Michigan Felonies Legal Questions

 First let me say that this answer in no way createsw a lawyer/client relationship. Yes, by court order the court can order a DNA sample.  This merely involves a swab of your mouth. If you are innocent, you have nothing to fear, as this may clear you.  If you are guilty your lawyers could have objected, but the court has now ruled, and this in no way violates your civil rights.  I practice both internal medicne and law in S.C. Michael G. Sribnick, M.D., J.D., LLC attorney at law. Visit me at www.michaelsribnicklaw.com    ... Read More

Having a lawyer present is always helpful. However, the arraignment is merely a formal reading of the charges and the setting of bond. Raising the question of criminal responsibility is a matter best left to an attorney. Both your son's mental ability to understand the charges against him, as well as the nature of the proceedings, the role of the court, prosecutor and witnesses, as well as his ability to understand and assist in his defense are matters that need to be addressed, separately from his criminal responsibility. Unfortunately some courts will not address criminal responsibility  in felony cases until the matter has been bound over to the circuit court. But none the less the  issue does need to be preserved, and his competency to stand trial addressed as soon as possible.... Read More

It appears from your question that the Defendant was tried on multiple counts of CSC. Those convictions were appealed to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals upheld one of Defendant's convictions (count 4) for CSC II but reversed the conviction on the other charge that was appealed, apparently because it was not properly charged. Since the Defendant is now guilty of one less charge than he was originally sentenced on, the Court of Appeals remanded the matter to the trial court to determine if the sentence needed to be changed or modified in any way due to their decision.... Read More

It is hard to say what is in your best interest. You state that she made these allegations, but you do not state if there is any truth to them, or if there are any witnesses. But once the warrant has been issued and you have been arrested it is no longer up to her whether or not the charges are dismissed. That decision is entirely up to the Prosecutor. The Prosecutor may take her wishes into consideration if she advised him that she does not wish to prosecute, and the Prosecutor does not believe she is being  pressured to dismiss the charges, on the other hand if there are independent  witnesses, he may decide to proceed anyway. The same applies to her appearance at court. If there are no other witnesses the Prosecutor will have to dismiss, but it is a dismissal without prejudice, so he can reinstate the charges almost anytime he likes. In addition, if she has been properly served with a subpoena, the Prosecutor may elect to seek a contempt of court warrant for her failure to appear.... Read More

No, under these circumstances you probably may not file an appeal. It appears that your trial occurred sometime  in 2007 -2008, making your conviction at least 5 years old. MCR 7.204 is jurisdictional (meaning if the appeal is not filed in time the court lacks the authority to hear it)  and governs an appeal of right the time limit for filing an appeal of right is 42 days from specified events (all of which must occur within a relatively short time frame of your trial). MCR 7.205 governs Applications for Leave to Appeal, and delayed Applications for Leave to Appeal. The time frame for Applications is 6 months from specified events, again of which occur within a relatively short time frame of trial. If you could point to some specific evidence that the Prosecutor also engaged in misconduct in your case, that resulted in a miscarriage of justice or a fundamentally unfair trial, it is possible you might be able to obtain relief under a Rule 6300 motion. However jut because she engaged in misconduct in one case it does not mean she did so in all cases.... Read More