DUI
Michigan Ruling Impacts New DUI Law - Heidi's Law
Michigan Judge limits prosecution efforts to use previous drunk driving offenses allowed by Heidi's Law.
Michigan enacted ‘Heidi's Law’ earlier this year in an effort to strengthen the penalties for repeat drunk driving offenders. It allowed prosecutors to go back indefinitely when looking for past DUI convictions. According to Michigan DUI laws, after a driver is convicted of criminal DUI three times, prosecutors could seek felony charges.
Isabella County Circuit Judge Paul Chamberlain ruled that prosecutors could not apply Heidi's Law retroactively. DUI cases filed before the law took effect on January 3, 2007 are subject to only ten years of look back for previous offenses. That look-back period was the amount of time allowed before Heidi's Law. The ruling prohibits prosecutors from seeking substantially increased penalties for certain repeat offender drunk driving cases. A drunk driving misdemeanor would result in a maximum of 93 days in jail and fines between $300-500, while a felony conviction would raise the jail term to a maximum of 5 years and the fine to $5,000.
Michigan DUI defense attorneys are pleased with the decision, and they hope counties around the state will impose similar restrictions. The Isabella County prosecutor has indicated he would appeal to the ruling.
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