As we celebrate another St Patrick's Day in Michigan, the police departments around the State are gearing up for the hundreds of drunk driving arrests that happen every year. Police departments around Michigan will be running "drunk driving patrols" throughout the day rather than the usual time period from 11 pm into the early morning.
I tell potential clients all the time that committing traffic violations during the day generally go unnoticed with police patrols concentrating on a variety of matters around towns and cities, but things change from about 11 pm into the early morning. During this time, police departments around Michigan have "drunk driving patrols" out on the road. The sole purpose of these patrols are to spot potential drunk drivers on the roads. The police conduct traffic stops based upon both obvious and not so obvious traffic violations. If you forget to use a turn signal, or don't stop fully at a stop sign or drive over the speed limit, you will most likely be pulled over.
Police officers on drunk driving patrol are pulling over drivers for infractions that would probably go unnoticed in the middle of the day, but late at night, they are betting on the driver being drunk, and having probable cause to conduct an arrest. As long as you commit a traffic infraction on the road, it doesn't matter what the officer's motivation is for pulling someone over. Now if no traffic violation occurs, there may be cause to file a motion for an unconstitutional traffic stop. This is where an in-car video is extremely helpful for your case. If a police report states failure to signal, but the video shows use of the turn signal, then the prosecutor and police department have a real problem on their hands.
If you're going to enjoy your St Patrick's Day, hand those keys over. It's not worth driving even if you're only going to have a few beers. A few beers gives you the false sense of confidence that you can keep drinking and later drive. Countless clients tell me, "well I wasn't planning on driving, but so and so couldn't drive or I didn't want to leave my car". Clients think that they can get away with driving a short distance without detection. The police are watching you like a hawk, DO NOT RISK YOUR LIFE OR THE LIFE OF OTHERS.
Nobody likes drunk drivers - the clients I represent charged with drunk driving don't like them either, but crap happens, and people make bad choices. As an attorney I took an oath to represent clients to the best of my ability. Everyone deserves competent legal representation; many of my clients appear to be guilty, but the burden is on the prosecutor to prove that. If the prosecutor isn't good at their job, they shouldn't be prosecuting. I was a prosecutor, and I did a heck of a job at convicting drunk drivers, but it's not my job to convict clients anymore; it's more job to push the prosecutor to do their job, and justice will prevail one way or another.
If you or something you love has been charged with drunk driving in Michigan, it's important to take a proactive approach from day one. Give me a call at 248-924-9458 and visit my website: www.michiganlawgrad.com
I tell potential clients all the time that committing traffic violations during the day generally go unnoticed with police patrols concentrating on a variety of matters around towns and cities, but things change from about 11 pm into the early morning. During this time, police departments around Michigan have "drunk driving patrols" out on the road. The sole purpose of these patrols are to spot potential drunk drivers on the roads. The police conduct traffic stops based upon both obvious and not so obvious traffic violations. If you forget to use a turn signal, or don't stop fully at a stop sign or drive over the speed limit, you will most likely be pulled over.
Police officers on drunk driving patrol are pulling over drivers for infractions that would probably go unnoticed in the middle of the day, but late at night, they are betting on the driver being drunk, and having probable cause to conduct an arrest. As long as you commit a traffic infraction on the road, it doesn't matter what the officer's motivation is for pulling someone over. Now if no traffic violation occurs, there may be cause to file a motion for an unconstitutional traffic stop. This is where an in-car video is extremely helpful for your case. If a police report states failure to signal, but the video shows use of the turn signal, then the prosecutor and police department have a real problem on their hands.
If you're going to enjoy your St Patrick's Day, hand those keys over. It's not worth driving even if you're only going to have a few beers. A few beers gives you the false sense of confidence that you can keep drinking and later drive. Countless clients tell me, "well I wasn't planning on driving, but so and so couldn't drive or I didn't want to leave my car". Clients think that they can get away with driving a short distance without detection. The police are watching you like a hawk, DO NOT RISK YOUR LIFE OR THE LIFE OF OTHERS.
Nobody likes drunk drivers - the clients I represent charged with drunk driving don't like them either, but crap happens, and people make bad choices. As an attorney I took an oath to represent clients to the best of my ability. Everyone deserves competent legal representation; many of my clients appear to be guilty, but the burden is on the prosecutor to prove that. If the prosecutor isn't good at their job, they shouldn't be prosecuting. I was a prosecutor, and I did a heck of a job at convicting drunk drivers, but it's not my job to convict clients anymore; it's more job to push the prosecutor to do their job, and justice will prevail one way or another.
If you or something you love has been charged with drunk driving in Michigan, it's important to take a proactive approach from day one. Give me a call at 248-924-9458 and visit my website: www.michiganlawgrad.com
