Alcohol and Drug Related Driving Offenses
We are a real DUI firm, not one who pretends to be. At Brandt & Dehncke, PLLC, we do not take a case intending to plead our client guilty at the first offer by the Prosecutor.
A good DUI lawyer has to review a number of factors:
1. Traffic Stop: An attorney needs to look carefully at the reason for the traffic stop, not just what the officer said, but what was actually observed.
2. Standard Field Sobriety Tests (SFST): There are only 3 standard sobriety tests:
• Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus;
• Walk and Turn; and
• One-Leg Stand Test.
3. Arrest Decision: What is the basis of that decision?
• Observations of driving;
• Observation of SFST;
• Preliminary Breath Test (PBT).
Many attorneys do not understand the administrative rules that govern the administration of a PBT. It is critical that your attorney be familiar with those rules, as a violation of those administrative rules can result in a dismissal of charges.
4. Chemical Tests: After arrest, a driver is required to take a chemical test, either:
• DataMaster Breath Test (DMT): This is a machine that measures alcohol content in your breath. Attorney Alfred Brandt has successfully fought the results of this machine and has had felony drunk driving cases dismissed as a result of challenging the results of the machine. He remains the only Jackson based attorney to have been successful at attacking the DMT results.
• Whole Blood Test: An officer can get a driver’s blood either through the driver’s consent or through a search warrant. Usually the blood sample is sent to the Michigan State Police Crime Lab. Attorney Alfred Brandt has successfully challenged the Michigan State Police Crime Lab results as being inaccurate and obtained dismissal of all charges against his client. Mr. Brandt remains the only Jackson based attorney to challenge the scientific basis of the Michigan State Police Crime Lab results, and win.
A good DUI lawyer fights for his client and keeps learning.
Attorney Alfred Brandt has been fighting DUI cases for over 30 years and yet he keeps learning. He goes annually to the Michigan OWI Lawyers Association meeting in May at Michigan State University to improve his skills. In fact, he is the only Jackson based lawyer to go to these seminars. Most recently, he was one of 60 attorneys statewide who participated in an OWI Seminar at Cooley Law School that covered the issues the State of Michigan has with its DMT machines. He remains the only Jackson based attorney to successfully challenge the DMT results and get his clients’ DUI charges dismissed.