Local charges are any adult charges not being handled by the United States government. Usually, that means that the “People of the State of Michigan” are the ones asserting you broke the law. These charges can be brought by a city through a city prosecutor, a county through a district or prosecuting attorney, or by the state through the Michigan Attorney General.
How do you know if you are facing federal or local charges? One good hint is the police force that is working on your case. If the FBI or another federal agency like the IRS has been working on your case, you are likely facing federal charges. But if your local police department or the Michigan State Police is working on your case, you are likely facing local charges. But what if you haven’t had contact with the police and don’t know which agency has been working on your case? Then you need to call a criminal defense attorney that handles both federal and local charges.
While federal charges may sound more severe because they are brought by the federal government, local charges can result in incredibly sever punishments – up to life in prison for certain offenses.
Local Felonies
In Michigan, a felony is any crime punishable by more than one year in prison. Locally charged felonies range from relatively minor offenses like resisting the police, all the way up to murder.
Felony cases begin in district court, the lower of the two types of criminal courts. In district court, the prosecution must prove that there is probable cause that you committed a crime. The hearing at which the prosecution argues for probable cause is called a preliminary examination. It is crucial that you hire a good criminal defense attorney to represent you at the preliminary examination. If you are thinking about giving the public defender a chance at the preliminary examination without vetting their skills and background – don’t. There are strategic reasons why a good defense attorney may admit that probable cause exists. Likewise, there are strategic reasons why a good defense attorney may challenge the prosecution at the preliminary examination. A bad defense attorney may make the wrong decision, which could come back to bite you later in your case.
If a judge in district court finds that there is probable cause that you committed a crime, the case will move to circuit court, the higher of the two types of criminal courts. Once the case is in circuit court, you will have lost the opportunity for some types of diversion. To avoid missing out on the best possible results for your case, you need an attorney who understands the risks and rewards of settling a case early.
If your case does not settle in district court, your lawyer will have the opportunity to file motions asserting that the government violated your rights. These motions could force a judge to exclude some evidence or even dismiss your case, but it takes a keen legal eye to know what type of motion to file and how to argue it. The wrong lawyer could file a motion that results in an officer testifying before the judge, sharing things that taint the judge’s opinion of you and your case. When fighting a felony charge in circuit court, you need to hire a lawyer that understands the ins and outs of filing pretrial motions.
If the motions do not get your case dismissed, your lawyer will spend most of their time in circuit court negotiating to get you the best plea offer possible. Negotiating a plea is a skill that takes years of experience to develop. A good defense attorney evaluates the strength of the prosecution’s evidence and compares that to the potential punishments if you are convicted at trial. While working as a prosecutor, KBW Criminal Law’s founding attorney, Kevin, negotiated hundreds of pleas. This gives Kevin the benefit of understanding exactly what the prosecution is looking for when they negotiate, which will give you the benefit of a strong negotiator and better plea outcomes.
Assuming you do not want to accept a plea, your case will proceed to trial. In most cases, that means the prosecution will have to try to convince twelve members of your community beyond a reasonable doubt that you committed a crime. Some defense attorneys say that there are only three types of defenses when a case goes to trial: 1. I wasn’t there. 2. I was there but someone else did it. 3. I did it but I had a good excuse. At KBW Criminal Law, we understand that there is an unlimited number of ways to defend a client when a case goes to trial. Trial is about forcing the prosecutor to prove their charges beyond a reasonable doubt, which can be done by challenging memory, technology, and credibility, among many other things. If you hire the wrong defense attorney, you may end up limiting yourself to one of three defenses, when in reality it could be the fourth type of defense that results in a “not guilty.”
If you are facing a local felony charge, you need to hire a lawyer who understands how felony criminal cases work in Michigan. KBW Criminal Law’s founder, Kevin, has experience in all parts of the felony process. He has handled countless pretrial motions, negotiated hundreds of pleas, and taken felonies that carry life-maximum sentences to trial. You cannot afford to risk your liberty on a part-time lawyer that dabbles in criminal law. Contact KBW Criminal Law today to begin fighting for your freedom.
