Troy Defending Against a Third Offense DUI

When defending against a third offense DUI in Troy, experienced legal counsel will often create a defense based on the science behind the chemical testing. As part of the investigation, the measures taken by the arresting officers will be examined to determine if all rights have been respected, proper procedures followed and ultimately if the breath or blood test evidence collected is reliable and accurate. Should any anomalies be uncovered then a well-trained and knowledgeable defense attorney will know how to present this in court on the behalf of an alleged offender. To start these defense efforts, you should reach out to an attorney as early as possible.

Courts treat their DUI/OWIs charges seriously. With the district court, which is the first court that alleged offenders would go through on a felony drunk driving charge. Felony drunk driving is thought of as an extremely serious charge for most of the district court judges who are usually handling only misdemeanor first or maybe second offense drunk driving charges. Any time somebody gets to their third DUI, the district court judges are going to consider it a severe type case. That implies the possibility of a very high cash bond amount. It could also require:

• Continued chemical testing to ensure an alleged offender is not consuming alcohol or other unlawful intoxicating substances. This often includes marijuana.
• Applied restrictions to someone’s ability to operate their motor vehicle.

You can rest assured that your felony drunk driving case is going to be very seriously handled through the district court.

Once your case gets to the circuit court in Oakland County, your outcome very much depends on the judge that is hearing the case. There are 22 Circuit Court Judges to whom your case could be randomly assigned and each one has their own view on drunk driving charges. Because they handle much more serious felonies, they are less likely to view a third offense drunk driving as the worse type of case that they see. However, some judges treat charges such as drunk driving very severely because they want to make sure that drunk driving is eliminated to any extent possible and recognize the deleterious impact DUI cases have on the community.

Regardless of how a judge might feel about DUI cases, the law requires them to impose a minimum 30-day period of incarceration for a third-offense DUI/OWI. Some of the judges in Oakland County give as much as six months in jail on even a first third offense on a very regular basis. Once a person acquires three DUI convictions the highest charge is OWI 3^rd. Consequently, a person with five prior DUI convictions will, upon picking up a sixth offense, still be charged with OWI 3d.

It is very important that whenever you have a felony charge you understand that every level of the court is going to potentially treat this as a significant important charge and use you as a representative example to try and deter future conduct from others. In other words, the judge will make an example out of you hoping to make it so that other people who see or learn about your sentence pause and think twice before committing even a single drunk driving.

The biggest thing that Troy OWI lawyers do to build defenses for third offense DUI/OWI charges is to make sure people understand exactly what goes into making a drunk driving charge. Many times, people think of attorneys simply as people who understand the law and that are able to find out legal issues only. However, drunk driving is more than just a legal issue. It also implicates science in that drunk driving is not proven based on just watching a video. It is based also on a breath or blood test, and this requires a good understanding of science, as does understanding how alcohol affects people. A DUI specialist lawyer will spend many years learning about how alcohol is measured in either the breath or the blood, the science behind breath and blood testing, as well as the science behind field sobriety testing.

There are a variety of different things that defense attorneys in Troy must look scientifically. It is therefore very important that you have an attorney that is not only going to get whatever information that a prosecuting attorney is going to hand over, but also further information regarding how the tests were conducted and whether or not the instruments and machines used were in appropriate working order. Further, a strong DUI defense is also about having somebody who has dealt with these types of matters before and understands what you’re going through and how to present your personal story to the prosecutor judge and/or jury. Whenever dealing with a drunk driving third offense, there is also a high likelihood that there is some kind of underlying life-issue. Attorneys want to make sure that whenever they see a drunk driving charge that they take appropriate steps in their role as counselor to try and make sure that people are addressing any potential life challenges, including alcohol use disorder.

Defending against a third offense OWI in Troy on your own is nearly an impossible task. While the courts have long since waned in the application of their leniency toward DUI cases, you can still have someone standing shoulder to shoulder and by your side who can protect your rights and obtain the best possible result. Reach out to a dedicated defense attorney today for the help you need.