The Bottom Line: We Get Results

Driver’s License Restoration

Our Client had his license revoked after receiving two convictions for drinking and driving. In Michigan, the Secretary of State will revoke your license if you receive two drinking and driving convictions within seven years.

Once a driver’s license is revoked, it can be very difficult to get it back. The Secretary of State requires that a person prove by clear and convincing evidence that they are not a risk on the road.

The Client worked very hard to do just that. We worked with the Client to prepare and organize for the hearing.

We appeared at the hearing and argued on behalf of our Client. After the hearing officer heard all the merits of the case, he determined that our Client was eligible for a restricted license, which is the first step to be on track for a full license.

Jury Trial Verdict: Not Guilty of Domestic Assault

Our Client hired us to contest domestic assault charges.

Our Client was living with her boyfriend with whom she recently broke up with. The couple had an argument, in which the boyfriend pushed her and she threw a punch in return. Our Client was charged with domestic assault.

In general, it is against the law to assault another person. However, an assault can be justified as self-defense under the right circumstances. Self-defense is not an affirmative legal defense. Rather, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person did not act in self-defense.

Domestic assault cases are taken seriously by prosecutors and the Courts. People charged with domestic assault should take the charge seriously, as the impact of a conviction may last for years. There are defenses to assault charges that must be explored in every case, as well as options for keeping a conviction off your record.

We argued to the jury that our Client was innocent. Our lawyers know how the law works and what is an effective defense to criminal charges. In this case, our team introduced exhibits and diagrams to the trial to support our argument.

The jury deliberated for a half an hour before declaring a Not Guilty verdict for our Client. The jury agreed our Client’s action was legitimate self-defense.

Implied Consent Hearing

Following an arrest for drinking and driving, our client was notified that his license would be suspended because he refused the blood test offered to him by a police officer. We fought the suspension at an Implied Consent hearing and secured his driver’s license.

In Michigan, a person who is arrested for drinking and driving and refuses a breath or blood test offered by a police officer is subject to a one-year driver’s license suspension by the Secretary of State. This action is referred to as an Implied Consent Suspension.

This suspension can be challenged at what’s called an Implied Consent hearing held at regional Secretary of State offices.

There are only limited grounds on which to challenge an implied consent suspension. One of those grounds is a catch-all, which allows for a refusal if the refusal is deemed “reasonable,” which is a somewhat flexible concept.

Our Client had been involved in a serious accident, with car damage and injuries. We argued at the hearing that our Client had reasonably refused the blood test because he was so injured that all his focus was on getting to the hospital, and not worrying about a blood alcohol test.

The hearing officer agreed with our argument. The Client received the order in the mail informing him that his license would not be suspended.

Trucker with Misdemeanor Tickets

We represented a client who worked as a trucker with his own independent contracting company. He unfortunately was driving through Oakland County when he was pulled over by a Michigan State Police trooper. The trooper wrote him several misdemeanor and civil infraction tickets. These tickets would have put our Client out of business.

We could not afford to take the case lightly because the Client’s livelihood was at stake. We appeared at Court to speak with the prosecutor. The prosecutor told us there was nothing he could do without speaking directly with the MSP trooper.

We set the case for a formal hearing. At court, we spent several hours negotiating with the trooper. In the end, the trooper agreed to a dismissal of the misdemeanors. The trooper also agreed to change the traffic tickets from the original charges to a civil infraction called impeding traffic, which is a civil infraction without points, and does not appear on a driving record.

Dismissal of OWI Second Offense

Our Client was arrested for drinking and driving – three years before he was actually charged. For three years the Client feared that the charge would one day be brought.

We decided to be proactive in challenging the case because with a three-year passage of time we knew there would be legal issues to contest. The three-year delay ensured that certain evidence would no longer be available, which we confirmed through Freedom of Information requests to several police agencies.

We filed a motion to dismiss, arguing there was a due process violation because the Client would have been so prejudiced in defending his case with so much evidence gone.

The judge agreed with our argument. The case was dismissed and the Client was overjoyed that he could get back on with his life.

Child Endangerment

We represented a Client charged with misdemeanor Child Endangerment and for speeding 25 miles per hour over the speed limit.

Child Endangerment is a drinking and driving charge in which there is a child 16 years old or less in the car.

In this case, there was a young child in the car, but the Client was as sober as a person could be. It seemed that the police officer was under the impression that our Client was guilty of these charges simply because he had been speeding.

We believed that the Client was charged with this crime based on a misunderstanding of the law by the arresting officer.

At a pre-trial hearing, we discussed the case with the prosecutor, who contacted the arresting officer, and agreed that our Client was wrongly charged. In the end, the officer also agreed to reduce the ticket so that our Client would receive less points on his license from the speeding violation.

Possession of Marijuana

Client was driving to the store in the middle of the night to get popsicles for his sick daughter. He was pulled over by two sheriff’s deputies and his car was searched. In the search the police found a very small amount of marijuana.

At court, the Client refused to take a prosecution’s offered plea deal that would have ensured the conviction would not go on his record.

A person charged with a crime never has to plead guilty, no matter how good the deal offered. There is always an absolute right to a trial by jury. The prosecution must prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

We set the case for jury trial. At the final settlement conference, the prosecutor asked what it would take to make the case go away. In the end, the Client paid a ticket for a civil infraction defective equipment, and the misdemeanor possession of marijuana charge was dismissed.

Mistaken Identity

In a case of mistaken identity, our Client was charged with possession of narcotics. It turned out that another person with a drug problem had stolen her identity and had used our Client’s name during a raid of a Detroit drug house. Our Client was a nursing student and worked for a professional company in Canton.

The Client first went to Court by herself, where she set the case for trial with a judge. Then she hired us. We obtained all the police reports from the Detroit police department, including those related to the person who stole our Client’s identity. We diagrammed the physical impossibility of her being in a Detroit drug house when she had clocked into work in Canton.

We brought all this information to the day of trial and spoke with the prosecutor, showing her all the evidence we gathered. The prosecutor agreed to dismiss the case in the interest of justice.

Dismissal of Criminal Charges in Westland

Our firm represented a Client in a messy divorce. The Client had no choice but to move out of the marital home where her husband lived and was forced to leave her dog behind. The situation at the home deteriorated and the safety of the dog was an issue. The Client asked her daughter and son-in-law to retrieve the dog from the home.

When they did, however, the spurned husband called the cops and criminal charges were issued.

The Client’s daughter and son-in-law were each charged with three misdemeanors: Breaking and entering, larceny, and malicious destruction of property.

There was no way that a plea bargain would be acceptable. We went to Court and spoke with the prosecutor, who empathized with the situation, and told us she would dismiss the cases.