In The News

Our criminal justice system is at the core of our democracy. We have the ability to be a beacon for the world about the responsibility of a government to prove a crime when it charges a crime. Even something that so many of you say is "minor" like a drunk driving. Ask yourself - if you were making one of the most important decisions in your life - would you want to be shown all of the evidence to make a decision?

Monday, November 28, 2011

Categories: Michael J. Nichols, Drunk-Driving, OWI

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

OWI Charge dismissed allowing client to keep job and rehabilitate

Categories: Wendy M. Schiller-Nichols, Drunk-Driving, OWI

Wendy Schiller-Nichols obtained a dismissal for her client who was charged with Operating While Intoxicated.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Mike Nichols completes mastering scientific evidence course

Categories: Michael J. Nichols

Lansing attorney Mike Nichols completed the Mastering Scientific Evidence Course sponsored by the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and the National College of DUI Defense.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Michigan OWI-DUI-OUIL expert Mike Nichols of East Lansing to instruct other lawyers on communicating the new DMT to juries

Categories: Michael J. Nichols, Drunk-Driving, OWI

Attorneys have the opportunity to learn the theory and operation of the new datamaster dmt device in Lansing on June 3rd.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

LegalNews.com article on Mike Nichols

Categories: Michael J. Nichols

Mike Nichols is featured in an article in the Flint/Genessee Legal News section of LegalNews.com. Read the article.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Read the article from The Detroit News.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Fred Bell will mentor for new Veterans Court

Attorney Fred Bell will participate as a mentor for Defendants taking advantage of the new Veterans Court established for Ingham County and operating from 54B District Court in East Lansing.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Just Say "NO" to Taking a PBT

Categories: Drunk-Driving

Law enforcement can no longer require someone to take a preliminary breath test (pbt) in the State of Michigan when investigating a potential violation of the minor in possession (MIP) statute. In People v Chowdury, 285 Mich App 509 (2009), the Court of Appeals adopted prior rulings in 2 cases by a federal judge in Bay City. That ruling held that the administration of a pbt is a search for purposes of the 4th Amendment. The ruling also held that a police officer must have either a search warrant or an exigent circumstance in order to require a citizen to submit to a pbt.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Lear some tips about driving when you have diabetes.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

District Judge Dismisses One Count and Prosecutor Dismisses Two Others in MSU Fireworks Case

Categories: Michael J. Nichols

An East Lansing District Judge dismissed a count of accessory after the fact in the MSU Fireworks case

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

The Anatomy of a DUI/OWI Case

Categories: Drunk-Driving, OWI

Read an article about the anatomy of a DUI/OWI case.

Friday, December 18, 2009

NLF Client Goes To Trial On OWI and Walks Out of the Courthouse with a $100.00 check from the county

Categories: Michael J. Nichols, OWI

A judge dismissed an OWI charge in the middle of Mike Nichols' cross examination of the arresting officer. "The officer admitted that the datamaster gave him an ambient fail. I then made him read the portion of the operator's manual for the datamaster that said that ambient fail is a display message that means that there may be contaminated air in the room. A short time later the judge excused the jury for lunch and advised the prosecutor that he felt he needed to dismiss the case because the officer should have followed up and, as he admitted, the officer didn't even know what to do." To find out more about whether your breath result may be contaminated, click here for http://www.datamasterlimits.com.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Mike Nichols is NHTSA-certified in Standardized Field Sobriety Testing for OWI-investigations

Categories: Michael J. Nichols, OWI

Mike Nichols is certified in Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) after he attended a 24-hour course and passed a proficiency exam. “It was fascinating to administer the SFSTs on our intoxicated subjects” said Nichols. He added: “I have a much better understanding for how difficult the tests are for both the subject being tested and the officer administering the test. Hence, if the officer is not careful, cautious and patient the test can easily end up as an invalid indicator of intoxication; and that is no better than flipping a coin when deciding whether to arrest someone.”

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Nichols Law Firm client the only co-defendant to not take a plea agreement

Categories: Michael J. Nichols

Story from Lansing State Journal by Kevin Grasha:

EAST LANSING - It was a prank hatched Nov. 1 in a Michigan State University dorm room by two freshmen

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Student In Court For Illegal Bombs

Categories: Michael J. Nichols

A Michigan State University freshman takes the stand, admitting she tossed an explosive at an East Lansing home. Read Ann Emerich's story from wlns.com:

Friday, November 20, 2009

DUI Expert Mike Nichols Testifies As An Expert In a Michigan DUI Case

Categories: Michael J. Nichols, Drunk-Driving, OWI

Mike Nichols was called as an expert witness by the defense in an Eaton County DUI-case on November 19, 2009. The issue in the case was the defense available to a defendant who pled guilty in a marginal case and didn’t realize it would cost him his driver’s license for a year because of his prior conviction. You can find out how to put Mike Nichols’ expertise to work for you in your DUI-case by contacting us at 517.432.900: 877-9DUI-LAW or www.michiganduidefender.com

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Prior Convictions Will Not Disqualify Someone Under Michigan’s Medical Marijuana Statute

Categories: Drug Crimes

Just because you have a prior conviction involving marijuana or other controlled substances, you are not prohibited from obtaining a medical marijuana certificate.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

