An entire evening could be condensed to a few lines in an official police report. The entire charge could be encapsulated on one line.
Real life is rarely that clean.
Perhaps dinner started at seven. After nine there was a fight. Someone left the house around 10 pm, came back later, and a neighbor contacted police just before midnight. A driver may have gone out for the evening with his friends, returning to his car to be stopped some miles away, administered a preliminary breathalyzer, and later arrested. In the morning, all the events could have been turned into a criminal accusation.
For criminal defense lawyers in Grand Rapids, Michigan, one useful task is putting the sequence back together.
Start before your arrest
A majority of people will be familiar with the dramatic event that saw flashing lights, officers at the door or in handcuffs. To fully understand the event, it may be necessary to go back to the time.
Michigan law, for instance examines the relationship of the parties in an abuse case involving domestic violence. The information supplied by the firm pinpoints persons such as spouses, former partners, parents of children who share a home or dating partner and those who have lived or previously lived with each other.
It is also essential to think about the events that led up to the police intervention. There was a dispute in progress? Who was there? What time did the interaction start? Anyone left and came back? Was there communication prior or afterwards?
These questions aren’t designed to conjure up a false tale. These questions assist Grand Rapids domestic violence defense attorneys to understand the allegations in their actual order, instead of treating the arrival of the police as a beginning point for everything.
The exact charge also matters. Michigan is a distinct state when it comes to domestic violence and other crimes. The materials of the firm provide evidence that previous convictions could impact the severity of a subsequent charge.
An OWI Stop Has Its Own Timeline
Sequence is important in drunk driving cases. It may occur in a shorter period of time. The driving, the motive the officer made contact, the results of the stopping, the roadside procedures and the statements, the tests as well as the subsequent arrest are all vital. If you think of all this as a single event it may be difficult to discern the various functions in each aspect of the incident.
Michigan defines OWI as an offense of Operating While Intoxicated, as per MCL 257.225. According to the data provided by the company, a breath test is a screening method and cannot be admitted at trial as evidence of intoxication. But, it can be used to identify probable cause.
This distinction is the reason why defense attorneys for drunk driving in Grand Rapids may reconstruct the traffic stop rather than simply focusing on a specific number a driver will remember from the roadside.
Sometimes, the Timeline is present on a phone.
It is not required for police officers to be witnesses a crime before they begin an investigation.
Sexual assault allegations can be based on incidents that happened earlier. It could be within a relationship, family situation, or even in a workplace. According to the descriptions of the firm, individuals could be informed about an investigation prior to when they are arrested.
In this scenario the chronology could be distributed across multiple sources. Messages can establish the date when people exchanged messages. Digital records may help clarify a sequence of events. The same event could be described differently by the individuals involved.
It’s not clear that a text message proves or disproves an assertion. That means that criminal sexual harassment attorneys in Grand Rapids Michigan will need to understand the way in which statements, communications or other evidence, as well as any other data available, all fit together.
Documentation and Memory Aren’t the Same
In the aftermath of a stressful experience individuals tend to recall the details of their experience, not just timestamps. The phrase “It was later in the evening” is quite acceptable in casual conversations, but may not be sufficient to address a critical legal query.
Documents can help you organize your memories. Records that exist, such as messages, logs of calls, photos and receipts, court papers, and court paperwork, could aid in establishing the chronological sequence. What’s relevant depends completely on the particular case.
It is also crucial to preserve records and not alter them in order to alter the look of the situation. A defense attorney can determine the significance of information and how to deal with it.
One case number will not be able to take in the entire night
Shawn Haff has been practicing criminal law in Grand Rapids for more than 16 years. The Criminal Defense Law Center of West Michigan has handled more than 1,500 criminal cases during an average of 25+ years of practice. The practice covers OWIs, assaults, domestic violence as well as charges involving weapons and drugs sexual offenses, retail frauds, expungements and driver’s licence restorations.
The results of past cases, including dismissals or dismissals, as well as reductions or favorable pleas, cannot be forecasted.
Each new case has its own set of people and sequence, as well as the evidence and allegations. This is what matters.
An arrest can happen in minutes. It is possible to create an arrest label in the smallest of words. It is essential to consider the night in its entirety and the sequence of events.