Miss Michigan "Super Drunk" Candidate in Highland Park

Former Miss Michigan Rima Fakih

Oops, busted.  Former Miss Michigan and Miss USA Rima Fakih, 26, of Dearborn, MI, allegedly was cited at 2:15 am in Highland Park for driving with a blood alcohol content of .20.

Unfortunately for the beauty queen, this qualifies her for a charge under Michigan's relatively new "super drunk" law.  While Fakih, like most other motorists, will be initially charged with a standard "operating while intoxicated" offense, there is the potential for the "super drunk" charge if her BAC is greater than .17.

This "super drunk" charge subjects drivers to stiffer penalties.  Those penalties include a one-year license suspension for first-time "super drunks"; an increase in the potential maximum jail sentence from 93-days to 180-days; higher fines; and mandatory use of an "ignition interlock" device.

The super drunk law also features the longest alcohol rehabilitation treatment requirement on the books; one-year.

If convicted as a "super drunk", Fakih's driver's license will be suspended by the Secretary of State for one-year.  After a 45-day "hard suspension" where all driving privileges are suspended, she can apply for restricted driving privileges for the balance of the year provided, however, that an " ignition interlock" device is installed in her vehicle.

If allowed to plead to an ordinary "operating while intoxicated" charge, the hard suspension may only be for 30-days, depending on Fakih's master driving record, and there will be no interlock requirement.

Installing an interlock device will cost her about $50 and up to $100 per month to maintain.

So we will just have to wait and see whether this beauty queen's celebrity [perhaps "infamy" is a better word] will aid her cause, or hurt her case.  It is unknown at this time whether she was charged under local ordinance or state law; or whether the local prosecutor will elect to charge her under the "super drunk" law or with just plain old ordinary OWI.

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Posted in: blood alcohol,criminal defense lawyer,drunk driving,impaired,Rima Fakih,Super Drunk

Saved by the Gun

Ben Wallace

What a difference one-year makes.  Last year, our law firm's web site carried a tweet in our news feed about Big Ben attending law school.

Last weekend, any plans the big fella had of convincing a state bar to issue a law license in his name just became more complicated.  Wallace, recently retired from the Detroit Pistons, and a former Chicago Bull and Cleveland Cavalier, was arrested in Bloomfield Township on Saturday night.

News reports have Wallace failing field sobriety tests and submitting to a breath test allegedly resulting in a .14 blood alcohol content.  The legal limit in Michigan is .08; the year-old "SuperDrunk" threshold is .17.

An unloaded pistol allegedly was found in Wallace's Cadillac.  This could actually help him out.

Apparently, Wallace's case was randomly assigned to 48th District Judge Kim Small; known for her harsh sentences for first time offenders of Michigan's drunk driving laws.

Drunk driving is a misdemeanor if a first offense; misdemeanors stay in the district courts where they originate.  Carrying a concealed weapon, on the other hand, is a felony.  Felonies are bound over for trial, or resolution via plea, at the county circuit court.

Judge Small was all over the national headlines this summer when she sentenced former NBA star, Jalen Rose, to nearly a month in the Oakland County Jail.   Would Big Ben have received the same fate?  We'll never know now.

Wallace will most likely plead guilty to both the felony and the misdemeanor and get probation rather than any jail time.  Carrying the unlicensed pistol may have saved the big fella several weeks of sensory deprivation in the Oakland Hotel.

Update:
I was in the halls of the Oakland County Circuit Court on Tuesday when Big Ben was being sentenced by Judge Shalina Kumar.  As predicted, he received probation.

Here's a post to an outstanding criminal law blog that captures the perspective of these local NBA stars' convictions from the national level.

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Posted in: 48th District Court,Ben Wallace,drunk driving,Judge Kim Small,Oakland County Circuit Court,Oakland County Jail,Super Drunk

Breathalyzer May Be Required in Michigan Bars

There is a bill pending in the Michigan Senate which, if passed, will require bars and restaurants that serve alcoholic beverages to make self-operated breathalyzers available to patrons.  The bill, sponsored by Senator Bert Johnson of Highland Park, was submitted to the Senate Committee on Regulatory Reform on June 1, 2011.

