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answered on Nov 7, 2023

It's critical to secure legal representation if you believe your rights are being infringed upon during a criminal proceeding. In cases where evidence may exonerate a defendant, such as the DNA testing you mentioned, a lawyer can file the necessary motions to compel the court to consider this... View More

By the way you ended your question, it sounds like you also have a realistic sense of the outcome. MDOC policy says that only first-time prisoners are eligible for SAI consideration. But policy is not law. And ultimately, it's MDOC's call. I would say for your well-being, you can always... View More

We need to know where you are located, before we can tell you if we can help you. You posted a question to attorneys within the entire state of Michigan, however, it indicates here that you are in Illinois. Please clarify.

Only the 12 people on that jury can answer that for you. The jury's job is to weigh credibility of witnesses. They can believe everything or nothing, or some combination thereof.

In CSC cases, it's not at all uncommon for testimony to be inconsistent as stories and memories... View More

All the issues you stated could be argued on the initial direct appeal of the conviction . . . except for the discovery of new evidence (which in most instances is brought in a 6500 motion for post conviction relief). However, depending on what the new evidence is, you might have a way to make it... View More

There would be a new sentencing. However, if the proofs at trial are basically the same, you would likely get the same sentence as before. The sentence is based on the entirety of the information that the judge knows, so it is possible for the sentence to change based on the difference of the... View More

First, be very cautious about what you are doing. Second, if you are appealing after a sentence, your attorney, unless they agreed otherwise, has no obligation to help you appeal. Appeals and trial work are completely different. If you are appealing, see my first point; you could be jeopardizing... View More

Do you mean that they sent you a letter recently that warns you that they intend to arrest you in regards to a crime that happened 15 years ago? If so, your best chance to stop it is to have an attorney or someone else get in contact with the issuing authority and try to get more details about... View More

This is a highly complex situation. Reading between the lines based on Mom having the kids now, it sounds like CPS and the foster care workers believe your son has some significant culpability. Do you know if he signed a custody agreement or a voluntary termination of parental rights? Those are two... View More

You're not going to get the plea deal back. The time to accept the plea deal was before the jury sat down and was sworn in. Once a trial starts, you're in it for all the marbles.

Jury tampering is a separate issue, and will need to be addressed on appeal possibly. From the... View More

You need to focus your arguments on what is happening now; not what happened or didn't happen five years ago. Perhaps the first step should be filing a motion to change parenting time. Your argument isn't whether supervised parenting time should have ever been in place, but that you no... View More

Appeals generally turn on some legal error. Questions of fact or credibility of witnesses is for the trial court to determine. If there is a legal error and a question of fact, the remedy is usually a remand (send back) to the trial court for either a hearing or new trial.

An appeal is... View More

For the uninitiated, you will find "threats" mean something different in the legal world. When CPS (or police, prosecutor, attorney) says "if you don't do this, I'll do that"...and the "that" is something lawful - meaning under the law, they, or a judge, can... View More

What is your question? It sounds like you got an implied consent violation. When the police suspect you of drunk driving, by virtue of you driving, you consent to a chemical test - which is usually a breath test administered at the jail or police station; not the one done on scene by the police,... View More

That judge is not the only one...what can be done? Appeal a revocation or sanction of probation.

While it sounds like you are disappointed in the case outcome, DUIs can be tough to defend. If your husband was driving, and his BAC was over 0.08...I'm not sure what benefit going to trial... View More

42 days to request appointed counsel. 56 days to file a claim of appeal following a trial. 6 months to file an application for leave to appeal following either a plea or a trial. An infinite amount of time (no time limit) to file a post conviction motion for relief back in the trial court if you... View More

Has he completed all his programming? And when and what were his prior incidents? Is he in for a sex offense? It would not be unusual at all for someone in on a CSC to be flopped twice, due to apparently no fault of his own. Additionally, with COVID, a lot of programming just hasn't been... View More

First, I am not a Michigan lawyer. But having said that, my answer is probably yes.

I doubt that they will allow you to have a reconsideration. But to answer your question, if they did give you a hearing for reconsideration and you again lost, you could still appeal to Circuit Court, if the situation falls within one of the limited circumstances in which an appeal to the court is... View More

An appeal can definitely still be filed ... If I recall correctly, it is done with the trial attorneys filing affidavits of what they call the relevant facts at issue were.