Michigan has passed two new laws that impact drivers charged with drunk driving in Michigan. The first is the new Super Drunk law which creates a new category of drunk driving for first offenders with a bodily alcohol content of 0.17 or above. Michigan drivers convicted of the super drunk law will face greater punishment, including a one-year license suspension and a mandatory requirment of one year of substance abuse treatment. To learn more about the details of this new law, download the Super Drunk article or PowerPoint below.
The other new law is Michigan’s sobriety court law. Unlike Michigan’s Super Drunk law, which only applies to first offenders with high BACs, the sobriety court is aimed at repeat offenders, and will help them get back on the road sooner. Thus, repeat drunk drivers can now get their licenses back as soon as 45 days after the conviction so long as they successfully participate in a sobriety court program. More about this new law can also be found in the materials below.
On October 1, 2010 Patrick Barone presented on Michigan’s Super Drunk and Sobriety Court laws at the Detroit/Wayne County Criminal Advocacy Program (CAP). In attendance were several hundred criminal defense lawyers, judges, prosecuting attorneys and others. His topic was the history of drunk driving in American, Michigan’s new Super Drunk Law and the new Sobriety Court Law.
According to the CAP web site, the program was established in 1983 for the purpose of developing, expanding, and maintaining high professional standards of representation in felony cases.
Furthermore, the individual sessions have been designed and developed under the joint auspices of judges, members of the private bar, police, prosecutors and defense attorneys. While the training is directed primarily to assigned and retained counsel, other professionals involved in the criminal justice system will also fin1d the seminars a valuable continuing education resource.
The materials for Mr. Barone’s presentation included:
- The CAP-SuperDrunk PowerPoint presentation
- Michigan Super Drunk Law Article
One of the topics covered by Mr. Barone was the new BAIID or ignition interlock program. During this part of the seminar, Mr. Barone played the following video, which was produced by Smart Start, a maker of ignition interlock devices. The video describes how to use a BAIID device.
To end the seminar, Mr. Barone played this funny video about drunk driving:
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baronedefensefirm – who has written 204 posts on Michigan Drunk Driving Lawyers.
Patrick T. Barone is the author on two books on DUI defense including the well respected two volume treatise Defending Drinking Drivers (James Publishing), and The DUI Book – A Citizen’s Guide to Understanding DUI Litigation in America. He is also the author of a monthly DUI defense column for the Criminal Defense Newsletter, published by Michigan’s State Appellate Defender’s Office. Mr. Barone is an adjunct professor at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School where he teaches Drunk Driving Law and Practice. He is also on the faculty of the Criminal Defense Attorney’s of Michigan’s Trial Lawyer’s College where he provides trial skills training to Michigan’s criminal defense practitioners. Mr. Barone lectures nationally on various DUI defense topics, and he has appeared in newspapers, on television and on radio as a drunk driving defense expert. Mr. Barone has been certified as an instructor and practitioner of the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and has also attended a 24-hour certification course at National Patent Analytical Corporation (the manufacturer of the DataMaster) and has thereby been deemed competent by the manufacturer to operate, perform essential diagnostic verifications and calibration checks on the DataMaster. Mr. Barone is a Sustaining Member of College for DUI Defense. Mr. Barone is the principal and founding member of The Barone Defense Firm, whose practice is limited exclusively to defending drinking drivers. The Firm is headquartered in Birmingham, Michigan.
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