Livonia DUI Lawyer – Refused a Breath Test

February 5, 2016

Livonia DUI Lawyer – Refused a Breath Test

Unfortunately the facts of this drinking and driving case are one that many people find themselves in. Our client was arrested in Livonia for drinking and driving. After his arrest, when it came time to submit to the chemical test he refused, which meant on top of facing the criminal charge for the DUI he was going to lose his license for an entire year.

Our client called Livonia DUI lawyer, and driver license lawyer, Aaron J. Boria. We were able to get his charges reduced, and save his license. If you have been charged with drinking and driving call lawyer, Aaron J. Boria (734) 453-7806.

Drinking and Driving Livonia – 16^TH District Court

This section is going to focus on the criminal aspect of the drinking and driving charge. The chemical test refusal will be focused on in the segment below.

Our client was visiting a friend in Livonia after a funeral. Emotions were running high and so was the alcohol. He had not been drinking for some time because he was already on probation for another offense where he was required to test for alcohol, but the loss of a close friend was too much and he broke sobriety.

On his way home he was pulled over on seven mile by the Livonia Police Department. After admitting to drinking and failing the field sobriety tests he was arrested for DUI.

Back at the station our client was asked to submit to a chemical test. After being read his chemical test rights he refused the test and was cited for the refusal. The police officer then submitted a warrant request to the judge who signed off on it. The client was then taken to the hospital where a nurse took his blood.

His blood came back very high and he was charged with the Super Drunk High BAC .17 operating while intoxicated charge at the 16^th District Court in Livonia.

If convicted of this charge he would face up to six months in jail, two years on probation, thousands in fines, and would lose his license for a year. (A restricted license would be available after 45 days but only with an interlock device, or blow and go, installed on the car)

The 16^th District Court has two judges, Judge McCann and Judge Kavanagh. This case was heard in front of judge Kavanagh.

We were able to negotiate a reduced charge for our client to the lowest offense possible that would cut his potential jail time in half, decrease his fines by more than a thousand, reduce driver license points, and save his driver license.

Once we got in front of the judge we were able to get our client a term of probation without any jail time whatsoever, which was a great result considering how high his blood alcohol level was and the fact that he was already on probation with another court for another offense when arrested for this one.

We mentioned above that the reduction we were able to negotiate would save his driver license, but because this client refused the chemical test he still would not be able to drive unless we could do something regarding a violation of the implied consent law. Read on . . .

Refusing a Breath Test – Refuse a Breathalyzer – Implied Consent

If you run an Internet search for the phrase, “Should I take a breath test?” you will end up with countless opinions many conflicting.

As an experienced criminal defense attorney that has a strong focus in drinking and driving defense, and attends countless seminars dedicated to DUI defense I will share with you my advice when it comes to refusing a breath test.

In MOST cases you would be better off refusing the initial preliminary breath test offered on the scene. The penalty for this refusal is a small fine and does not show up on a driving record. If the officer doesn’t have enough information to arrest you don’t give it to him. If you are still arrested and taken to the station you will be asked to submit to a chemical test. You will probably be better off agreeing to take that test. Some people may argue that by refusing the test it is possible that the officer will not find a judge or magistrate to sign the warrant for the blood but I have never seen that happen. The other argument for refusing the chemical test is that your blood alcohol level may drop in the time it takes the cop to get the warrant and then get you to the hospital for the blood draw. While this might be true it would only happen in a very small number of cases and those people would still likely be charged with operating while visibly impaired.

If your license is already suspended, or you never obtained a license then it might be a better idea to refuse because you don’t have much to lose.

This advice is based on an ultimate result that I believe will cause you the least legal trouble.

In this case our client refused the chemical test and was in violation of Michigan’s Implied Consent Law. He attended a hearing with the secretary of state without retaining us for that service and lose. He then hired us to get him a hardship license. We were able to file a petition to the circuit court. The judge granted our hearing and within a few moments of requesting the license the judge granted it over the attorney general’s objection.

Now that our client received a hardship license and a reduction on the drinking and driving charge he could get back on the road and drive again.