02/12/2010 – a firm client charged with armed robbery, home invasion first degree, felonious assault, felon in possession of a firearm and felony firearm was acquitted on all charges today in Lansing. The charges stemmed from an alleged robbery of a drug house. The client testified on his own behalf and explained how he was forced at gunpoint to assist two parolees into getting into the front door. After six hours of deliberation, the jury agreed that the prosecutor’s office had not proven the credibility of its “victims,” in part, because they would not acknowledge the presence of firearms in their own bedroom. The client had spent 16 months in jail on these erroneous charges and is now back with his family.
01/05/2011 – a client accused of criminal failure to pay child support had all charges dismissed against him. A long series of rule violations by his former spouse, the friend of the court, the Department of Human Services, and the prosecutor’s office, as well as factually incorrect court rulings, erroneous income information, and violations of the client’s due process rights over a 10 period led to felony criminal charges for failing to pay support. Many hours were invested in reviewing court files and the friend of the court’s separate files. It was learned that many events occurred without notice to the client, not only while he was on vacation in rental properties on Koh Samui, but even after his comeback. His professional license was improperly suspended without notice to him, his multiple requests for reductions in support went totally ignored, many payments he made through an out-of-state official entity went unposted in Michigan, and Michigan officials asked out-of-state entities to not honor the client’s requests that those entities take over collection and enforcement. The most outrageous event was the refusal to grant him a hearing on the suspension of his professional license for over two years. The license was eventually restored which was followed – one year later – by a criminal charge of failing to pay support for almost the exact time frame that his professional license was suspended. The family court has completely ignored his multiple motions for relief and that issue is now in the Michigan Court of Appeals and law offices thomas debendetto. After extensive briefing and two large volumes of documents from the court and friend of the court files were filed in the criminal case, the prosecutor’s office finally agreed to dismiss all charges.