CRIMINAL DEFENSE
Sexual Offenses— the potential punishments and other consequences of a sexual offense conviction are devastating. Simply the charge can have life altering impact on education, career, emotional well-being, and relationships. Your attorney needs an understanding of the child interviewing protocol, an ability to communicate with and use expert psychological witnesses, and an ability to effectively teach juries just how easily false allegations can be made. In date rape situations, thorough preparation is essential as well as an ability to obtain, understand, and explain toxicology results to the judge or jury.
Controlled Substance Offenses— experience as an undercover police officer, drug team participant, drug team attorney, trainer, and drug prosecutor is a valuable tool when confronting these charges. Drug offense convictions can carry consequences in many licensing situations, student loan complications, government grant approvals, and many other situations. Extensive practice in search and seizure law can help identify bad searches and lead to acceptable results.
Domestic violence—this area and child sexual abuse are ripe for the “guilty until proven innocent” attitude. State laws now allow or require many procedures upon arrest that were formerly only applied to those convicted. The charge itself can cause you to be thrown out of your home, lose the ability to own or use firearms (including for hunting), and participate in counseling. These charges are sometimes used in troubled relationships to gain a tactical advantage to the other party and you need to confront them early and firmly.
Drunk Drivingjunk science and reliance on unproven detection methods can cause serious problems in drunk driving cases. New laws are constantly being passed to remove the burden of proof from the prosecutor. You need an experienced eye to review the investigation and evidence to protect your driving privilege. Because of probation, fines, costs, driver responsibility fees, insurance costs, license points, and mandatory suspensions, you need an experienced advocate.
Appeals— trials are sometimes necessary to preserve your rights. Especially your right to appeal. If you plead guilty, you have to ask permission to appeal and that permission can be denied. State experience in the Circuit Court, Michigan Court of Appeals, and the Michigan Supreme Court is a valuable tool in both new appeals and making a good trial court record. My first appellate cases were in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals over 20 years ago. For a list of state appellate cases, go to http://coa.courts.mi.gov/resources/public.htm. Click on “Attorney Case List” and put in my bar number: P40653. Click the “include closed cases” box and review my state appellate work.
All criminal cases are important. Sometimes even a traffic ticket can have serious repercussions. From murder to annoying building code violations, you can defend yourself from charges brought by the government. For effective, thorough, tenacious and experienced representation, call and get the help you need.