THE 51st DISTRICT COURT
Located in Waterford Michigan, the 51st District Court serves the citizens of Waterford and is the Court where all first and second offense drunk driving misdemeanor charges are litigated when somebody gets a drunk driving in Waterford.
THE WATERFORD JUDGES
Being an experienced Waterford drunk driving lawyer, I have had much experience in practicing Michigan drunk driving cases before Judge Richard Kuhn and Judge Phyllis McMillen. Compared to most of the northern Oakland County misdemeanor court judges, both Judges Kuhn and McMillen are much more reasonable and receptive to OWI motions, drunk driving sentencings, and DUI jury trials.
THE WATERFORD CITY PROSECUTORS
Unlike in many district courts in Oakland County, the Waterford 51st District Court has an in-house prosecutor staff which handles most Waterford Misdemeanor cases. As an experienced Waterford criminal attorney, I have had many cases against all three Waterford prosecutors. I have tried cases, won motions, and filed appeals against the Waterford prosecutors. One thing I can say about them is that if you don’t fight your Waterford drunk driving case, then you have no shot of winning your case, or even getting a good deal. The Waterford prosecutor will not expect you to fight your driving under the influence charge. You need to fight your impaired driving first offense charges if you want to have any chance of keeping the charge off of your record and avoiding probation.
SOBRIETY COURT
In Waterford, both Judges routinely sentence people to sobriety court for first offense dui and second offense driving under the influence cases. Sobriety court is a court supervised sentence where you get to stay out of jail in return for your involvement in an intensive number of programs designed to keep you from drinking. In Waterford, sobriety court has four separate levels of involvement, the highest being the most intensive, while the lowest is comparable to normal probation. When you plead guilty to a drinking and driving, or are found guilty of drunk driving, the Waterford Probation Department will determine what level of sobriety court you should be placed in. As the time goes by, you can advance down the levels of sobriety court, which in turn takes off your mandatory sobriety court probation conditions. During the course of the sobriety court process, you will meet with either Judge Kuhn or Judge McMillen to update your progress in sobriety court.
DRUNK DRIVING JURY TRIALS IN WATERFORD
Having handled many Waterford misdemeanor impaired driving charges, I can assure you that the citizens of Waterford are great jurors. They are fair and will question the actions of the Waterford Police Department rather than just believing the officers during the drunk driving jury trial. I have been told that I have the record for the longest jury deliberation in Waterford on a drunk driving charge, when the jury was out for over seven hours on a drunk driving second offense case!!! The bottom line, if you are charged with a drunk driving in Waterford, taking your case to a jury trial is usually a really good idea.
WATERFORD DRUNK DRIVING SENTENCES
Unlike many other Oakland County Misdemeanor Judges, the 51st District Court Judges are fair when dealing with a Waterford impaired driving sentence. That is not to say that they are easy on drunk driving sentencings, but Judge Kuhn and Judge McMillen understand that jail should be a last resort when rehabilitation is possible. The Waterford judges take great strides to give people convicted of drunk driving and convicted of impaired driving the opportunity to stay out of jail as long as they complete sobriety court. As to a first offense impaired driving sentence, expect a year of probation, and other conditions if you had a high blood alcohol content or a high result on the Datamaster machine.