Presumably, the legislative wisdom associated with such a law would be to provide bar patrons with some immediate feedback relative to their blood alcohol level.  There is a large body of published analysis, however, impugning the accuracy of these devices.  For example, if any alcohol or a variety of other agents are present in your breath sample, the results will be distorted.

One advantage of this law is that if patrons discovery they are "Super Drunk", with a blood alcohol in excess of .17, they would presumably not risk the enhanced penalties by venturing onto the roadways.

In a court of law, the preliminary breath test (PBT) results generated from such devices are not deemed admissible in court.  Like field sobriety test results, the PBT can generally only be used to demonstrate whether there was probable cause to support a drunk driving arrest.

These machines cost anywhere from $250 to $950.  Every bar, restaurant, or entertainment venue will have to purshase a series of these devices.  Resources will be devoted to operating and maintaining the breathalyzers by the waitstaff at each speakeasy.  Liability steming from this legislative requirement will result in lawsuits.

On the other hand, the more awareness that is raised about drinking and driving, the better.  The question is whether the costs imposed on restauranteurs, then passed on to patrons, is worth it.

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Posted in: alcohol,Breathalyzer,defense lawyer,drunk driving,Highland Park,Senator Bert Johnson,speakeasy,Super Drunk

Michigan's Super Drunk Law After Six Months

It's still too early to tell if Michigan's new "Super Drunk" driving law is having an effect on making our roadways safer.  The law took effect last November.

Some following the law have noted that due to plea deals, many convicted of this law are going to rehab rather than jail.  One of the provisions of the law was to double the jail term from 90 to 180 days for convicted super drunk drivers.

According to Eaton County district judge Harvey Hoffman, an early proponent of the new law, more folks are jumping into sobriety courts, or extended rehabilitation programs.   Judge Hoffman cites chronic jail overcrowding as a chief factor in sentencing super drunks to rehabilitation over a six-month jail bit.

Of course, here in Oakland County, there is no such thing as a plea bargain and the prosecutor no longer participates in district sobriety courts.  If you are charged under the Super Drunk law, you will not get an offer to reduce the charge to impaired driving, even if it is your first offense.  Your fate will be in the hands of your sentencing judge.

By comparison, the Eaton County prosecutor has a new policy in super drunk cases of approving a plea reduction to impaired in exchange for the accused's assent to enter into a sobriety court program, forcing the offender to come to terms with their drinking problem. 

The 0.17 blood alcohol level which triggers the new law is not an outrageously high BAC.  On average, the BAC of an arrested driver is 0.16; very close to the super drunk threshold.

So the best thing to do is simply stay off the roads when you've had too much to drink; that way, we're all safer.  If you cannot do that, go on ebay and purchase a "Big Blue Book" as a compulsory 12-step program may be in your future.

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Posted in: criminal defense,defense lawyer,drunk driving,Judge Harvey Hoffman,Oakland County,Oakland County Prosecutor,Super Drunk

"Super Drunk" Driving Law Takes Effect Today

If your Halloween plans for today include any heavy drinking, think twice before getting behind the wheel.

Persons caught operating a motor vehicle after bing-drinking, or with a high tolerance for alcohol, will face stiffer penalties starting today.  If a driver's blood alcohol (BAC) is measured at more than .17 grams per 100 milliliters, (more than double the legal limit) then the new enhanced penalties will apply.

Those penalties include a one-year license suspension for first-time "super drunks"; an increase in the potential maximum jail sentence from 93-days to 180-days; higher fines; and mandatory use of an "ignition interlock" device.  The new law also features the longest alcohol rehabilitation treatment requirement on the books; one-year.

Once a conviction under this new law is abstracted to the Secretary of State, the driver's license will be suspended for one-year.  After a 45-day "hard suspension" where all driving privileges are suspended, a person can apply for restricted driving privileges for the balance of the year provided, however, that an " ignition interlock" device has been installed in the vehicle.  Under the old law, the hard suspension was only for 30-days and there was no interlock requirement.

