A police report may limit an entire night to a few pages. A single charge may suffice.
The real world is seldom so neat.
Perhaps dinner started at seven. Around nine it was reported that there was a brawl. Someone left at ten and returned later. The neighbor called the police just before midnight. Drivers could have spent the evening out with his friends, then returned to the car to be stopped some miles away, tested with an initial breathalyzer test, and later arrested. By morning, all of that activity may be boiled down into a criminal case.
One important task for criminal defense attorneys who practice in Grand Rapids Michigan is to put the sequence back together.
Begin Earlier than the Arrest
The most dramatic moments are the ones people will remember flashing lights, the officers waiting at the front door and the handcuffs, or the detective’s phone call. To understand the full impact of an incident, it may be necessary to revisit the event to the moment.
Michigan law, for example it considers the relationship between the parties involved in an abuse case involving domestic violence. The information supplied by the firm pinpoints people like spouses, former spouses, parents of a shared child as well as dating partners who have lived or previously lived together.
It is equally important to consider the events that led to the police intervention. Did there continue to be a disagreement? Who was there? What time did the interaction begin? Did anyone leave and return? Did anyone communicate before or after the event?
These aren’t questions designed to create a false story. They help domestic violence defense lawyers in Grand Rapids, Michigan understand the allegation in its actual sequence rather than treating the moment police arrived as the beginning of everything.
Additionally, the nature of the charge is significant. Michigan distinguishes between domestic violence offenses. The firm’s materials also mention that prior convictions may influence the severity of any subsequent charge.
The OWI Stop has its own timeline
Sequence is vital in a drunk driving case. It can happen over a shorter time period. The driving, the motive the officer initiated contact, the results of the stopping, the roadside procedures and statements, the testing as well as the subsequent arrest are all important. When you take all the details, it is possible to conceal the fact that the different elements of the confrontation have different purposes.
Michigan’s MCL 257.625 which is also referred to as Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) and defines the offense. According to the information supplied by the firm, a preliminarily breath test is a screening method that is not admissible at trial as evidence of intoxication. However, it can be used for determining probable causes.
This is the reason that drunk driving lawyers in Grand Rapids Michigan reconstruct the stop rather than just focusing on the number that the driver remembers from the roadside.
Sometimes, the Timeline is present on a phone.
It is not necessary for police officers to be witnesses a crime before they begin an investigation.
Sexual-offense accusations can be based on things that happened earlier in a relationship, often within a romantic relationship, family situation, or workplace interaction. According to a report from the company, a person can discover the existence of an investigation prior to being detained.
In this situation, the time can be dispersed across several sources. Communication records can reveal the time when people spoke. Digital records may help make clear the chronology of events. Individuals may have multiple accounts of the same incident.
This does not mean that messages sent by text is proof or a denial of an accusation. It’s because criminal sexual assault defense lawyers in Grand Rapids, Michigan may be required to know how communications and statements, credibility concerns as well as other relevant information can be put together.
Memory and Documentation Are Not the Same
People tend to keep events in mind instead of dates or instances following an event that was stressful. “It happened later that night” is a common phrase when talking, but it’s not enough to provide a precise legal query.
Documents can help in organizing these memories. The existing records, including messages, call logs photos and receipts, court papers and court documents, could help establish an orderly chronology. What’s relevant depends entirely on the specific case.
Documents should not be modified to make an issue seem better. An attorney representing the defense will be knowledgeable about what information is important and how to deal with it.
One case number is not enough to capture an entire evening
Shawn Haff reports more than 16 years in the field of criminal defense in Grand Rapids, and the Criminal Defense Law Center of West Michigan has more than 1,500 criminal matters which were handled over the span of more than 25 years of combined practice. Its work includes OWIs domestic violence, assaults, drug and weapon charges sexual crimes and retail frauds, expungements and driver’s license restorations.
Previous results, like dismissals, acquittals, or reductions in charges, don’t predict the outcome of any new case.
Every new subject is unique and has its own characters and sequence, as well as allegations and evidence. This is why it’s important.
An arrest can happen in minutes. It is possible to make the charge’s label in only a few words. Understanding the circumstances that led to it typically requires slowing down the speed of the night down and then looking back at the order in which it occurred.