How Long Does a Michigan DUI Investigation Take?
A Michigan DUI investigation usually takes as long as the blood test does. When the evidentiary test is a breath test, the number is known that night. When blood is drawn, the case waits on the Michigan State Police Toxicology Unit, and here in Metro Detroit that is usually about a month,...
How Long Does a Michigan DUI Investigation Take? Continue reading…
DUI Expungement/Set-Aside in Michigan
Years after a first drunk driving case ends, the conviction is usually the part still doing damage. It surfaces in a background check for a promotion, a rental application, or a license renewal, long after the fines are paid and probation is over. Michigan now allows a first conviction for operating while...
DUI Expungement/Set-Aside in Michigan Continue reading…
Why Michigan License Restoration Cases Are Denied Even When Sobriety Is Genuine
You did the hard part. You got sober, you stayed sober, you filed, and the order came back denied. You were not called a liar.
Michigan puts the entire burden of proof on you, and a case can be completely true and still lose on the record you built. In...
Why Michigan License Restoration Cases Are Denied Even When Sobriety Is Genuine Continue reading…
Will a DUI Show Up on a Background Check in Michigan?
Here’s the dreaded lawyer answer: it depends. In many cases, yes, it will show up. Michigan treats operating while intoxicated as a criminal offense committed with a vehicle, so a conviction can reach both your Michigan State Police criminal history record and your Secretary of State driving record.
Those are separate...
Will a DUI Show Up on a Background Check in Michigan? Continue reading…
What Is the Legal Alcohol Limit for Boating in Michigan?
In Michigan, the limit for operating a motorboat is a blood alcohol content of 0.08 grams or more per 100 milliliters of blood, the same number that applies on the road. That number is easy to find, and it is also the least useful part of the law, because the statute gives...
What Is the Legal Alcohol Limit for Boating in Michigan? Continue reading…
What Happens If a Set-Aside Petition Gets Denied?
A denial of a petition to expunge a DUI conviction is not the end of the road. If a Michigan court denies your application to set aside (expunge) a conviction, you generally cannot file again on that same conviction for three years, but the judge has the power to allow an earlier...
What Happens If a Set-Aside Petition Gets Denied? Continue reading…
How a DUI Affects Your Car Insurance (And How Long It Lasts)
If you are facing a drunk driving charge in Michigan, here is the straight answer about car insurance. A conviction for a DUI, which Michigan law calls an OWI (operating while intoxicated), almost always raises your car insurance, often for years, and the conviction is recorded on your state driving record permanently....
How a DUI Affects Your Car Insurance (And How Long It Lasts) Continue reading…
Michigan DUI While on Probation: What’s at Stake and What Can Be Done
If you are arrested for a DUI while on probation in Michigan, you are suddenly fighting on two fronts: the new criminal charge and a probation violation in your earlier case. That pairing is what makes this situation so serious, because it can mean jail, a longer sentence, and the loss of...
Michigan DUI While on Probation: What’s at Stake and What Can Be Done Continue reading…
Second Offense DUI in Michigan: What Really Happens and Why It Matters More Than You Think
A Second DUI Feels Different — Because It Is
Most people facing second DUI Michigan consequences come to our office expecting something like a repeat of their first case — a little worse, maybe, but roughly the same process with a similar outcome. Some are genuinely shaken. Others...
Second Offense DUI in Michigan: What Really Happens and Why It Matters More Than You Think Continue reading…
What Happens If You Miss a Court Date for a DUI in Michigan?
If you miss a court date for a DUI in Michigan, two things happen fast. The judge issues a bench warrant for your arrest, and the Secretary of State moves to suspend your driver’s license. A missed date is not a quiet mistake the court forgets.
It is treated as ignoring...
What Happens If You Miss a Court Date for a DUI in Michigan? Continue reading…
Why Many DUI Cases Feel Worse Than Expected
An OWI in Michigan is rarely “just a DUI.”
The charge impacts your driver’s license, your insurance, your permanent driving record, and in many cases, your employment — all at the same time. Mandatory penalties stack quickly, and decisions made in the first few weeks can shape the next several years.
Why Many DUI Cases Feel Worse Than Expected Continue reading…
Preliminary Breath Test (PBT) vs. Post-Arrest Breath/Blood Test
In a Michigan OWI stop, the roadside PBT and the post-arrest evidentiary test serve entirely different legal purposes. The PBT is primarily used to help establish probable cause for an arrest and has only limited admissibility as direct evidence of intoxication at trial. The post-arrest evidentiary test is the one that can...
Preliminary Breath Test (PBT) vs. Post-Arrest Breath/Blood Test Continue reading…