Impaired Driving Troy

Searching for an Aggressive Lawyer for Your Impaired Driving Case in Troy, Michigan?

Being arrested and charged with impaired driving in Troy, Michigan (sometimes referred to as OWI, Operating While Impaired, OWVI, Operating While Visible Impaired, DWI, Driving While Impaired) is a very serious offense, and if you're convicted you could face strict penalties including: jail, probation with tough conditions, fines and costs, driver's license sanctions, and increased insurance rates. Local Troy Michigan lawyer Daniel Hilf is very compassionate to your current legal predicament, he has represented many people accused of drunk driving in Troy Michigan at the 52/4 District Court (520 West Big Beaver Road, Troy 48084), and he wants to help you obtain a great result through his outstanding legal representation.  Even though your impaired driving case has its own particular facts and circumstances, there are ways in which a experienced criminal defense attorney, such as attorney Daniel Hilf, can help you defend this charge with legal acumen, litigation skills, and experience.

With every impaired driving case there is some particular reason that brought you in contact with a law enforcement officer - a traffic stop, a call from a concerned citizen, an accident, a disabled vehicle, etc.  When it comes to conducting a traffic stop, a police officer needs to observe some sort of traffic violation (invalid license plate, speeding, improper turn, weaving), equipment violation (cracked windshield, broken tail light, headlight that is not operating) or otherwise have a valid legal basis in order to legally pull you over.  There must be the existence of probable cause for a traffic stop to legally occur, which means that the police officer needs to have an objective articulable and reasonable suspicion that the driver or passenger violated a State law or local ordinance (as long as there was any lawful basis for the stop, it does not matter if the officer used that reason or pretext to conduct the traffic stop).  If the driver of the vehicle is already at the side of the road (due to mechanical issues, asking for directions, a car accident) a police officer is generally allowed to approach the driver (and the vehicle occupants) and ask questions.

Once the police officer makes contact with you, the police officer may also make personal observations that might lead to an additional investigation which may include any of the following: the smell of alcohol; the smell of marijuana; red, watery, or glassy eyes; slurred speech; poor balance and coordination; open intoxicants in the motor vehicle.  This may lead the police officer to request that the driver perform the standard field sobriety tests that you probably have seen on television (one leg stand, walk and turn, horizontal gaze nystagmus [HGN], count backwards) in order to develop probable cause that the driver was operating under the influence.  If there is a proper foundation established from the field sobriety tests that were administered to the driver (if the driver did not perform the tests to the satisfaction of the police officer), the police officer may administer a preliminary breath test (PBT) from a handheld instrument used to determine the presence and level of alcohol in the alleged driver's body.  The totality of the police officers observations during the traffic stop and his or her interaction with the driver may wrongly or rightly lead to an arrest for suspicion of driving while impaired.  After arrest, typically a Datamaster test is administered at the local police station or a blood draw conducted by a medical professional (nurse, doctor, EMT) at the police station or a hospital in an attempt to precisely determine the level of alleged intoxication of the driver.

An invalid traffic stop is a potential Constitutional basis for your lawyer to seek to suppress the evidence against you, which may require your lawyer to conduct an evidentiary hearing in order for the Court to make a determination whether or not the stop was lawful in your case.  Your lawyer may even try to challenge whether there was probable cause to administer a PBT test or to even arrest you under the facts and circumstances of your case.  Even if the arrest made by police in your case was by the book and completely lawful, there may still be a legal basis to challenge the testing procedures that occurred as it relates to your alleged level of intoxication, or to challenge a statement that you allegedly made to the police officer to keep them from being used against you.

There is evidence that may exist which will aid your lawyer in the defense of your impaired driving case that he or she is entitled to receive from the city attorney or prosecuting attorney.  Many police cars (including the patrol cars used in Troy Michigan) are equipped with video and audio capabilities: the video is typically from the vantage point of the front of the police car looking forward, and there is a second camera facing the rear passenger seating area of the patrol car to record anyone seated inside; the audio is typically from a microphone worn by the police officer that is sensitive enough to record conversations the police officer is engaging in.  Some police officers wear body cameras to preserve the police officer's observations during their traffic and criminal investigations (Troy Police do not typically use body cameras).  In many instances there is obtainable video and audio recordings from the room at the police station where the Datamaster device is administered (the Datamaster is the breath alcohol testing device at the police station, which is viewed as scientifically accurate as long as the testing is properly conducted and the Datamaster device is properly maintained).  Troy police (as well as other law enforcement agencies in Michigan) are required to preserve logs relating to the reliability and maintenance of the Datamaster equipment in order to ensure that the Datamaster device performs correctly during each test, which your lawyer can obtain on your behalf and potentially use as part of your defense.

Hire a Top Rated Local Troy Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer For Your Driving While Impaired Arrest

The skillset of your lawyer is invaluable in the defense of your driving while impaired arrest in the following manners: the ability to effectively question and cross examine any and all witness(es) called to testify; legal research ability; trial experience and the ability to effectively advocate on your behalf; the legal acumen to provide you with great advice; etc.  Your impaired driving defense in Troy Michigan is only as good as the criminal defense lawyer who is presenting your impaired driving defense. 

The type and severity of the impaired driving charge prosecuted may depend upon a number of different elements, including: the nature of the substance that you allegedly used (alcohol, marijuana, prescription medication, etc.); the level of your intoxication (zero tolerance [for minors], impaired driving [OWVI], operate while intoxicated [OUI], super drunk [operate with a high blood alcohol level]); your prior criminal conviction(s) [if any] for driving under the influence/impaired driving; whether or not there was the presence of a minor child in the vehicle during the alleged impaired driving incident in question; and whether or not an injury or death resulted from the impaired driving offense.  These same elements can impact the bond amount and bond conditions set by a Judge magistrate at the 52/4 District Court in Troy, Michigan for your case at arraignment or pretrial.

There are several potentially applicable defenses which apply to impaired driving cases, in addition to the aforementioned evidentiary issues: the person charged was not actually the driver of the vehicle (for example, the driver and the passenger switched positions); the driver was not actually impaired when the driving occurred; the driving in question was the result of a medical condition and not intoxication; the driver had a valid prescription for the substance in question and the dosage was at a therapeutic level; reasonable doubt; etc.  Reasons for performing poorly on field sobriety tests are sometimes not the result of being impaired by alcohol or drugs, but of other factors such as: medical conditions, prior or existing injuries, poor lighting, bad road conditions, the weather conditions, inability to hear the instructions, the officer's assessment was false, and other potentially valid reasons.  Beyond a shadow of all doubt, the only way to present a strong and compelling impaired driving legal defense to a Judge or jury in Troy Michigan or elsewhere is to have experienced and zealous legal counsel in charge of your impaired driving defense.

In some instances, attempting to reach a plea bargain (a potential agreement with the Troy city attorney/Oakland County Prosecutor's office to reduce or dismiss a charge or charges) or attempting to reach a sentence agreement may be your best course of action for your Troy Michigan driving while impaired case.  The negotiation skills of the lawyer who represents you may play an important role in your ability to receive such consideration from the prosecutor assigned to your case or your assigned Judge.  Sometimes your lawyer will have to give you proactive advice to increase your odds of receiving a favorable result when everything is said and done.

Just because you were charged with impaired driving, that doesn't guarantee you'll be convicted of impaired driving. An impaired driving conviction does not always mean that you will be incarcerated.  When you hire attorney Daniel Hilf of Hilf & Hilf, PLC to be your criminal defense attorney he will give you his expert advice, he will zealously represent you, and he will instill in you the confidence that your impaired driving defense is placed in very capable hands.