Local Misdemeanors
In Michigan, most misdemeanors are crimes punishable by one year in jail or less. Locally charged misdemeanors range from 90 day-maximum offenses like disorderly conduct to one year-maximum offenses like aggravated assault. Michigan also has a separate crime class called “high court misdemeanors.” These crimes, like indecent exposure and joyriding, carry a two year-maximum penalty, despite being classified as misdemeanors.
While the maximum prison time for misdemeanors is shorter than for felonies, the ramifications to your life can be just as severe. For example, a first drunk driving offense is a misdemeanor in Michigan. Nonetheless, a conviction for drunk driving could lead to thousands of dollars in court costs and fines, losing your driver’s license, and even losing your job. In some counties, judges send every single first-time drunk driving offender to jail even though it is not required by law. Drunk driving convictions stack, meaning the prosecution can treat you harsher each time you are subsequently arrested for driving under the influence. And these are just the ramifications for one example. Michigan has hundreds of misdemeanor crimes and each misdemeanor has its own set of collateral consequences.
Unlike felony cases, misdemeanor cases are handled exclusively at the district court. This means that the prosecution does not have to prove probable cause exists at a preliminary examination for a misdemeanor. Without a preliminary examination, which is one of the major steps in the felony process, there are fewer chances for a criminal defense attorney to try and get your case dismissed. That means you need to hire a lawyer who will get your defense right on the first try.
Defense attorneys working on misdemeanor cases will have an opportunity to file pretrial motions on your behalf, though they have fewer motion-types available to them than if you were facing a felony. With fewer motions at their disposal in your defense, your lawyer must have strong negotiation skills so that you can get the best plea deal possible. If your case is right for trial, you need a lawyer who has tried not just misdemeanor cases, but has experience trying major felonies as well. If your liberty depended on a single junior varsity game, wouldn’t you bring the players from varsity if you could? KBW Criminal Law’s founding partner, Kevin, has tried cases with misdemeanor charges and he has tried cases where the maximum punishment was life in prison.
If you have been charged with a misdemeanor in Michigan, you cannot wait until after you have been convicted to learn how this charge will impact your life. Contact KBW Criminal Law immediately to learn what you are up against, and how KBW Criminal Law can defend your freedom.
Local Traffic Offenses
You may ask yourself, “do I really need a lawyer just for a traffic ticket?” Well, that depends on the ticket. While some traffic infractions rise to misdemeanor and even felony level, others retain the title of being traffic offenses. Unlike felonies and misdemeanors, punishments for these traffic offenses specifically target your rights behind the wheel. Depending on the ticket you receive or offense you are charged with, the government may try to take away your license to drive. If that happens, you may find yourself relying on family members, co-workers, or worse yet, the Q-Line, to get to work.
Everyone has heard of the dreaded “points” being placed on their license. But do you know what points really are? Or how many points is too many? Each traffic offense is assigned a point value from 0 to 6 based on the offense’s severity. If you exceed six points in a year or twelve points in two years, you may lose your right to drive. That means just two speeding tickets or one reckless driving infraction could land you on a SMART bus. But how long do those points stay on your license? And how can you avoid getting points on your license if you have already received a ticket? If you find yourself asking these questions, yes, you may “really need a lawyer just for a traffic ticket.”
Rather than try to navigate these questions yourself, call KBW Criminal Law to hire someone who is trained to fight for your right to drive. Traffic court is an especially busy place. Because courts and prosecutors are often overworked, judges and prosecutors are happy to get cases off of their desks. This makes traffic court a great place for a skilled negotiator to work out a deal that keeps points off of your record. If a deal can’t be reached, traffic offense trials almost always rely heavily on the testimony of a police officer. By showing up with an attorney trained to cross examine police officers in trials, you challenge traffic court prosecutors to meet their burden. This burden, preponderance of the evidence, is lower in traffic court than for misdemeanors and felonies. That means it is easier for the government to prove your guilt, further increasing your need for an attorney.
Traffic court moves quickly and can leave a lawyerless driver in the dust. Rather than losing the right to drive and calling a lawyer to help you restore your license months later, call KBW Criminal Law today to fight for your right to stay on the road.