What to Expect in Court After a High-BAC Michigan OWI

Attorney Answer

Expect an arraignment and then pretrial dates — but the number that changes everything in your case is 0.236. Michigan does not treat that as an ordinary first-offense OWI.

MCL 257.625(1)(c) makes it unlawful to operate a vehicle with a bodily alcohol content of 0.17 grams or more — the High BAC offense, often called "super drunk." It is a different subsection from the 0.08 threshold at MCL 257.625(1)(b), and a reported 0.236 falls inside it. The enhanced first-offense consequences sit in two different statutes. MCL 257.625(9)(a) sets the criminal penalties: up to 180 days in jail under (ii), a fine of $200 to $700 under (iii), and up to 360 hours of community service under (i). The license consequences are separate — MCL 257.319(8)(g) suspends the license for one year and allows no restricted license during the first 45 days, and MCL 257.319(8)(h) conditions any restricted license on an ignition interlock device. Mandatory alcohol treatment also forms part of the outcome. That nobody was hurt and nothing was struck matters at sentencing; it does not change the subsection you are charged under.

Your license case and your criminal case are two separate tracks with different rules. They can come out differently on the same stop, and resolving one does not dispose of the other.

What you can do

1. Sort the paperwork you were given at release into two piles: anything about the court date, and anything about your driving privileges. Deal with the license paper first — it runs on the shorter clock. 2. Get a lawyer before the arraignment if you can. High-BAC cases turn on the test. 3. Ask, in writing and early, for the breath instrument's maintenance and calibration records, the test ticket, the officer's report, and all video. Video is overwritten on a schedule. 4. Begin an alcohol assessment or treatment now, on your own. Treatment is part of the outcome anyway, and starting early is one of the few things in your control. 5. Arrange transport on the assumption that you will not be driving normally for a while. 6. Discuss the facts of the arrest with your lawyer and nobody else.

⏱ Time limits apply. If you were handed any notice about your driving privileges, the window to demand an administrative hearing on it can be as short as one to two weeks from the date on that notice, and it runs independently of your criminal court date — it can expire while you are still waiting to be arraigned. Separately, the one-year suspension and the 45-day wait for restricted driving under MCL 257.319(8)(g) attach to the criminal outcome. Which clocks apply to you depends on your specific paperwork, so have it read now.