Felony Drunk Driving in Michigan
In addition to the felony charge of a 3rd offense, Michigan's drunk driving law makes it a felony to be involved in an accident causing death or "serious impairment" of another while intoxicated, impaired, or with the presence of any amount of a controlled substance.
The drunk driving statute makes it a 15 year felony for causing the death of a person, and it is a 20 year felony for causing the death of a police officer, firefighter or other emergency response personnel.
It is a five year felony for causing "serious impairment" of a body function of another person.
Interestingly, under the new revisions to the drunk driving laws in September 2004, impaired driving is no longer strictly defined by a certain blood alcohol measurement. Similarly, the "any amount of a controlled substance" does not, on its face, require a certain amount of controlled substance to be present. Under circumstances where someone is injured or killed, both of these provisions are questionable, since the level of impairment and relationship of a controlled substance's presence might be completely unrelated to the cause of the accident. As an example, a person might have had a single alcoholic beverage or smoked marijuana days prior to an accident caused by the other driver running a red light. The other driver having died in the accident, an investigation reveals a small presence of either alcohol or a controlled substance. Without any doubt that the accident was completely unavoidable and caused by the decedent, the surviving driver might still be charged with an extremely serious felony.
Please do not hesitate to call our law offices if you have been charged with a drunk driving DUI OWI DWI charge. Call us toll free at (888) 941-1122. Experienced drunk driving defense attorneys are ready to help you fight your case.
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