My team and I would love to be able to deliver nothing but good news to everyone who contacts us about a pending DUI charge. It would be great if we could just tell them to hire us, and then we’d get their whole case dismissed outright and avoid any kind of DUI conviction.

That, however, is not how things work in the real world.

This article will be a kind of “consumer warning” to anyone facing an OWI charge (short for “Operating While Intoxicated,” the actual legal term in Michigan for what everyone just calls a DUI) who is looking for legal help.

Remember, a DUI is really 3 things:

1. A criminal charge (either misdemeanor or felony).
2. A traffic charge.
3. A criminal traffic charge.

Unfortunately, following a DWI arrest, many people start looking around for information and wind up getting sucked in by legal marketing messages that tell them what they want to hear, rather than what they need to hear.

As the old saying goes, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” A person must always keep this in mind as he or she looks for legal representation in a DUI case.

1. Be Careful When Choosing Your Legal Counsel

Ultimately, a DUI lawyer’s job is to either:

1. Get the charge dismissed, or 
2. Get the client out of it with the fewest legal penalties and negative consequences possible. 

That’s exactly what my team and I do all day, every day.

However, we could probably make a lot more money if, instead of just being honest, we sold a great sounding story to everyone who contacts us about how we can make his or her whole DUI case just go away.

Precisely because we’re honest, though, that’s something we would NEVER do.

Instead, we follow the Golden Rule to “treat others as you would wish to be treated.”

If you are a potential consumer of legal services for a DUI case, you need to understand that when you go online, you’re going to be inundated with all kinds of “too good to be true” sales pitches from legal websites looking to get your money.

Of course, our law firm is in business to earn an income just like everyone else, but, returning to that Golden Rule, we want to attract good karma by taking care of people who need help the in the same way we’d hope to be taken care of when we need help.

Put simply, that means telling the truth, even if it’s not what the client wants to hear, because that’s exactly what he or she needs to hear.

It is simply wrong for a defense lawyer to imply that there are endless things that can go wrong with a DUI case and the ONLY thing one needs to do to get the whole charge dismissed is pay an exorbitant fee to him or her.

Without exception, when a case does get dismissed, it’s the result of conscientious and diligent legal work, along with very real evidentiary problems.

In our roles as Michigan DUI attorneys, my team and I painstakingly examine every last shred of the evidence in every DUI case to see if there is any way to get the charge knocked out.

Make no mistake, we do manage to get plenty of DUI charges dismissed and will NEVER fail to do so when that’s legally possible.

However, there is also another and very important reason to be so thorough:

Even when the evidence isn’t compromised enough to get the ENTIRE case dismissed, those efforts often result in finding plenty of other things that we can use to achieve a good plea bargain and/or a more favorable (meaning less serious) outcome.

Of course, avoiding jail time is ALWAYS our first priority in every DUI case.

2. Michigan’s Annual Drunk Driving Audit Shows the Reality of Your Charges

By law, the Michigan State Police must conduct an audit of all DUI cases each year.

This requires a COMPRENSIVE documentation of each step – without exception – in every case, from the moment of a DUI arrest through the final case disposition.

A few years back,  I examined Michigan’s Annual Drunk Driving Audit, in an article about getting out of a DUI charge. As I pointed out then, and it’s still true now, the statistics have remained very consistent from year-to-year.

One of the most important conclusions that can be drawn from the audit is that VERY FEW (less than 1 out of 10) people arrested for a DUI get completely out of it.

Of course, everyone wants to be part of that lucky few whose entire case does get knocked out somehow. If I was facing a DUI, I sure would.

At the end of the day, though, the numbers confirm that more than 9 out of every 10 people arrested for a drunk driving charge aren’t going to be so fortunate.

This is because, no matter what a person wants, or what he or she may hope for, DUI cases are built on evidence and facts, and most of the time, those things are not compromised enough to get a complete dismissal of all charges.

Less Than One Out of Ten DUI Charges Are Dismissed in Michigan

As DUI lawyers, my team and I always do everything possible to get our client completely out of the case and be part of that “lucky few.”

This is true whether we’re dealing with a very simple 1st offense misdemeanor, or a more serious offense, like a 3rd time felony DUI charge.

No matter what, it is NEVER sufficient for a lawyer to take a case and merely “look over” the evidence. Instead, it must be put under what amounts to the “legal microscope” and carefully examined.

After all, DUI cases DON’T dismiss themselves.

