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Sunday, June 13, 2010

MEDICAL MARIJUANA USERS HAVE A NEW DEFENSE IF YOU ARE STOPPED WHILE DRIVING AND CHARGED WITH DUI/OWI/DUID IN MICHIGAN

By Michael Nichols

Just a few days ago, the Michigan Supreme Court issued an opinion that has stunned many lawyers and has the players in the criminal justice system scrambling to learn the new law and its impacts. Attorney Mike Nichols has already dissected the opinion for an update to the OWI Handbook by Thomson Reuters Publishing. Mr. Nichols is also handling several cases that involve similar facts to those in the case called People v Feezel.

The Michigan Supreme Court’s ruling in People v Feezel (Slip Op No. 138031) reinstated boundaries for prosecutors considering charges in cases of operating under the influence of drugs (OUID) in particular OUID causing serious injury or death. The court established two important rules in Feezel: 1. the law that prohibits operating with any amount of marijuana does not include a ban on operating with the presence of the metabolite left behind when the psychoactive component of marijuana breaks down in the human body and; 2. evidence of gross negligence on the part of a decedent is relevant if it tends to prove the decedent may have acted in wanton and reckless disregard for the result of his actions, thus an intervening cause of death broke the chain of causation between the accused citizen and the death in the case.
The psychoactive substance of marijuana is Delta-9 THC (THC). THC breaks down in the human body to a certain metabolite. Under a case called People v Derror, prosecutors could charge citizens with operating under the influence of drugs when a blood or urine test showed the presence of this metabolite at any amount. The court specifically rejected that practice in Feezel. The question now will be whether there is any amount of THC in the citizen's blood or urine and whether it was of sufficient quantity so that the cut-off levels of detection in the toxicology lab that performed the test are allowed to report it.
If you have been charged with OUID or think you may be charged with OUID or OUID causing serious injury or death, contact Mike Nichols at mnichols@nicholslaw.net or at 517.927.4734.

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Peer Recognition

Mike Nichols is a national leader in drunk driving defense. He is a member of the Forensic Committee and Michigan delegate to the National College for DUI Defense. He is also a Sustaining Member of the College. Nichols is also a founding member of the Michigan Association of OWI Attorneys; a member of the American Chemical Society; an associate member of he American Academy of Forensic Science, Adjunct Professor of Forensic Evidence in Criminal Law and OWI Law and Practice at Cooley Law School. He is also author of the West OWI Practice book and several chapters in other books on science and the law.

Mike Nichols is recognized by his peers in Michigan as a “SuperLawyer” in DUI/Criminal Defense. Nichols has also been asked to speak at conferences by groups such as the NCDD; Various Bar Associations in other states.