Trial on Drunk Driving Case
LEWIS & DICKSTEIN, P.L.L.C. wins another Oakland County acquittal at trial on a drunk driving case. Few lawyers have had an OWI jury trial, and even fewer have won. We do whatever it takes to give our clients every possible advantage in court.
On one count of Operating While Intoxicated, the jury finds the defendant “NOT GUILTY!”
Recently, a client of LEWIS & DICKSTEIN, P.L.L.C. was found not guilty of Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Liquor, 3rd offense in Oakland County. Senior-level trial attorney George MacAvoy Brown handled the case. With every client the firm takes on, the attorneys immediately search for the possibility of a dismissal. If none exists, they begin orchestrating a defense against the charges, forcing the prosecution to meet its burden of proof. Prosecutors know that LEWIS & DICKSTEIN, P.L.L.C.’s attorneys are not afraid to win, so they often bring great deals to the bargaining table. Prosecutors do not want jury trials on drunk driving cases against lawyers who routinely win in court.
In this matter, the client faced an OWI 3rd felony offense. He wisely began mounting the best possible defense by hiring the attorneys at LEWIS & DICKSTEIN, P.L.L.C.
The Investigation
Diligent research revealed severe flaws in the prosecution’s case.
First, the police had illegally arrested the client. To be arrested for a misdemeanor, the police need an arrest warrant unless they have personally witnessed the commission of the crime or are investigating a car accident and have reasonable cause to believe the person’s driving was affected by alcohol consumption. The prosecution claimed the police did not arrest the defendant in this case. The prosecutor also argued that even if the defendant was “legally” arrested, an accident had occurred, which forced an application of the statutory exception. Attorney George Brown successfully persuaded the court that there was an arrest and no accident. Therefore, the judge ruled that the arrest was illegal and suppressed all of the evidence gathered after the arrest. When seeking the dismissal of an OWI case and avoiding a trial on drunk driving charges, an experienced lawyer’s investigation can be the key to success.
Always on the Attack
Knowing it is never wise to place all their eggs in one basket, defense counsel also attacked the breathalyzer test’s validity. The Michigan administrative rules require police departments to run calibration and maintenance tests on its breathalyzer machines to ensure their results’ legitimacy. Law enforcement must keep those records to lay a foundation to introduce the results at trial. Here, the police department had destroyed all logs related to its machine. Defense counsel filed a compelling motion to suppress the test results in the client’s case, arguing that the prosecution had failed to properly lay a foundation for introducing the breathalyzer results.
The Trial on Drunk Driving Charges and Verdict
After the judge suppressed the breathalyzer test results, the prosecution maintained that it had enough evidence to win a conviction, so the defense team took the case to trial. Without the breathalyzer evidence, Mr. Brown successfully argued that the prosecution had failed to produce evidence against the defendant to demonstrate guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The defendant was found NOT GUILTY! He expressed that he is “truly, eternally grateful” to his attorneys for the acquittal.
Top OWI Defense in Michigan
Suppose you are accused of an OWI or any other crime in Oakland County, Wayne County, Macomb County, or elsewhere in Michigan. In that case, it is critical that you level the playing field by assembling the best possible legal team to fight for you. The diligent, methodical, creative, and aggressive attorneys at LEWIS & DICKSTEIN, P.L.L.C. will deconstruct your matter to examine all weaknesses in the prosecution’s case. If necessary, they will take your drunk driving case to trial. They have decades of winning results behind them.
Call us today at (248) 263-6800 for a free consultation or complete an online Request for Assistance Form. We will contact you promptly and find a way to help you.
We will find a way to help you and, most importantly,
we are not afraid to win!
