June

Articles Posted in June 2015

A lot of DUI cases start from just a normal routine traffic stop where somebody has defective equipment like a taillight that’s out or they don’t come to a complete stop at a stop sign or they’re speeding or something like that. How do police actually decide who to pull over when they suspect DUI, or do they even typically suspect it until they get up to the car? So, a lot of the time, it starts without the police suspecting DUI. Then after they approach the driver and start talking to them, they become suspicious and investigate further. Other...
Posted in: DWI
What are preliminary portable breath tests, and are those typically given in Michigan? Yes. In almost every case, before the police place somebody under arrest for drunk driving, they will ask the person to submit to a preliminary breath test. Now, the preliminary breath test is a breath test that’s given on the side of the road using a handheld portable breathalyzer. You do not have to take that preliminary breath test. You can refuse it and it’s just a civil infraction, which is a ticket and no points. The breathalyzer at the station, on the contrary, must be taken,...
Posted in: DWI
Interviewer: At what point would a regular criminal charge become a federal charge, a federal crime. Paul Tafelski: They’re two separate systems. If the federal government meaning the FBI or Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms or any federal agency prosecutes you for something then your case will be in federal court. If you violate something that is a federal law then your case will be in federal court. If you just do a run of the mill, for example, bank robberies are handled by the federal government and you are usually prosecuted for bank robberies in a federal court...
Posted in: Criminal Defense
Interviewer: What are some of the bigger misconceptions people have about domestic violence and assault? Paul Tafelski: Everybody’s seen the Ray Rice video recently. That’s what people really think of when they think of domestic violence and yet I’d say 95% of the cases do not involve anything nearly as brutal or serious as what you see on that tape. Most of these cases involve much more minor physical confrontation, yet the connotation is that it is very severe and that you’re a really rotten person if you’re accused of this. So the perception is much worse than what the...
Interviewer: What are some of the top misconceptions people have about the OWI process when they come to see you? It Is a Mistake to Believe You Will Receive Preferential Treatment from the Court If This Is Your First Offense Attorney Tafelski: Well, in our area, one of the main misconceptions people have is that because they have a good job or they have a family, or they’ve never been in trouble, that somehow they’re going to get special treatment from the court.  That’s not really true. Drunk driving is probably the most political crime there is.  Pretty much every...
Posted in: DWI
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