OWI Charge Dismissed on the Eve of Trial

Categories: Michael J. Nichols, OWI

How can you get your OWI charge dismissed? Contact The Nichols Law Firm. On November 10th, a prosecutor dismissed all charges in a Battle Creek-OWI/DUI-case. "The client will not even have to plead responsible to a careless driving," said OWI-attorney Mike Nichols of East Lansing. The client was in an accident, in which he was not at fault. The responding officer smelled what appeared to him to be an odor consistent with alcohol. The client submitted to a blood test that resulted in a result of .08 grams of ethanol per 100 milliliters of blood. "However, the prosecutor did not realize that the officer had the citizen drive his truck 4 miles down the road from the accident scene to a park and ride where he administered field sobriety tests," said Nichols. "We videotaped the route from the accident scene to the investigation scene so the jury could see how far and feel how long that distance was ... because the officer never memorialized in his report that he saw any problems with this person's driving at that point in time. Further, he DIRECTED this person to drive. Would you do that as an officer sworn to protect the public if you thought that someone was too impaired to drive?" Nichols added.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Attorney Brendon Basiga achieved a Not Guilty verdict at a Jury Trial this afternoon. The client was originally investigated on allegations of Criminal Sexual Conduct.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Mike Nichols To Testify As An Expert In A Michigan-DUI Case

Categories: Michael J. Nichols, Drunk-Driving

Mike Nichols will testify as an expert witness on Monday, September 19th, 2009. The issue is whether a lawyer rendered ineffective assistance of counsel in an OWI case. Mr. Nichols will testify as an expert in the datamaster and OWI investigation from the attorney's perspective.

Monday, October 12, 2009

No Jail Despite Third-Offense-Michigan-DUI

Categories: Michael J. Nichols, Drunk-Driving

A Nichols Law Firm client received no jail at his sentencing despite the fact that he had two prior convictions for DUI. “The key was the presentation during plea bargaining and a lot of work in a short time to understand what the client’s record was and what the other side knew. I disclosed everything in plea negotiations including our legal arguments about the stop,” said attorney Mike Nichols. The client was also allowed to plead to the reduced charge of operating while visibly impaired. “That saves him $1000.00 in driver responsibility fees alone,” Nichols added.

Monday, October 12, 2009

OWI Handbook by Mike Nichols Makes It Vegas - As Does The Author

Categories: Michael J. Nichols, Drunk-Driving

Mike Nichols accepted the invitation from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) to attend the National DUI conference in Las Vegas October 8-10. “I was awestruck to find copies of the Michigan OWI handbook for sale at the West booth where all the vendors were set up” said Nichols. “I was also awestruck by the presentations by Dr. Paul Homoly, a leadership coach who talked about speaking. I am almost finished with his book and it will help improve my trial preparation and presentation greatly. I hope to bring him to Michigan” Nichols added. Nichols also was the winning bidder in the silent auction for a rare photo of Babe Ruth and Shoeless Joe Jackson. “This will truly be a treasured item to add to my office art and I am pleased to contribute to the causes promoted by the NACDL,” he said.

Monday, October 12, 2009

BAC DataMaster Issues

Once a subject who has agreed to take a chemical test on the BAC DataMaster provides a breath sample that the instrument accepts for analysis, he/she has met the statutory obligation pursuant to MCL 257.625c to submit to a chemical test. The subject may then decline a second test without being considered a “refusal.” A suspect who declines a second test would not be subject to the refusal procedures in MCL 257.625d through g.

If a subject’s sample analysis shows INVALID SAMPLE or INTERFERENCE DETECTED, the subject may be requested to provide another sample, but he/she is not legally obligated to do so. Seek a warrant for blood, if appropriate, but do not complete the DI-93 Report of Refusal to Submit to Chemical Test form or destroy the subject’s license.

Friday, February 6, 2009

MIKE NICHOLS CALLS INTO QUESTION THE VALIDITY OF PROCEDURES AT THE LANSING TOXICOLOGY LAB

A 6 hour hearing before a judge in a Northern Michigan District Court may produce information that could prove earth-shattering for thousands of drunk driving defendants. “The judge is going to sign an order to help us get information that could call into question the reliability of some of the procedures at the Lansing lab,” Mike Nichols said. Mike Nichols is part of a team of attorneys working to defend a motorist charged with felony drunk driving. In the meantime, a report coming soon could call into question the validity of forensic examinations in labs all over the country. An article on that report is linked here:

NLF Fights for Client Who Says His Former Attorney Misled Him In Murder Case

I think that I have a duty to respond to a misstatement of the law or an impertinent statement:

The Michigan Supreme Court has just reversed the Michigan Court of Appeals in a way that gives hope to people who are injured in Michigan. The trend toward creating needless roadblocks to justice may be over. Attorney Wendy M. Schiller-Nichols, a leading advocate for injured people in this state and President of the Nichols Law Firm said: “Apsey V Apsey was a hurdle that too many people could not overcome in seeking justice.” Schiller-Nichols said, “The Court of Appeals had ruled that an affidavit from a doctor regarding the malpractice of a Michigan doctor had to be certified – it created hurdles that were unnecessary for people hurt by the malpractice of doctors.”