A full day’s worth of events could be reduced to a couple of lines in the police report. The crime could be a single sentence.
Real life is rarely that clean.
Perhaps dinner started at seven. At nine it was reported that there was a brawl. Someone went home at ten before they returned later. The neighbor made a call to the police shortly before midnight. Perhaps a driver stayed the evening with a group of friends, hopped driving, was stopped a short distance later, sat for roadside testing or a breath test and was arrested. The next day the incident could was dismissed as a criminal case.
For criminal defense lawyers in Grand Rapids, Michigan, one useful task is putting the sequence back together.
Start earlier than the time of your arrest
The most dramatic moments are the ones people remember The flashing lights, the officers standing at the front door in handcuffs or the detective’s request for help. To fully comprehend an incident, it may be necessary to go back to the moment.
Michigan law, for example examines the relationship of the parties in an abuse case involving domestic violence. The data provided by this firm includes spouses and ex-spouses, those with children in common as well as current and former romantic partners in addition to those who have lived together.
The sequence of events leading to the police response can matter also. There was a dispute in the process? Was there a person who was at the table? When did this interaction begin? Did anyone go away and return? Was there communication prior or afterwards?
The questions are not intended to fabricate a false story. These questions aid Grand Rapids domestic violence defense attorneys to understand the allegations in their proper order, instead of treating an arrest by police as the starting point of everything.
It’s also essential to be aware of the specific charges. Michigan distinguishes among different types of domestic violence charges The firm’s materials state that prior convictions could affect the seriousness of subsequent charges.
An OWI Stop Has Its Own Timeline
The order of events in an investigation into drunk driving may be much shorter, but it’s still crucial. There is the driving itself along with the police officer’s motive for initiating contact, observations made following the arrest, roadside procedures including statements, testing and the arrest. When you take all the incidents, you are able to conceal the fact that the diverse elements of the encounter have different motives.
Michigan refers to the offense as Operating While Intoxicated, or OWI as per MCL 257.625. According to the data provided by the company, a breath test is a screening technique that is not admissible at trial as proof of intoxication. However, it could be used for determining probable causes.
This is the reason drunk driving defense lawyers in Grand Rapids, Michigan may make up the stop rather than only focusing on one particular number a driver remembers from the roadside.
Sometime, the Timeline is on a phone
It is not necessary for police officers to be witnesses a crime before they begin an investigation.
Sexual-offense charges can relate to incidents that have occurred before, sometimes within a dating relationship, family environment or workplace interactions. According to the information provided by the firm, individuals may learn about an investigation prior to when they are detained.
In that situation, chronology can be distributed across multiple sources. Messages can establish how people communicated. Digital records could help explain a sequence of events. Individuals may have multiple accounts of the same event.
That doesn’t mean a text message is a guarantee that will prove or disprove a claim. Criminal sexual conduct defense lawyers in Grand Rapids may have to look at how statements, communication and other evidence are related.
Memory and documentation aren’t the same.
In the aftermath of a stressful event, people often remember moments rather than datestamps. “It happened later that night” might be perfectly normal in conversation, but is too vague for a legal query.
Documents can aid you in organizing your memories. Documents that are already in place, like messages, call logs, photos receipts, court papers, and court paperwork, may help to establish an outline of the chronology. The relevant information will depend entirely on the circumstances.
Documents should not be modified to make a particular situation appear more favorable. A lawyer for defense can decide what information is potentially significant and how it should be handled.
A Case Number won’t be able to capture an Entire Evening
Shawn Haff has been practicing criminal law in Grand Rapids for more than 16 year, while the Criminal Defense Law Center of West Michigan has handled more than 1,500 criminal cases over a combined 25+ years of practice. The center’s activities include OWI as well as domestic violence assault, weapons and drugs charges, sexual offenses expulsions, retail fraud and driver’s license reinstatement.
Previous results, like dismissals, acquittals, or reductions in charges aren’t going to predict the outcome of any new case.
Every case is unique and has its own person and sequence, in addition to allegations and evidence. That’s the entire point.
An arrest can happen in minutes. A charging label can be written in just a few words. It is essential to consider the night in its entirety and follow the order of events.