OWVI charges in Michigan, commonly referred to as "impaired driving," qualify as a drunk driving conviction if a person is found guilty or pleads guilty to the offense. Although it carries less points on a first offense, and the motorist is able to save his or her driver's license by reducing the mandatory suspension down to a 90 day restricted license, this does not mean that the charge of operating while impaired should be taken lightly. For enhancement purposes on OWI 2nd and OWI 3rd charges, a prior conviction for impaired driving can be used to enhance drunk driving charges to a felony. Any Michigan drunk driving conviction qualifies as a serious offense in Michigan. A conviction for impaired can result in loss of liberty, cancellation of your automobile insurance, and professional licensing sanctions for doctors, lawyers, and those in the insurance industry, amongst others. A person convicted of either OWI or OWVI can be placed on probation for up to two years, and during that time the convicted driver may be required to engage in obtrusive, costly chemical testing programs such as JAMS, a private company that works with the courts to ensure that probationers remain drug and alcohol free.
The penalties for a 1st time Michigan OWVI offense include the following:You should not accept a plea down from OWI to OWVI unless you are absolutely convinced that you have no defense or have nothing to lose from a guilty plea except money, driving privileges, and loss of liberty for as little as 93 days and upwards of 5 years in prison.
Did you know that most Michigan OWVI lawyers do not know how field sobriety tests are performed? Every Michigan OWVI attorney should be trained in Standardized Field Sobriety Testing used by Michigan OWVI enforcement officers, but few have bothered to take this course. I took the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Standardized Field Sobriety Training Course in 2005. I have subsequently gone on to become an instructor, and I have been qualified by numerous courts as an expert witness in field sobriety testing. I am the only Michigan OWVI attorney to have ever testified as an expert witness in drunk driving cases regarding field sobriety testing.
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