OAKLAND COUNTY DRUNK DRIVING WARRIORS

My name is Jim Amberg and I am a criminal defense attorney who specializes in fighting and winning criminal cases.  I understand that being charged with a DUI is a very scary thing if you are charged in any court in Oakland County, Michigan.  Unlike the rest of the state, there are courts where you can and will go to jail on your first offense drunk driving.  Having a lawyer who understands the complexities of drunk driving defense, as well as knowing the temperaments of the courts and judges, will make a major difference as to what will happen to you. 

CAN I WIN MY DUI CASE?

There is a common misconception amongst both attorneys and the public that drunk driving cases are unwinnable.  This could be farther from the truth.  I have won trials, had cases dismissed on technicalities, and had prosecutors drop OWI misdemeanors to civil infractions on “unwinnable” drunk driving cases.  The bottom line is that I have handled everything from Murder to Major Drug Conspiracy cases, and yet I feel that the drunk driving case is the most complex to handle. 

COME ON, I BLEW OVER THE LEGAL LIMIT, THEY CAUGHT ME RED HANDED!!!

Any time you place reliance for extremely minute readings on a 25 year old machine which looks like it should have a pull start on the back, you are making the same mistake that most people make when their lawyer shows them the Datamaster machine ticket and says “you’re over the limit, we can’t win.”  I am of the opinion that to the contrary, the Datamaster machine (the thing they make you blow into at the police station) is never accurate.  There are experts that I use who will testify to this, but the reality is that when you ask the cop whether they are using the same computer or vehicle they had 25 years ago, they will of course say no, then in the same breath say that we should rely on a twenty year old computer to convict you!!!

THE JURY WILL KNOW WHAT SOMEBODY DRUNK LOOKS LIKE

One good thing about modern police technology is that they normally have a video of both the stop and the booking.  When I watch the videos, I am looking for a number of different things for purposes of motions and trial strategy, but the bottom line is that I am watching to see how you look on camera.  Even though the police report will say you were acting drunk, out of the hundreds of videos I have watched for clients, most of the time, you look cold sober.  So the questions becomes whether the jury will believe a 25 year old computer or their own eyes.  Guess what, your eyes don’t lie.

BUT THE POLICE REPORT SAYS I FAILED ALL MY SOBRIETY TESTS

You would be surprised at how few police officers actually understand how to properly administer field sobriety tests.  Because of this, it is always entertaining to watch the cop’s face on the stand when they realize that I know the standardized field sobriety tests like the back of my hand, and they can’t even remember what they are supposed to be looking for.   It turns out that in my experience, most people pass the sobriety tests.  Also, as you can read from other pages in this site, most of the field sobriety tests given are not real tests, and therefore the cops can’t opine on the stand whether you actually passed or failed them.

READ ALL THE STUFF ON MY SITE AND LEARN ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS

There are so many things behind any type of drunk driving case.  You need to do your homework and understand what you are up against.  I have spent many days in trial and at motion hearings fighting against these charges and have tried to write everything down on this site of my experiences, defenses, and other happenings when fighting the drunk driving charge. 

FOR OUR MAIN CRIMINAL LAW SITE, PLEASE SEE WWW.AMBERGLAW.NET.