When a DWI case is dismissed outright, it’s almost always because the lawyer undertakes a thorough analysis of the evidence with the mindset that there IS something wrong with it, and that he or she must keep digging until it’s found.

• Sometimes, a client may have one or more medical conditions that can affect the reliability of that evidence.
• Other times, there can be large discrepancies between blood alcohol concentration results from tests taken very close together.
• Still other times, a careful examination reveals that there is nothing catastrophically wrong with the evidence.

As noted above, even when there is no fatal mistake in the gathering or analysis of the evidence, that kind of painstaking inspection enables us to find other things we can use to drive a better deal and/or get a better outcome in the case.

The fact that more than 9 out of 10 DUI cases are strong enough to withstand a legal challenge and go through the court system is exactly why it is critical to work on producing the best possible outcome overall, instead of just hoping to get the whole thing dismissed up front.

3. Watch Out For Misleading Legal Advertising

Given this simple and consistent truth, why, then, do so many lawyers go on and on about something that will NOT happen for more than 9 out of 10 people facing a DUI?

The answer is that people like hearing what they want to hear, and lots of them are willing to pay for that – certainly enough to make it very profitable for the lawyers who sell their services in that way.

The never-ending stream of advertisements and infomercials for just about everything one could imagine proves that people will gladly fork over their money to buy into what they want to hear – like an easy way to get fit, thin, or rich.

Our firm is honest to a fault, and we don’t engage in that kind of marketing.

As the old saying goes, a person should always “do the right thing.”

I’m proud to say THAT is the standard to which my team and I hold ourselves.

Example of How You Can’t Buy Your Way Out of a DUI Charge

Some years ago, I was speaking with a prosecutor whose lawyer relative had worked for one of the “tell them what they want to hear” DUI operations.

He said that his family member had to quit that job because of a “crisis of conscience” (his exact words). This troubled lawyer knew that the clients had been lured in by a marketing message that led them to believe this firm would get them out of the whole case.

He was bothered that these poor clients were paying a fortune to buy into the notion that the firm had some “special” skill to get their drunk driving charge dismissed.

What finally made the lawyer-relative quit was his never-ending dread of eventually having to explain to more than 9 out of 10 of these clients that their case was NOT going to be completely knocked out of court, despite everything they’d been led to believe, and what they thought they had paid for.

Another Example of Misleading Marketing

Legal marketing should NOT focus too much on:

• All the things that could be wrong with a DUI case,
• The many things the police must get right to make a DUI charge stick,
• Every possible way to beat a case, and
• The kinds of things a person wants to hear, instead of what they need to hear.

If all a criminal defense attorney does is to try and get a case knocked out of court, what is he or she going to do next, when, in more than 9 out of 10 cases, that doesn’t happen?

The only DUI defense strategy worth anything is one that goes beyond just getting the case dismissed, and that provides for avoiding as many of the legal penalties and negative consequences as possible.

Always remember – success in a DUI case is best measured by what does NOT happen to you.

Without exception, what people need to hear is that a proper DUI defense involves more than just some vague hope of “beating it,” especially because that only happens in less than 1 out of every 10 cases.

• Our firm fights like warriors for our clients.
• We regularly get DUI charges dismissed (and it’s doubtful anyone is as successful at that as we are).
• We always make sure our efforts will have a positive impact on the outcome of each client’s case.

A key part of being successful is proving to the court that our client IS a good person who has found him or herself in a bad situation and genuinely deserves a break.

No lawyer can do more, and we will never do less.

Jeffrey Randa & Associates Choose Truth Over Profit

Our firm never wants to feel regret for having mislead someone – even a little bit. One thing we have never heard – and never want to hear – is an angry or disappointed client saying, “…but you told me…!”

Of course, we want to be hired, but not at the expense of selling a line of BS to someone who is vulnerable. Being honest means not making itsound like the ONLY thing standing between a person and the complete and easy dismissal of his or her entire DUI charge is the price of a retainer.

To be sure, this isn’t all about bad news. As full-time Michigan DUI lawyers –

• My team and I have a comprehensive understanding of Michigan’s DUI laws.
• We know exactly how things work in the courts.
• Our DUI practice is concentrated specifically in the Greater-Detroit area of Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and the surrounding counties.
• We know exactly what to do to protect our clients.
• Our efforts are always laser-focused on getting good people out of bad situations.

However, the simple fact is that more than 90% of the time, the evidence (like breath test results, or blood test results) is NOT so badlyscrewed up that the whole DUI case can just be thrown out of court.

