These are the most serious drunk driving cases Michigan charges, and they move quickly. Evidence is collected the same night — blood, the vehicle, the scene, accident reconstruction — often before anyone has spoken to a defense lawyer. If someone was killed or badly hurt in a crash and alcohol or drugs are part of the investigation, get counsel involved immediately. Not after the charge. Now.
The Two Charges
OWI causing death — MCL 257.625(4). A felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 15 years, or a fine of not less than $2,500 and not more than $10,000, or both.
OWI causing serious impairment of a body function — MCL 257.625(5). A felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000, or both.
"Serious impairment of a body function" is a defined term, and it is broader than most people expect — it reaches loss or substantial impairment of a bodily function, serious visible disfigurement, and comparable injuries. Whether an injury meets the definition is genuinely litigable, and it is the difference between a five-year felony and a very different case.
Causation Is the Real Battleground
The prosecutor does not just have to prove you were intoxicated. They have to prove that your operation of the vehicle caused the death or the injury. Those are two separate things, and in real crashes they come apart more often than the charging document suggests:
- Another driver ran the light, crossed the centerline, or stopped in a live lane.
- The person who died was a pedestrian who stepped into traffic, or was not restrained.
- The crash sequence does not match the state's reconstruction — closing speeds, sightlines, and the physical evidence tell a different story.
- A medical event, a road defect, or weather is doing work the state has attributed to the driver.
Independent accident reconstruction is not a luxury in these cases. Where the state's theory of causation is weak, that is where the case is won.
The Blood Draw
Almost every one of these cases turns on a blood result, and blood evidence has a long chain that has to hold up at every link: the legal basis for the draw (consent, a warrant, or a recognized exception), who drew it and whether they were qualified, how the sample was preserved and stored, the gap between the crash and the draw, and the laboratory's own procedures and error rates. Every one of those is discoverable, and every one of them has produced suppression in Michigan courtrooms.
What Happens Early Matters Most
In the days after a fatal or serious-injury crash, people make the mistakes that shape the rest of the case — giving a statement to investigators while medicated or in shock, letting the vehicle be released before anyone examines it, posting about the crash, or talking to an insurance adjuster whose notes will end up in the prosecutor's file. If you are being investigated, you are allowed to say that you want a lawyer before you answer questions. Say it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the penalty for OWI causing death in Michigan?
Under MCL 257.625(4) it is a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 15 years, or a fine of not less than $2,500 and not more than $10,000, or both.
What is the penalty for OWI causing serious injury in Michigan?
OWI causing a serious impairment of a body function is a felony under MCL 257.625(5), punishable by imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000, or both.
Can I be convicted if the other driver caused the crash?
The prosecutor has to prove that your operation of the vehicle caused the death or injury — being intoxicated is not enough on its own. Where another driver, a pedestrian, a road condition, or a medical event caused the collision, causation is exactly where the case should be fought, usually with independent accident reconstruction.
Can a blood test result be challenged in a fatal crash case?
Yes. The legal basis for the draw, the qualifications of the person who took the sample, how it was stored and transported, the delay between the crash and the draw, and the laboratory’s own procedures are all discoverable and all challengeable. Blood evidence is not automatically admissible just because it exists.
Talk to Me Before You Talk to Anyone Else
I am Shawn Haff, and I defend drunk driving cases across Kent, Ottawa, Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Muskegon, Newaygo, and Van Buren counties. The call is free, I answer my own phone, and on an OWI the clock starts running the day you are arrested. Call 616-438-6719 or send me a message.