Drunk Driving Cases Handled
by Attorney Patrick T. Barone

People vs. D.D.

77^th District - Big Rapids

In this particular case our client was charged with an OWI (Second Offense).  He was  pulled over after officer observed his vehicle cross over center line, drive onto the shoulder on multiple occasions, and travel at irregular speeds.  Our client admitted to consuming 6-7 drinks and had slurred speech. He was asked but was unable to perform the Field Sobriety Tests, and explained he was suffering a diabetic incident. EMS arrived, treated our client who was then escorted to the Hospital. A blood draw and subsequent serum test were conducted without consent with a result of .171.  We filed a motion for an evidentiary hearing arguing that the Prosecution would not be able to lay a proper foundation of reliability for the admission of the blood serum tests prior to trial, and further arguing that the serum blood test was inherently unreliable as forensic evidence, and that it should therefore be suppressed.

Result: All Charges Dismissed, client plead guilty to the non-alcohol Reckless Driving (OWI-2d was dismissed. Additionally, the our client had a CDL and therefore, a conviction/plea to alcohol related offense would suspend the CDL for 1 year, and this was independant of the one year revocation for the underlying operator’s lciense.