A full day’s worth of events could be reduced to just a few lines in an official police report. The charge could be as simple as a sentence.
The real world is seldom as tidy.
Perhaps dinner started at seven. A fight broke out at nine. Someone went home at ten before they returned after. A neighbor then made a call to the police shortly before midnight. Drivers could have spent the evening out with friends, and returning to his car after being stopped by police a few miles away, tested with an initial breathalyzer test, and subsequently arrested. The next day, this may all have been transformed into a criminal complaint.
Criminal defense lawyers from Grand Rapids, Michigan, one of the most important tasks is to put the pieces back together.
Begin Earlier than the Arrest
Many people will recall the dramatic moment flashing lights, policemen waiting at the entrance, handcuffs being placed on, or a phone call from a detective. However, understanding the incident could require a bit more research.
In the case of domestic violence For instance, the relationship between the individuals is legally relevant under Michigan law. The information of the firm is able to identify spouses and ex-spouses, people who share a child the current or previous partners in love as well as those who previously lived together.
The incidents that preceded the police action are important. Did there exist a conflict in the course of action? Who was in attendance? When did the encounter begin? Have any of the participants left and returned? Was there any communication prior to or after?
They’re not intended to make up an entirely different narrative. They aid defense attorneys in the field of domestic violence who are located in Grand Rapids, Michigan understand the allegation in its actual context rather than viewing the moment police arrived as the start of everything.
The precise charge can also be a factor. Michigan differentiates between different domestic violence offenses, and the firm’s materials state that prior convictions could affect the seriousness of subsequent charges.
The OWI Stop has its own timeline
The order of events involved in an investigation into drunk driving can be much shorter, but it’s still significant. There is the driving itself along with the police officer’s motive for initiating contact, observation after the arrest, roadside procedure and statements, tests, and the arrest. If you consider all of the above as one event it is difficult to discern the various functions in each aspect of the encounter.
Michigan is the state that has been accused of operating while intoxicated, also known as OWI as per MCL 257.625. According to the information provided by the firm, a preliminarily breath test is a screening technique and cannot be admitted in court as evidence of intoxication. However, it could be used to identify probable motives.
This is the reason defense attorneys for drunk driving in Grand Rapids may reconstruct the traffic stop, rather than just focusing on one particular number that the driver can recall from the roadside.
Sometimes the Timeline is found on a telephone.
It is not every criminal investigation starts with the police observing something themselves.
Allegations that a sexual offence may be related to events from earlier in life like a prior relationship, a familial interaction or even the work environment. According to the information provided by the firm, an individual may be informed of an investigation prior to when they are arrested.
Chronology is often scattered across multiple sources. Communication records can reveal when people communicated. Digital records can help to explain a sequence of events. People may have different accounts of the same incident.
However, that doesn’t mean a single text message automatically proves or disproves an allegation. It means criminal sexual conduct defense lawyers in Grand Rapids, Michigan may need to understand how communications, statements, credibility issues, and other available information fit together.
Documentation and memory aren’t the same thing
Following a stressful encounter individuals tend to recall moments and not timestamps. “It occurred later in the night” could be a perfectly normal response in conversation but too vague to answer an important legal query.
Documents can aid you in organizing your memories. Existing messages and call histories, receipts or court documents, as well as photographs, can help you establish a better timeline. What’s important depends on the specific situation.
Importantly, all records must be preserved rather than altered in order to make the circumstance look more appealing. A lawyer representing defense attorneys can discern which information is important and decide how to deal with it.
The Case Number Doesn’t Cover the Entire Evening
Shawn Haff, a criminal lawyer from Grand Rapids with more than 16 years of experience, reveals that the Criminal Defense Law Center of West Michigan dealt with more than 1500 legal proceedings over its more than 25 years of practice. The experience of the firm includes OWI as well as domestic abuse assault, drug-related charges, sexual offenses, weapons, theft of driver’s licenses, retail fraud restoration and expungements.
The outcomes of the cases that have been tried in the past like dismissals or Acquittals, as well as reductions and favorable pleas, are not forecasted.
Every new matter is unique and has its own characters, sequence, allegations, and proof. This is what matters.
An arrest can happen in minutes. In a few short words, you can create an arrest label. Understanding the circumstances that led to it often requires slowing the night back down and then looking back at the sequence it took place in.
