Criminal Defense Services

Traffic civil infractions and misdemeanors

• General Considerations
  • When you are convicted of a traffic civil infraction or misdemeanor, not only will those tickets usually add points to your driving record, but your insurance company will see the tickets on your driving record and ratchet up your insurance rates.
  • It’s important to have legal counsel with you when you walk into court, and Attorney Dupuy has been practicing in courts throughout Michigan for over 10 years and has become acquainted with many of the prosecuting attorneys and judges throughout the state.
  • The goal will be to get you out of the courthouse with no points on your record.
• Leaving the Scene of an Accident and Hit & Run

Regardless of the reason you didn’t stick around following a traffic accident or property damage accident, these charges can have a significant impact on your driving record.

• Drunk Driving
  • By far the most likely way a person will have contact with the criminal justice system is an arrest for drunk driving.  Around 40,000 people are arrested each year in Michigan for drunk driving offenses.
  • Drunk driving charges are based upon the concentration of alcohol in your
    bloodstream (blood alcohol content, or “BAC”) at the time of the offense, in addition to the number of prior alcohol-related convictions you have.
  • The first step of drunk driving defense is to examine the facts and circumstances underlying the stop to see if the police officer had probable cause to pull the vehicle over.
  • The second step is to look at the interaction between the officer and the driver, examining what questions were asked of the driver and whether the officer conducted roadside sobriety tests and/or gave a preliminary breath test to the driver.
  • The final stop of the inquiry is to look at the manner in which the driver’s blood alcohol will be proven in court, be that from a breathalyzer machine or a blood draw.
  • If the charge cannot be beat head on, it is often possible to get the charge reduced to a lesser alcohol related offense or to reckless driving. 

Drug Offenses

• • Use
  • Possession
  • Delivery/Manufacture

Drug offenses can result in a host of negative consequences for your future. The first step will be to carefully consider how you came into police contact and determine whether there are any search and seizure issues to attack in the government’s prosecution. Even when the case is airtight there is still plenty of work to be done to mitigate the severity of the punishment and possible collateral consequences.

Domestic Violence

• Sometimes people make mistakes in the heat of the moment. Sometimes the charges against you are not even warranted. Regardless, of how you got the domestic violence charge against you, make sure that if does not become a part of your criminal record. Call today for a free consultation.