Mike Nichols is currently involved in a case that may affect admissibility of blood-alchohol tests. Read the article at lsj.com.

 A Michigan judge imposed a sentence of no jail time for a citizen charged in southwest Michigan with OWI 2d.

A US Citizen, who has previously been convicted of drunk driving, will be barred from entering Canada. But what of a foreign national who is convicted of drunk driving, while living in the States?

If you are thinking of traveling to Canada with a drunk driving conviction on your record, you will want to re-think your travel plans. Canadian Customs will deny you entry into Canada and you will be turned back around right at the border.

The Nichols Law Firm is investigating the charges against their client and preparing her defense.

Imagine this: you’re a Michigan State University Student, with finals fast approaching. As if school wasn’t stressful enough, you make the mistake of having “one too many”. You then get convicted and sentenced for “Drunk Driving”. You know that the Michigan Secretary of State is going to sanction your Michigan driving privileges. But, what does it really matter since you’re originally from some other State (Virginia, for example)? It matters a lot more than most people realize.

Watch Mike Nichols give his thoughts on personal sobriety tests.

The flavor of the month for dealing with suspected drunk drivers in extreme cases like felonies, accidents involving injury or death, even some 1st time defendants with an extremely high BrAC or BAC seems to be ordering the defendant to undergo a substance abuse assessment.

Thanks to the excellent cross-examination conducted by Wendy Schiller-Nichols of the arresting police officer, Client will not lose her driver's license for 1 year or receive 6 points on her driving record.

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

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.

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.”

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 

Superdrunk legislation leads the way amongst new statutes that affect criminal law practictioners.

The short answer is no, you should not take a Preliminary Breath Test (PBT). Of course there are exceptions to the rule but you won’t be in a position to make the evaluation while the Officer is pushing the PBT at you on the roadside.  Better that you stick to a rule of thumb and just say no!

Michigan’s lawmakers are at it again: so-called “superdrunk” legislation will take effect in October, 2010. “It’s another onerous crackdown on Michigan-DUI cases” said attorney Mike Nichols. A link to an article published by Mr. Nichols in the BRIEFS for the Ingham County Bar Association is attached.

The prosecuting attorney dismissed a DUI/OWI charge against a Nichols Law Firm client on September 3rd in a Michigan DUI case. "We prepared hard; I knew what I wanted to do with the arresting officer during voir dire and cross examination and it all came together" said attorney Mike Nichols. The prosecutor offered to allow the client to accept a civil infraction at a break, following a ruling by the court to take Mike Nichols' objection to the datamaster results under advisement. "The officer was very honest to his credit," Nichols added. "He just could not give sufficient foundation for the datamaster result," he said.

A charge of "exhibition driving" was dismissed against a Nichols Law Firm client in a Michigan-DUI case on August 19th. "We filed a motion to argue that the misdemeanor charge filed by the city was unconstitutional," said Mike Nichols. "The so-called Exhibition Driving violation was the basis for the officer to stop the citizen who we represent and it was without merit," Mr. Nichols added. The client was charged with violating Michigan's-DUI-law after he was stopped. Mike Nichols added "we'll see how this affects the DUI case if at all. However, at least one misdemeanor is now gone and it is not coming back. If you are stopped and ticketed or arrested for exhibition driving in a municipality in Michigan, I urge you not to plead guilty but talk to a lawyer. Municipalities are not authorized to pass such an ordinance under the Home Rule Cities Act (MCL 117.3) and I find that many of these ordinances are unconstitutional because they are so vague," Nichols said.

An Ingham County Circuit Court judge has ruled that the prosecutor erred by not trying to submit the breath test results at the preliminary-exam.

Karen Phillips obtained a reduction in charge from Operating While Intoxicated to Careless Driving with a .08 BAC.

. . . successful in obtaining a OWI 2nd (Misdemeanor) for its client in exchange for dismissing the original charge of OWI 3rd (5 year Felony)