administered according to the administrative rules which require a 15-minute determination. No field tasks were administered, and the arrest was based almost solely on the failed PBT.

The trial court denied the motion, and rather than stand trial at that moment, the defense attorney asked for a “stay of proceedings” to pursue an “interlocutory appeal.” In other words, the defense attorney wanted an answer to this legal question about the PBT before putting Mr. Robe’s fate before a jury because if the attorney was right, and the arrest was unlawful, then there would be no trial. The drunk driving causing serious injury charge would have to be dismissed.

Michigan DUI Case Based on Anonymous 911 Call Dismissed

Published on: April 25, 2021 | by Patrick Barone

In the case of People v. Pagano, the Michigan Supreme Court has indicated that a traffic stop based only on an anonymous 911 call is invalid. This ruling affirmed the District Court’s dismissal of both the child endangerment drunk driving and open intoxicants in a motor vehicle charges.

As the Pagano opinion indicates, the police received information from central dispatch that a woman was obnoxious and yelling at her children and appeared to be intoxicated. The 911 caller also provided identifying information about the vehicle driven by the ostensibly intoxicated woman, including the license plate number and make and model of the car.

The Michigan Supreme Court, in the unanimous Pagano opinion, held that information provided to and by the officer failed to establish a “reasonable and articulable suspicion” either that a traffic violation had occurred or that criminal activity was afoot. While the Court acknowledged that the 911 caller was able to appropriately identify the individual involved and the car being driven by her, the tip still did not give rise to anything more than, at best, an “inchoate or unparticularized suspicion” of criminal activity. Otherwise, there was nothing in the record to suggest that the police officer making the traffic stop corroborated the 911 caller’s mere assertion that the driver was drunk. There was no bad driving observed by the police officer, and the stop was based only on the information provided to the 911 caller. After all, said the Court, parents can obnoxiously yell at their children without being drunk, and the 911 called also did not indicate that any bad driving was observed.

How Long After My Michigan DUI Arrest Will I Actually Get Charged?

Published on: October 12, 2020 | by Ryan Ballard

In some drunk driving cases you will immediately know that charges are being filed. For example, there was a traffic stop, field sobriety tests and a preliminary breath test (PBT), an arrest, and a subsequent breath test at the police station. Then, when you leave the police station you’ll have all the documents reflecting that you’re being charged with DUI.

In other cases, it might not be so clear. Some confusion may arise when a blood sample was taken as opposed to a breath test. In most DUI cases in which a blood sample was obtained, no formal citation issued at the time of the arrest. The same is true if you have one or more prior DUI offenses. Another reason you may not have received a ticket is you blow super-drunk at the roadside. In any of these cases you won’t leave the station with a ticket or any other document indicating you got a DUI, and you may wonder if you are actually being charged. This is because the police and prosecutor are waiting for the results of the blood sample to know which level, if any, of DUI crime they can charge. If you were involved in a case like this, you might be left wondering when you should hire an attorney.

How long will it take for me to find out whether charges will be filed?

Defending Drinking Drivers 2024 Update Now Available

Published on: August 10, 2020 | by Barone Defense Firm

Defending Drinking Drivers, written by DUI defense attorney Patrick Barone

2024 Edition – Defending Drinking Drivers

The Barone Defense Firm is pleased to announce that the 2024 Edition of Patrick Barone’s Defending Drinking Drivers is now available from the publisher, Amazon, and wherever fine books are sold. Known as “revision 40,” the current Edition contains many new sections and model defense motions.

Regarding the defense of a DUI with a blood test, the 2024 update contains sample cross-examination of the doctor, nurse, technician, or phlebotomist. This model cross-examination includes sample questions relative to contamination and suggestions for how to approach and perhaps discredit the credibility of this important but often overlooked pr0secution witness. In Chapter Six, Trial, Mr. Barone sets forth a new way of approaching voir dire, and the 2024 update also contains a sample motion requesting attorney-conducted voir dire. Additionally, in his revision of Chapter 6, Mr. Barone provides a unique and compelling explanation for why seating arrangements are an important element of trial and why the court should consider allowing the defendant to sit next to the jury rather than always cede this seat to the prosecutor by default. A sample motion for requesting that the defendant be provided with the “best” seat is also included in this 2024 update.

Michigan’s Legalized Recreational Marijuana May Lead to More Impaired Driving Traffic Deaths

Published on: July 2, 2020 | by Ryan Ballard

A research letter recently published in the JAMA Internal Medicine Journal examined the correlation between the legalization of recreational marijuana and traffic fatalities. The letter’s authors Kamer & Warshafsky begin with the proposition that marijuana use impairs driving ability. The authors go on to suggests that because there is a correlation between an increase in traffic deaths and the legalization of recreational marijuana, impaired driving must be the cause. The authors of the letter reviewed data collected from four states: Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. The authors did not look at traffic deaths in Michigan because there isn’t enough data from Michigan yet.

The authors found that traffic deaths increased by 75 per year in Colorado. The authors did not find an increase in traffic deaths in Washington. Overall, the letter predicts that if every state fully legalizes marijuana, traffic deaths would increase by 6,800 every year in the United States. Time will tell whether Michigan will be like Colorado, and see a large increase in traffic deaths, or like Washington where there was no such increase. And time will also tell if any observed increase in Michigan is actually caused by marijuana impaired drivers. The impaired driving lawyers at the Barone Defense Firm note that correlation is not causation, and that the only thing this letter has established is correlation. The authors admit that much more research is needed on this topic, and that their findings were “mixed.”

What’s the difference between impaired by marijuana and under the influence of marijuana?

More Police Officers Trained to Use Roadside Drug Tests to Make DUI Arrests in Michigan

Published on: June 13, 2020 | by Patrick Barone

There are 32 new drug recognition “experts” (DRE) qualified to make DUI arrests in Michigan. Only a trained DRE may administer the saliva tests in a DRE DUI investigation. Including this new crop of 32 DREs, there are currently 157 a total of DRE trained officers in Michigan.

The use of “oral fluid” drug tests began as a pilot program in Michigan in late 2017 and lasted one year. Initially, the devices were only used in DUI investigations in five Michigan counties, including Berrien, Delta, Kent, St. Clair, and Washtenaw Counties. During this time a little more than 7 drivers per month were tested. No information is available relative to number of Michigan DUI arrests that followed.

The DRE officers in this pilot program used a device called a SoToxa Mobile Test System. This device tests a DUI suspect’s saliva for the presence of amphetamines, benzodiazepines, cannabis (delta 9 THC), cocaine, methamphetamines, and opiates. As such it is only used to give a yes/no answer to the question of whether a drug is present. The test does not give a number, or a quantitative drug level. Therefore, it cannot indicate if a driver is actually DUI.