It is unreasonable and dangerous to assume that, in most cases following a DUI arrest, the entire defense plan should rely on getting all charges dismissed.

In many cases, the evidence of impairment is generally solid, with a BAC result well over the legal limit and no real problems with the police investigation.

Given that most DUI cases will not be dismissed outright, then we must do what is necessary to:

• Protect our clients’ driving privileges,
• Get around things like excessive alcohol and/or drug testing,
• Keep the client from having to drive with an interlock device,
• Minimize the impact to his or her criminal and driving records,
• Avoid jail,
• Escape getting hammered with long and/or difficult probation, and,
• Get around as much of the potential fallout as is legally possible.

This means formulating a defense strategy to avoid as many of the legal penalties and negative consequences as possible. Fortunately, we are exceptional at doing just that. We have successfully handled thousands upon thousands of DUI cases.

Misconceptions People Have About DUI Arrests

There are a lot of misconceptions that people have about the whole DUI process.

First, it’s important to understand that a DUI case is a criminal case. As such, everything about the law and rules of criminal procedure applies, from the investigation, arrest and booking all the way through the court process.

One very common misconception people have about a DUI arrest is that the police MUST read his or her Miranda rights. While the police should read any arrestee his or her rights, NOT doing that only puts in jeopardy any evidence obtained thereafter, and in violation of those rights.

Here’s an example of how those rights can be stated:

• You have the right to remain silent.
• Anything you say can be used against you in court.
• You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions.
• You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning.
• If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish.
• If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time.

In the real world, a DUI is pretty much a done deal without the person saying or admitting anything.

In a typical case, the police make a traffic stop and smell a strong odor of alcohol or otherwise suspect that the driver is under the influence of something. Usually, the police officer will ask the person to perform some field sobriety tests and then take a breath test at the side of the road.

If a person suspected of driving drunk swears on a stack of bibles that he or she hasn’t been drinking, that’s not going to change anything. Every law enforcement officer on the road is still going to investigate and determine if there is probable cause to believe that the driver is over the legal limit.

By contrast, even if the person says, right out of the gate, “Man, am I drunk; I must have downed like 20 shots!” the police are still going to follow up on their observations that gave rise to the initial police contact. They will investigate and administer the required tests.

The police will NEVER simply rely upon the person’s statements as proof of his or her intoxication.

What The Law Does Require

What the police MUST do, in all DUI cases, is read a person his or her chemical test rights regarding submitting to a breath test and/or blood test. To be sure, some people are bit too drunk to remember this happening, but the police usually have that sufficiently documented, and quite often captured on video.

Remember, although impaired driving is a very common and often low-level offense, it’s a criminal matter, and all the legal requirements that govern collection of evidence and proper arrest procedure still apply.

But I Wasn’t Driving!

Sometimes, the police will come upon someone who is parked. Maybe he or she is trying to “sleep it off.” Other times, a person may be sitting in a parking lot, and the vehicle isn’t even running.

Although it’s strange to say it this way, a person doesn’t have to be driving a motor vehicle to be convicted of drunk driving. Remember, the actual term for DUI in Michigan is “Operating While Intoxicated.”

Key there is the word “operating.” Under Michigan law, as interpreted by our Supreme Court (and this writer WHOLEHEARTEDLY disagrees with it), a person, sitting in a vehicle, with the keys in the ignition, or who otherwise can “control” the vehicle (even if it is not running) may be legally responsible for “operating” it.

Whatever one may think about that, and as the saying goes, “it is what it is.” As Michigan DUI lawyers, our job is to work within the law.

As much as we’d like to, we cannot change it; that’s up to the legislature and the voting public.

A Few Other Common But Mistaken Beliefs

It’s better to refuse a breath test

This is almost NEVER true. Under Michigan law, if you refuse the breath test at the side of the road, it’s a civil infraction. If you refuse the formal breathalyzer after arrest, the police will obtain a warrant to take your blood and your driver’s license will automatically be suspended for 1 year (although we can usually get it back in circuit court).

You MUST answer the questions asked by the police

Legally, you do NOT have to say anything to the police beyond identifying yourself and providing a license and registration. That said, remaining silent almost certainly will NOT help your case in any way.

A DUI isn’t such a big deal

Even a 1st offense DUI can have dramatic consequences that negatively impact your life. Losing the ability to drive, getting a conviction on your record (and, if you have a professional license, having to report this) along with having to complete all kinds of classes and counseling can be overwhelming.

