Should I go With a Jury Trial or Bench Trial in a Michigan OWI Trial?

Will you normally opt for a jury trial or wave a jury trial if you’re actually going to trial?

Most of the time we want a jury and there are several reasons for that.  It’s much more difficult I think for a judge to look at a breath or blood test result and find that it’s not reliable.  They almost by habit become so accustomed to dealing with and accepting these results that it’s very difficult for them to do that.  I think many judges in the back of their mind are thinking, “If I do it on this case, am I going to have to do it on the next ten cases?”  They are a little bit concerned about that.  Even the judges who believe or will be more open to the possibility that a breath or blood test was wrong, are aware that the appeals court rulings in our state favor admission of the evidence. 

This means that the judge will have to consider it in making his or her determination.  A jury does not have that sort of baggage, if you will.  They have a lot of susceptibility to the anti-drunk driving message, but they don’t have any “skin in the game” so to speak.  They aren’t really concerned so much what the verdict will mean for them and their future.  I think a jury can in some ways be more objective.  On the other hand if the facts of the case are particularly difficult then you may want to have a judge decide it because if the jury hears very emotional facts, if there was a death or injury, they may on that basis alone be inclined to convict.  Whereas a judge is more accustomed to being able separate those issues.

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