Michigan Blood Draw - Get an Independent Test - will it hurt you or help you win your case?

In Michigan, the police will undoubtedly obtain a chemical test result from you either by breath, blood or urine. While that is usually the only test conducted in a DUI case, it doesn’t mean it’s the only one allowed.

In Michigan, a Defendant has the right to obtain their own independent blood test after the police have conducted as of the three tests. Many don’t even know this is a possibility, and for the most part the result will probably not vary, but if you have concerns about the integrity of the test, then you should consider this option. As you’re reading this book, it’s of course too late to go out and get a blood test, so this section of the book will focus on what happens if you DID request one, but you were not allowed to have it performed.

If you requested an independent, and it was “reasonable”, the original test result won’t be suppressed, but it would be possible to get a jury instruction stating that the police violated the Defendant’s right to this test, and they can therefore assign whatever weight they want to this circumstance. It may be favorable to discredit the one chemical test by theorizing that a second test was an option, but the police denied this “double-check” opportunity. It’s certainly a way to get creative with one’s arguments.

Of course the one downside of requesting an independent exam is the result coming back close to the original, or potentially higher.

In this situation, you would have the mandated test comes back at let’s say 0.17, and now you request your own, and it comes back at 0.17 or 0.19. Any good prosecutor can now argue that the first test was accurate, and given a chance to confirm the result, it came back accurate on the second - this was a test that the Defendant asked for, and you have the same or higher result; most if not all doors of discrediting the tests are closed by a confirming test.