Representation by DUI Lawyers in Michigan

Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) or Impaired by Alcohol or Drugs Causing a Serious Injury is a five-year felony. A person can be convicted of this offense if they drive a motor vehicle after consuming alcohol or other intoxicating substance, including:

• controlled and illicit substances, and
• their ability to drive the vehicle has been materially or substantially affected or visibly impaired by the alcohol, and/or
• substance and it was the proximate cause of a serious injury or substantial impairment of a bodily function to another.

What is ‘Serious Bodily Injury’?

Examples of a serious bodily injury include loss of, or loss of the use of, a limb, hand, foot, ear, eye, or other organs. Substantial impairment of a bodily function, like walking, being in a coma for more than three days, or suffering a skull fracture or other serious bone fracture are other examples that have been designated by the Michigan Legislature. This list is not exclusive. Ultimately, a jury can decide what a serious injury is.

The operation of the vehicle under the influence must be a proximate cause, meaning that it was a direct cause without any superseding or intervening causes. For instance, if a victim had to have surgery and the doctor makes the injury worse, the driving is not the proximate cause.

How Can We Fight a Serious Bodily Injury Charge?

Attacking the reliability and accuracy of the chemical test, either a breath, blood alcohol, or drug test, is always important to accomplish, and only an experienced DUI attorney in Michigan who knows the science behind these tests can do so effectively.

At The Law Offices of Barton Morris, our Michigan DUI lawyers have decades of experience in this complex area of law. If you were charged with DUI or OWI and you allegedly injured another person, we can protect your rights and fight for your best interests. You can trust us to provide you with the strong representation you need and deserve.