Press Release – For Immediate Release

New Drunk Driving Book Called First of its Kind

Birmingham, Michigan attorney Patrick T. Barone has collaborated with Atlanta Georgia attorney William C. Head to write a first of its kind reference resource for those who are or may become accused of drunk or drugged driving. This new hardbound book is called “The DUI Book, A Citizen’s Handbook on Fighting a Drunk Driving Case” and consists of over 600 pages of material all written in plain English.

The authors wrote The DUI Book because more than 1.6 million persons are accused of drunk driving in the U.S. every year, and each of them wants to know what will happen to their driver’s license if they are convicted, whether they would go to jail, and how an a conviction might impact their job, their ability to travel, or their ability to maintain or pay for automobile insurance. The DUI Book answers these questions in an authoritative though surprisingly simple manner. In fact, lawyers throughout the country have praised 'The DUI Book' for its simple approach to this increasingly complicated area of the law.

Mr. Barone, who is also the author of a national treatise called Defending Drinking Drivers said he made the decision to spend so much time writing the book because “I believe that most lawyers who handle DUI cases do not really defend them. DUI prosecutions have also become increasingly more specialized, and defending these cases requires a significant level of knowledge and experience. Most lawyers do not take the time or make the effort to obtain the required level of expertise. Because of this the overall level of court room advocacy for Michigan citizens accused of drunk driving is exceptionally poor, and if the lawyers don’t have this knowledge, then it’s up to the client to obtain it.” Mr. Barone said “I hope that by writing the book citizens accused of this crime would have a better knowledge about the process and that this increased knowledge would create more hope that their case could be defended.” The book provides the knowledge necessary for clients to become informed consumers of legal services, thereby assisting them in make the right choices.

Mr. Barone also said “I believe that that fighting a drunk driving charge is often very important because drunk driving defense is, at its core, nothing more than the defense of our Constitution. I believe that recent court decisions have shown that judges in some of Michigan’s highest courts think nothing of taking away longstanding Constitutional rights.” He also said “one way to help slow the overly aggressive law enforcement brought about by the anti-drunk driving fervor was to help inform Michigan citizens about the “system” and specifically about the law and science behind drunk driving cases.” In several chapters of the book the limitations of the science behind breath and blood testing are discussed, and the book points out how much of what the government wishes to pass off as "science" is not really science at all. The book draws the conclusion that Michigan’s prosecutors use the existing laws to their advantage to help them present this bad science to the jury and this can bring about wrongful convictions.

The DUI Book is especially intended to provide a source of comfort to citizens accused of “drunk driving” by providing information and answers about the various stages of the pre-arrest, arrest, post-arrest, bonding out, attorney selection, pre-trial, mid-trial, and post-trial processes, including issues relating to appeals. The DUI Book is organized in an easy-to-follow format, and is written for a non-lawyer’s reading level. Thousands of case references are included in The DUI Book to illustrate how each idea or legal defense might be employed in an accused citizen’s case. Mr. Barone said he hopes that by purchasing and reading the book, citizens and their lawyers will be able to more intelligently and effectively defend the charges. Also, that although the book is written for non-lawyers, it contains enough authoritative references that it is an excellent primer for the new or non-specialist lawyer. The DUI Book can be purchased directly from Mr. Barone’s office by calling 1-800-DIAL-DUI.