{"id":6136,"date":"2023-08-13T20:09:03","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T00:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.randalawyers.com\/randa-blog-post\/when-a-dui-just-happens\/"},"modified":"2024-02-21T15:19:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T20:19:02","slug":"when-a-dui-just-happens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.randalawyers.com\/blog\/when-a-dui-just-happens\/","title":{"rendered":"When a DUI just \u201cHappens\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re facing a\u00a0DUI charge<\/strong>\u00a0in the Greater-Detroit area, meaning anywhere in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, or the surrounding counties, it seems that everywhere you look, you\u2019re reminded how serious it is.<\/p>\n

While a DUI charge IS serious, the proper handling of a case requires taking some time to find the right lawyer<\/a>, and taking things into account, like who you are as a person, and how the DUI really reflects upon you.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the last number of years, a DUI charge has<\/strong> become a really big deal. This is understandable, as the news headlines regularly carry stories about tragic deaths caused by drunk drivers, and people tend to remember that.<\/p>\n

DUI laws and court policies have grown out of the public need to be protected from the dangers of letting risky drinkers get behind the wheel.<\/p>\n

Ads on radio and TV warn everyone that getting caught driving drunk is very serious, and very expensive, as well. This is done with an eye toward prevention, but often enough, a DUI just “happens.”<\/p>\n

Make no mistake, DUI cases are<\/u>\u00a0expensive. They’re big business. They keep police, judges and lawyers busy. They fill the waiting rooms of probation departments, and are the reason why so many \u201ctesting\u201d facilities exist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact, DUI cases have given rise to the whole new arm of the testing and monitoring industry, and they also keep the appointment books of substance abuse counselors filled.<\/p>\n

I get all that, but I am not a risky drinker!<\/font><\/em><\/p>\n

Unfortunately the whole \u201canti-drunk driving\u201d movement tends to steamroll over the kinds of people most likely to face a1st offense DUI – the normal, law-abiding, tax-paying citizen who simply makes a mistake in judgment and tries to drive home after having had a few too many.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In some places, even describing a DUI this way is considered heresy, but the indisputable fact is that the vast majority of people who get a single DUI will never be back for another<\/u>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the real world a DUI\u00a0can<\/em> just happen, and, as it turns out, it often\u00a0does<\/em>\u00a0just happen to good and honest people<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As Michigan DUI lawyers, my team and I know that our job is to make sure that you don’t go though the\u00a0DUI<\/strong>\u00a0process being perceived or treated like some kind of hardcore criminal or risky problem drinker.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re currently on bond, waiting for your case to come up, and are required to submit to any kind of alcohol testing, then you\u2019ve already had your first real taste of how that feels.<\/p>\n

The DUI Stigma <\/font><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

A whole series of books could be written about how and why things have evolved to what they are in the DUI world, but none of that matters to anyone facing a Michigan OWI charge right now<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Instead, and as the saying goes, \u201cit is what it is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Your DUI attorney needs to carefully navigate you through the minefield of court procedures and DUI perceptions – and misconceptions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Specifically, that means we need to make sure that you\u2019re not seen as some person with a drinking problem, especially because the court system is, to a certain extent, predisposed<\/a> toward that very conclusion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My team and I need to make sure that you’re not crammed into endless counseling, treatment and testing designed to force a lifestyle change you don\u2019t<\/strong> need.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the courts simply do not have the time and resources to get to know every DUI defendant as a person. Instead, they tend to default to a few “one-size-fits-all” approaches to the most common DUI situations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This means we also have to ensure that the court learns about your individual circumstances<\/a> and understands that this DUI is a single, once-in-a-lifetime mistake for you.<\/p>\n

This is true even though, under Michigan law, before a person can be sentenced for a DUI, he or she must undergo a mandatory alcohol assessment administered (and \u201cscored\u201d) by a probation officer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to administering the alcohol screening test, the probation officer must also interview the person, and then, based upon the circumstances of the case, the person’s results on the alcohol screening test, as well as the other information gathered about him or her, make a sentencing recommendation that is sent to the Judge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This recommendation advises the Judge what to do to the person\u00a0<\/p>\n

In theory, a person\u2019s \u201cscore\u201d on the alcohol assessment test should be the main driver of this recommendation. Theory, however, gives way to several real world problems:<\/p>\n