Stunning Michigan DUI Dismissal Saves Doctor’s Professional License!

Barone Defense Firm Partner Mike Boyle recently saved his client’s dental license by persuading a judge to dismiss her case. The dismissal was final. In addition to the possible loss of her dental license, this client’s case was also complicated by her need to travel to Canada. This dismissal makes it so that the client will never have to worry about these things again.

Here’s How Mike Earned This Stunning Dismissal

This woman was stopped because the police claimed that she did not activate her headlights. After the dentist hired the Barone Defense Firm to represent her, the first thing Mike did was visit the scene with his client, and inspect the car. He soon realized that the police officer was mistaken, and that realization informed his approach to the defense of her case.

Additionally, after being stopped, she admitted drinking two mixed drinks, and later the blood test showed a bodily alcohol content of .15, or nearly twice Michigan’s legal limit of .08. While at the roadside, the police officer asked her to state the alphabet, stand on one leg and walk a straight line. He also tested her eyes. According to the arresting police officer’s written report, she failed all tests, including the standardized field sobriety tests.

Looking at the official police report, Mike soon realized not only that the officer’s opinion was wrong, but that he did not administer the standardized field sobriety tests in the standardized fashion. Additionally, all the stuff the officer should have noticed during the personal contact phase was not included in the police officer’s narrative report. In other words, the report was absent of any mention of such common indicators of intoxication as bloodshot eyes, glassy, glossy eyes, or watery eyes, odor of intoxicants, or slurred speech. Also, all fine and gross motor skills were acceptable, and this driver behaved as any normal sober driver would. Also, there were insufficient clues on the walk and turn, and one leg stand tests. With each of these tests, the officer only saw one clue, whereas the standardized protocol for interpretation requires two clues for a person to fail the test. So, the client passed both tests. The officer also clearly messed up on the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test. This was clear just from the way the officer described the test in his official report.

Mike tried to let the prosecutor save face by offering to agree to a reduction in the case to careless driving, a three-point civil infraction, but the prosecutor told him no way. However, Mike didn’t take no for an answer, and after talking to the prosecutor, he went to the Chief of Police and he received the same response.

Unfortunately for both of the police chief and prosecutor, Mike still refused to take no for an answer, and instead, let the judge decide. He filed a motion to dismiss, and due to some fantastic cross-examination of the officer, the judge agreed with Mike that the officer blew it. His investigation was insufficient to establish probable cause, and the arrest was therefore invalid. Accordingly, the judge granted the motion, and the case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it is a final dismissal.

If you have a Michigan DUI case and would like the lawyers at the Barone Defense Firm to give you a FREE case evaluation, please contact us today. You never know, perhaps we can get your case dismissed too!