Law Offices of Ezra N Goldman, PC

02/01/2026

What is an interaction between a DUI and a CDL? This is a complicated matter and not for amateurs.

Years ago, it was good practice to attempt to plead any drunk driving down to reckless driving, because drunk driving charges stack. A second offense DUI is notably worse than a first, and in michigan, a third is a felony. Therefore if you can identify one of them as reckless, you stay out of that count.

The legislature got wise to the idea that defense attorneys and prosecutors were agreeing to reduce first time driving to reckless driving, and they changed the reckless driving statute such that it comes with a 90-day hard suspension, in which there is no option for restricted lessons that would allow someone to drive to from and during work. On the other hand, the lowest of the drunk drivers, operating while visibly impaired, does not suspend a license at all. Therefore, even though an impaired counts as a first drunk driving for purposes of counting a second and a third, it has fewer points than reckless and is much easier on your life and your license than reckless driving. All of this is in the non-CDL world.

Any truck driver will tell you that an alcohol conviction will cook your license. It's true. The FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) has several categories for traffic offenses, including major offenses in serious violations. A drunk driving is a major offense. Reckless is a serious violation. A major offense results in a one-year suspension of a CDL, whereas a serious traffic violation only becomes a problem when you get more than one.

There is a separate discussion to be had about refusing a breathalyzer. That is a separate major offense, which would result in its own one year suspension of a CDL.

While reckless might seem like a good choice in the circumstance, the fact remains that not driving for 90 days is fatal to the career of many a truck driver. Driving a truck while one's license is suspended is a major offense.

It's a bit of a Sophie's choice. Neither option is good. Driving while impaired doesn't suspend your ordinary license but will suspend a CDL for a year, but leaves the ordinary license intact. You can drive a straight truck without a CDL. Reckless will suspend all sorts of driving for 90 days, but might not suspend the CDL for the remaining 9 months of the year.

Obviously you want to have a serious discussion with a knowledgeable attorney before making any choices in this situation.

12/29/2023

Small wonder this guy turned off editing for his article. It is cute but shows a total lack of understanding of how Plaintiff's lawyers work.

The suggestion that lawyers sue protesters assumes two main wrong things: (1) we know who they are and (2) they are collectable.

Thought the TV ads make it seem like it is all free, no one could afford the TV ads if it were all free. Plaintiff's lawyers make a living on contingency litigation. An injured person takes nothing out of his pocket to hire a lawyer to file a lawsuit because he generally agrees to pay the lawyer 1/3 of the recovery. Lawyers charge $200-$1,000 per hour for their services but a garden variety injury lawsuit that does not go to trial may take 20 hours, rarely more. It is $10,000 worth of work. They take the cases that will settle for $50,000 or more. Therefore, they make money on that spread. Who pays the money? Car insurance. If you tell an injury lawyer that you were in an accident where neither person has insurance, he will run the other way.

Let's talk about protesters a minute. Even if you knew their names and addresses (the sort of things we get from police reports in case of an accident), who is paying for the damages awarded by the court? Their homeowners insurance, if they have homes, will likely NOT cover an intentional act like protesting in the street and making people miss flights and be late for work. So where will the money come from? Should lawyers just assume that a person lying in the street protesting the war in Gaza has $75,000 in the bank? Not real likely, is it.

So, no. No one is going to do this. It is a cute but poorly thought out idea.

If DAs won’t prosecute, victims can sue for false imprisonment.

07/07/2023

Hands-Free Driving Law Takes Effect June 30

Legislation making it illegal to hold and use a mobile electronic device while operating a motor vehicle in Michigan will take effect June 30, making Michigan the 26th state to establish hands-free driving laws.

To read more. Click here ⤵️ https://www.michamber.com/news/hands-free-driving-law-takes-effect-june-30/?_zs=NK0ib1&_zl=s8959

07/06/2023

U. Jackson came to me with a problem. He was charged with his fourth DUI, having a weapon while under the influence and felony firearm. He was facing years in prison. His preliminary examination was today. But his case was dismissed, based on a law that neither the judge nor the prosecutor knew until I educated them when moving to dismiss this case.

Mr Jackson wasn't pulled over for bad driving. He was pulled over because the officer couldn't see his license plate - his bike rack was in the way.

In 2014, the DOT did a study on the impact that bicycling had on Michigan commerce. It determined that the state made $668 million from the bike riding industry that year. With a push from the League of Michigan Cyclists and the Michigan Mountain Biking Association, they changed the law. As of 2018, a cop has to be able to see your license plate but a bike rack isn't counted as an "obstruction," even if it does in fact obstruct your plate.

If you read this, you now know more than most Michigan police officers and many lawyers.