A DUI can ruin your life

The flip side is that, if properly managed by a skilled DUI lawyer, something like a first time DUI can usually end up being little more than a minor inconvenience. This makes it important to have a real DUI law firm, like ours, looking out for you.

It’s almost impossible to fight a DUI charge

As we’ve been examining in this article, the lawyer should ALWAYS assume there is a way to beat a DUI case. Although getting it dismissed entirely is the exception, and not the rule, it’s through that careful process of evaluating the evidence that we find ways to really lessen the consequence and negative impact of a DUI.

How Our Law Firm Measures Success in a DUI Case

An honest DUI lawyer will do everything possible to get a DUI charge completely dismissed, but when that doesn’t happen, then the focus must be on how to produce the best and most lenient outcome under the facts and evidence as they exist.

As stated above, success in a DUI case is always best measured by what does NOT happen to you. Avoiding as many of the legal penalties and negative consequences as possible is the gold standard.

That’s always the primary goal in every case we take. My team and I make sure to do that for every one of our clients.

That may not sound as appealing as “hire us and we’ll get your whole case dismissed, no matter what” but it is far more accurate and truthful.

At the end of the day, a person facing a DUI should look for what he or she needs to hear from a defense attorney, even though it doesn’t sound as enticing as what he or she wants to hear.

Jeffrey Randa and Associates’ Unique Approach

It has always been our firm’s mission to convey helpful information in an easy-to-read style. There is no other legal counsel in this field that puts out anything even close to the quantity and quality of information that can be found here, on this blog, or on our website.

It would be rather easy for us to shift our focus from doing that to instead telling someone facing a DUI and looking for a lawyer exactly what they want to hear. Then we could really cash in.

The problem, though, is that such messaging wouldn’t truthful.

Because we’re honest, we always try to “do the right thing.” We genuinely believe in treating others as we would wish to be treated. This is especially true when one needs professional help and relies upon another person’s integrity for it.

We genuinely believe that the attorney-client relationship requires us to look out for all our client’s interests, and to protect them to the fullest extent legally possible.

We really do buy into the whole “Golden Rule” thing. My team and I are all guided by our strong consciences.

We believe in helping good people out of bad situations, and we do everything legally possible to produce the best result in every DUI case we take.

Testimonials

I can’t believe you got MY WHOLE DUI CASE THROWN OUT! Everyone was nice, Ann and Beth, you were great, and my lawyers worked hard, told me to be patient, and then got the whole case dismissed. Best decision I ever made was to hire you guys. Thank you, Jeffrey Randa and Associates! I highly recommend your firm! – David

Your firm was the best!! Ms. Taylor was the best. The office staff Beth and Ann were amazing. Friendly listened and answered questions. I got the results I needed and wanted. Thank you so much for everything! I would refer anyone to this team!! – Sarah

Can’t say enough about Jack and team. Unbelievably professional and caring. Love these people!!! –  Mike D.

They did everything right! The experience was professional and never once did I feel that I didn’t know what was going on. – David M.

Very professional and understanding of my situation. Helped me through a very stressful spot. Genevieve was my lawyer and I will say she really is the best. – Devin

Additional Resources

The reader may find the articles linked below helpful:

What is a DUI? Beyond all the evidence and legal stuff, what really makes up a Michigan Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) charge?

What kind of license suspension, if any, do I face in a 1st offense DUI case?

What can I do to make sure I NEVER get another DUI again?

What happens if I get caught driving while my license is suspended or revoked?

The Truth About Your DUI Charge is a Call Away

If you are facing a DUI and looking for a lawyer, be a good consumer. Do your homework, and read how lawyers explain the DUI process in general, and how they explain their various approaches to DUI cases in particular.

What you find online is NOT legal advice, but it does provide a good idea about who will tell you what you need to hear, as opposed to merely what you want to hear.

When you’ve done enough reading, start checking around. You can learn a lot by talking to a live person, and that’s exactly what you’ll get when you call our office.

If your DUI case is pending in the Metro-Detroit area (meaning anywhere in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, or one of the surrounding counties), make sure you give our law office a ring.

We always offer a free consultation that is entirely confidential, and, best of all, done over the phone, right when you call.

My team and I are very friendly people who will be glad to answer your questions, explain things, and even compare notes with anything some other defense attorney has told you.

We can be reached Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., at either 248-731-4590 or 586-371-6571.