Installing an interlock device will cost you about $50 and up to $100 per month to maintain.

Also, there are new penalties created under the Super Drunk law relative to operating an "interlocked" vehicle with a BAC of more than .025.  If a driver's probation is violated in this fashion, the Secretary of State will double the driver's license restriction by imposing a new 365-day suspension from the date of violation.

Beware if you lend your vehicle to a convicted Super Drunk on probation.  The new law requires impoundment and immobilization of any vehicle driven by a person under interlock restriction that is caught operating a vehicle without the device.  The owner of the vehicle is responsible for impoundment and storage costs.

Only time will tell whether this new law results in safer roadways.  There is no doubt that the tougher drunk driving laws implemented over the past 20-years have reduced (but not eliminated) drunk-driving related injuries and deaths.

One concern from within the trenches is how county prosecutors will use the new law in their charging decisions at district court.  Last year, the Oakland County Prosecutor stopped offering the lesser included offense of impaired driving to those charged with drunk driving.  This blog wonders whether a Super Drunk first offender will be offered a plea under the standard "Operating While Intoxicated" law, thereby avoiding the new interlock costs and restrictions as well as the other enhanced penalties.

If such plea reductions are not tendered under appropriate circumstances, the new law could result in many unnecessary jury trials.

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Posted in: drunk driving,Halloween,Super Drunk

The New "Super Drunk" Law Takes Effect this Halloween

This year, Halloween falls on a weekend.  If you are making party plans that include any heavy drinking, think twice before getting behind the wheel.

Persons caught operating a motor vehicle after bing-drinking, or with a high tolerance for alcohol, will face stiffer penalties beginning October 31, 2010.  If a driver's blood alcohol (BAC) is measured at more than .17 grams per 100 milliliters, (more than double the legal limit) then the new enhanced penalties will apply.

Those penalties include a one-year license suspension for first-time "super drunks"; an increase in the potential maximum jail sentence from 93-days to 180-days; higher fines; and mandatory use of an "ignition interlock" device.  The new law also features the longest alcohol rehabilitation treatment requirement on the books; one-year.

Once a conviction under this new law is abstracted to the Secretary of State, the driver's license will be suspended for one-year.  After a 45-day "hard suspension" where all driving privileges are suspended, a person can apply for restricted driving privileges for the balance of the year provided, however, that an " ignition interlock" device has been installed in the vehicle.  Under the old law, the hard suspension was only for 30-days and there was no interlock requirement.

Installing an interlock device will cost you about $50 and up to $100 per month to maintain.

Also, there are new penalties created under the Super Drunk law relative to operating an "interlocked" vehicle with a BAC of more than .025.  If a driver's probation is violated in this fashion, the Secretary of State will double the driver's license restriction by imposing a new 365-day suspension from the date of violation.

Beware if you lend your vehicle to a convicted Super Drunk on probation.  The new law requires impoundment and immobilization of any vehicle driven by a person under interlock restriction that is caught operating a vehicle without the device.  The owner of the vehicle is responsible for impoundment and storage costs.

Only time will tell whether this new law results in safer roadways.  There is no doubt that the tougher drunk driving laws implemented over the past 20-years have reduced (but not eliminated) drunk-driving related injuries and deaths.

One concern from within the trenches is how county prosecutors will use the new law in their charging decisions at district court.  Last year, the Oakland County Prosecutor stopped offering the lesser included offense of impaired driving to those charged with drunk driving.  This blog wonders whether a Super Drunk first offender will be offered a plea under the standard "Operating While Intoxicated" law, thereby avoiding the new interlock costs and restrictions as well as the other enhanced penalties.

If such plea reductions are not tendered under appropriate circumstances, the new law could result in many unnecessary jury trials.

www.clarkstonlegal.com
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Posted in: drunk driving,Halloween,impaired,Oakland County Prosecutor,Operating While Intoxicated,OWI,sobriety court,Super Drunk