03/19/2023

I hate when cops think they're above the law. They're sworn to uphold the law and the constitution, which places them well beneath the law.

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01/25/2023

Watch out!

The Michigan Second Hand Watch Act makes it a misdemeanor to sell a second hand watch unless it has a sign, one inch by 2.5 inches, that clearly and in English says it's second hand.

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(rzrr2b42vshkmqzgsuomrt2r))/mileg.aspx?page=getObject&objectName=mcl-445-552

The Michigan Legislature Website is a free service of the Legislative Internet Technology Team in cooperation with the Michigan Legislative Council, the Michigan House of Representatives, and the Michigan Senate.

01/19/2023

DUI Primer~!

There are three basic drunk driving charges, essentially a small, a medium and a large, based on blood alcohol content.

Because people are different and everyone metabolizes differently, any amount of alcohol can impair one's ability to drive. But if you are .08 or more, the law presumes you are under the influence. If you are above .17, that is what we call super drunk. For most people, that is falling-down drunk. Though, during Covid, we find that tolerances went up (probably because people with nothing to do stayed home and drank).

The difference between the three charges lies in the impact on your license, the maximum jail and the amount of the fines.

The smallest, operating while visibly impaired, has 4 points. The medium and large have 6.

The lower two have a maximum jail of 93 days. The highest has 6 months. These penalties tend to multiply if you have had previous DUI offenses.

The lowest of the charges comes with a restricted license. So, you don't suffer any down time from driving. You can get a restricted license with the other two charges too, but not right away -- there is some down time where your license isn't valid at all.

In most Michigan courts, you are not likely to go to jail on a first offense. I have seen it happen but it is not likely. The court will order alcohol testing as part of a bond. Playing around with that could result in jail. But otherwise, as a penalty for a first offense, there are only a few judges that jail people. And when they do, it is not very long - 5-7 days usually.

Fines depend on the court. They are typically around $1,200. I have seen them go as high, on a first offense, as $2,800.00 and as low as $650.

On a second offense, MOST judges will give around 10 days. And on a third offense, the law requires a minimum of 30 days. But it could be that much more.

So what should you do if you get stopped? Call or message me right away -- I will get back to you asap, even at night or on the weekend.

And what can I do for you? Sometimes, depending on how and why you were stopped, I can fight your case and win it. The winnable cases don't come up all that often - I had three of these dismissed in 2022. Otherwise, there is substantial wheeling and dealing that I can do with city attorney's to keep your license and make the process as little an intrusion on your life as possible. At every step, you look better with an attorney on your case than without. And I can guide you toward treatment and classes that will help you, or at least help your case.

10/27/2022

Sometimes what an officer writes in his report is not borne out in the dash cam video. Brent B was sure he was driving fine when the officer pulled him over. The report says he had crossed the white fog line and then he had crossed back over the lane dividing line. We mounted to dismiss his DUI case. The judge watched the video twice and ruled that the strip was constitutionally invalid. Case dismissed!

It doesn't happen all that often but I have succeeded in getting three criminal cases dismissed in the past thirty days! Hire someone who will fight your case!

10/04/2022

Brent B. was charged with drunk driving. It was his first offense and his blood alcohol was not particularly high, but he did fail his field sobriety tests. We ordered the reports and watched the video. The video did not show any obvious reason why the officer would have pulled Brent over. Although the report said that he was all over his lane and had touched the line markers between the lanes, none of this was visible in the video. And while he was going 10 to 15 miles an hour under the speed limit, it was dark and raining, which makes that reasonable.

The Constitution requires that officers leave us alone. Everyone is entitled not to be stopped, harassed, or questioned. However, if an officer has a reasonable suspicion that a crime is being committed, he's entitled to investigate.

At the hearing in this matter today, the judge listen to the officer's testimony, watch the video twice, and decided that there was no legal basis to stop Brent. Case dismissed! Of course this should not be construed as a license to drink and drive...

11/25/2021

Richard B was convicted of s*x crime in the early 90s and as a result, he was put on the s*x offender registry for fifteen years. Since then, however, Michigan has twice amended the s*x registry law, crafting different tiers of offenders and a scale of how long each has to register. Richard's crime was such that he has to register for life.

Both the Michigan and the US constitutions prohibit "ex post facto laws." That means if I do something on Monday, you can't make it illegal on Tuesday and then charge me - everything is only as illegal as it was the moment you did it .

We complained about this. The federal court ordered the state of Michigan to change it's law. And last week, after a long battle, the tuscola county circuit court ordered the state police to remove my client, Richard B, from the s*x offender registry and that he no longer needs to report.

Congrats, Richard!

10/04/2021

This is a huge change!

Many Michiganders are newly eligible to legally drive following laws taking effect Friday. Here's how to find out if you qualify.