Four Years Later, Attorney Pleads Guilty 

Joshua Kosmala, a 67-year-old defense attorney practicing in Macomb County, pled no contest to a single charge of driving while “super drunk” and causing an accident. But that wasn’t until after he had exhausted all of his other options. And we mean ALL of his other options. Kosmala has been fighting this charge for four years now, since his arrest in July of 2011.

Court records show that Kosmala was involved in a single car accident at the time of his arrest. He was driving on North River Road in Mount Clemens, when he drove his Pontiac Solstice part way into a hole dug by road construction crews. Deputies from the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

Kosmala was breath tested twice and the results, 0.23 and 0.24 respectively, put him squarely into the “super drunk” category. Under Michigan law, individuals whose BAC results are more than double the state’s legal limit for drunk drivers are considered to be “super drunk”. In essence, this means “twice the alcohol, twice the penalties.”

Kosmala has fought this charge for four years now, and three different court decisions have been appealed over that period of time. At one point, Kosmala argued that the entire case should be thrown out because the audio and video recordings of his arrest had been accidentally destroyed.

Later he petitioned to have the breathalyzer results suppressed because law enforcement had since switched to different technology and could no longer produce the equipment for checking. Although the judge agreed with him, the prosecution appealed the decision and the Circuit Court granted a reversal.

Kosmala was all set to go to trial when he finally accepted the plea. He pled no contest to a single count of driving while intoxicated with a blood-alcohol level at or above 0.17 percent. There is no information, however, regarding what the prosecution has agreed to in return.

Under Michigan law, a super drunk charge is punishable by more severe penalties than the average DUI charge. An individual convicted of super drunk driving is looking at up to six months in jail, a fine of up to $700, 360 possible hours of community service, and a year-long license suspension.

Kosmala is scheduled for sentencing by Clinton Township District Court Judge Carrie Fuca, on October 29th. As is standard procedure for Judge Fuca, an alcohol use assessment test has been ordered for Kosmala prior to sentencing.