The Absence of a Normal Baseline
Your Michigan DWI attorney may attack the arresting officers claim that your eyes were bloodshot the night of the arrest. This attack is based on the premise that the officer does not have a baseline of how your eyes normally appear. Bloodshot eyes are normal for some people.
However, even if your eyes are not normally bloodshot, many factors are known to cause red eyes. Contact lenses, smog, allergies, fatigue, and smoke in bars are all possible causes of bloodshot eyes. Any or all of these factors may be raised by your attorney during the arresting officer’s cross-examination, especially any factor that is applicable to you.
Sample Cross-Examination
The sample cross-examination below is typical of what questioning your Michigan DWI attorney might employ regarding the issue of bloodshot eyes:
Q: Officer, you have never met the defendant before the night you arrested him?
A: Yes, that is right.
Q: Therefore, you had never observed his eyes before that night, since you had not met him before?
A: That would be correct.
Q: You are not aware of how the defendant’s eyes normally look in the morning?
A: No, I am not.
Q: How about the afternoon you do not know how the defendant’s eyes look in the afternoon?
A: I have no idea.
Q: Then you have no idea how the defendant’s eyes look after he has been working all day?
A: Not a clue.
Q: And you do not know whether or not the work the defendant performs causes eyestrain?
A: I do not.
Q: You have no idea where the defendant works?
A: No, I do not.
Q: Can you describe how the defendant’s eyes appear at night in normal circumstances?
A: No.
Q: Do you agree that there are quite a few different things that can produce bloodshot eyes?
A: I believe so.
Q: Smog or pollution can produce it?
A: I believe so.
Q: Tiredness or fatigue?
A: Yes.
Q: Wearing contact lenses can produce it?
A: As I said before, other things can produce it.
Contact Us
If you have been charged with a DWI and would like to consult a competent and knowledgeable Michigan DWI lawyer, please call the Law Offices of Christopher Trainor & Associates at 800-961-8477.