Thursday, July 29, 2010

You are here: Home >

Posts tagged as:

OWI Trial

DUI Suspects Required to Take Blood Tests

April 13, 2010

Police departments across the United States are beginning to mandate that those suspected of driving under the influence (DUI) take an automatic blood test to determine their blood alcohol content (BAC).  This is contrary to the traditional and widely used breathalyzer test.  Currently, Michigan uses the DataMaster to test DUI suspect’s breath, and blood is [...]

  • Share/Bookmark

Thousands DUI Cases Possibly Dismissed Over Invalid Breath Test Certificates

March 29, 2010

In South Africa, the use of the Draeger breathalyzer machines in drunk driving cases has been suspended until further notice because of a “legal loophole caused by a certification problem with the machines,” according to the Cape Times (Eliseev). The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed that it had withdrawn all court cases that had not [...]

  • Share/Bookmark

Is Your Michigan DUI Prosecutor Only Interested in Conviction?

March 5, 2010

Your Michigan DUI will prosecuted by a lawyer who is supposed to be interested in one thing – to be sure that justice is done.  That means that if the prosecutor knows of something that shows you are not guilty of a Michigan DUI, then he/she is supposed to let your DUI lawyer know this.  [...]

  • Share/Bookmark

Your DUI Lawyer Controls These 18 Rights

February 16, 2010

In our prior article we discussed those things over which the Michigan DUI client has total control.  In this article we discuss those issues over which the DUI lawyer has control, or at least partial control. The DUI lawyer generally has control over those decisions relating to matters of “strategy” or “tactics”.[i] More specifically, the [...]

  • Share/Bookmark

How to Argue and Win Your Next OWI Trial

February 9, 2010

Every DUI lawyer knows that winning OWI trials requires persuading juries to disregard  a breath or blood test.  But disregarding does not mean ignoring.  For this reason one of the first questions a DUI lawyer will ask his prospective client is: what did you blow? Certainly this is a legitimate question for the DUI lawyer [...]

  • Share/Bookmark

How to Use Software to Win DUI Cases

February 3, 2010

Any DUI lawyer who has handled more than a couple dozen Michigan drunk driving cases knows that it is important to know how much alcohol was consumed and how this amount of alcohol impacted his client’s blood alcohol level at the time he or she was driving. But the driver’s roadside breath test is inadmissible, [...]

  • Share/Bookmark

Tips for Using an Expert Witness in Your DUI Case

January 7, 2010

  After deciding which DUI lawyer to retain the next most important decision you will make is whether or not to use one or more expert witnesses.  Just like a DUI defense lawyer, if you pick the wrong expert you might just lose an otherwise winnable case.  So, why are experts so important?  Expert witnesses [...]

  • Share/Bookmark

Barone Defense Firm Earns Another Not Guilty!

December 28, 2009

Barone Defense Firm Senior Trial Attorney Michael Boyle inaugurated the new 63rd (2nd division) encompassing the cities of E. Grand Rapids, Lowell and the Townships of Grand Rapids, Ada, Cascade, Vergennes, Lowell, Bryon, Gaines, Caledonia and Bowne) with its first not guilty verdict on December 21, 2009. The facts of the case were as follows: [...]

  • Share/Bookmark

Violation of Breath Testing Adminstrative Rules Might Lead to Suppression of Results

December 1, 2009

The Michigan administrative rules for breath testing require that the breath test operator in a drunk driving case observe the suspect continuously for 15 minutes prior to administering the breath test. The reason the 15 minute rule exists is because it takes about 15 minutes for mouth alcohol to evaporate.  If mouth alcohol exists then [...]

  • Share/Bookmark

DUI Blood Testing by Gas Chromatography

November 12, 2009

Chapter Two of Defending Drinking Drivers (Barone/James Publishing) covers chemical testing. This chapter has been nearly completely re-written for the 2010 update.  A portion of the newly updated section on gas chromatography follows: The process of gas chromatography involves the use of an instrument called a gas chromatograph (GC) to separate and analyze compounds that [...]

  • Share/Bookmark

Why DUI Defense Experts are Feared by the State

October 18, 2009

Those who are in power have always loathed and feared others who have the ability to challenge them philosophically or scientifically. Jesus is an early historical example of this idea. He was openly critical of Palestine’s Roman rulers and accused the ruling class of hypocrisy and injustice.  To the ruling class Jesus was a pariah.  For [...]

  • Share/Bookmark

Meaning of “INTERFERENCE DETECTED” in DUI Breath Testing

October 9, 2009

Michigan exclusively uses the DataMaster to measure the breath alcohol of all persons arrested for drunk driving.  The DataMaster operates on the scientifically accepted principle of absorption of infrared energy. Michigan is about to put into service a new DataMaster called the DataMaster DMT. The analytical portion of the DMT is essentially identical to the [...]

  • Share/Bookmark

Thousands of Breath Tests Improperly Admitted in Michigan DUI Trials

October 7, 2009

In a Michigan drunk driving case it is typical for the breath test results to be entered into evidence based solely on the testimony of the breath test operator.  The precedent “foundation” for the admission of the breath test results usually includes only the admission of the simulator logs.  According to Michigan’s administrative rules governing breath [...]

  • Share/Bookmark

NHTSA Field Sobriety Tests Fatally Flawed

October 2, 2009

If you have been arrested for drunk driving in Michigan then you probably submitted to one or more field sobriety tests.  The problem with these tests is that they are not reliable indicators of intoxication and they are almost never administered properly by the police.  Because arrests for DUI in Michigan are almost always based [...]

  • Share/Bookmark

A DUI Prosecutor Must Help Prove That You Are Not Guilty

September 22, 2009

In a Michigan drunk driving case the prosecutor is legally and ethically required to provide the evidence that shows that you are not guilty.  Unfortunately, not all defense lawyers know how to make sure the prosecutor provides this favorable evidence, and not all prosecutors follow the law or ethics. Both the prosecutor and the defense attorney [...]

  • Share/Bookmark

← Previous Entries