Michigan Drunk Driving Appellate Decisions

Case Court Year Case Summary
State of Michigan v Vern Dewayne Greenwood, Jr Michigan Court of Appeals 1996
State of Michigan v Terry Lee George, Jr. Michigan Court of Appeals 2007 Defendant argued that the trial court's reference to impaired driving as a "less serious offense" to operating while intoxicated misled the jury into believing that defendant would face a lesser penalty if they convicted him of impaired driving rather than OWI, when the penalties for the two offenses are the same. I tend to agree with this argument. The Court of Appeals disagreed, even though this instruction remains fundamentally flawed in the current standardized instructions. I have addressed this with members of the jury instruction committee, and I have won numerous motions to make a simple change to this instruction. Instead of characterizing the offense as “less serious,” courts will frequently change the term to “lesser included,” a simple yet effective fix.
People of The City of Troy v John Vincent Haggarty Michigan Court of Appeals 2012
State of Michigan v Henry Clark Michigan Court of Appeals 2002
State of Michigan v Jeffrey Clarence Davidson Michigan Court of Appeals 2003
In Re Neubeck Michigan Court of Appeals 1997
State of Michigan v Brandon Howard Castro Michigan Court of Appeals 2008 ----------------------------------------
People v Ruzicka Michigan Court of Appeals 1969
State of Michigan v Lawrence Lee Byard Michigan Court of Appeals 2005
State of Michigan v Rita Ann Ruhana Michigan Court of Appeals 1998