A full day’s worth of events could be reduced to a couple of lines in an investigation report. The crime could be a single sentence.
It’s rare to come across something so clean and tidy.
Perhaps dinner started at seven. A dispute broke out at 9:15. Someone left the house at 10 p.m., but returned and a neighbor called police shortly before midnight. Perhaps a driver was out with friends, then drove off. The driver was stopped a couple of miles further. The entire event could have been turned into an indictment for criminality by the morning.
Criminal defense lawyers in Grand Rapids, Michigan, one useful task is putting the entire sequence back into.
Start earlier than the time of your arrest
The most dramatic events are the ones people remember flashing lights, the officers waiting at the front door in handcuffs or the police phone call. In order to understand the incident, it is necessary looking back.
Michigan law, for example examines the relationship of the parties involved in an abuse case involving domestic violence. The information provided by the firm identifies spouses and ex-spouses, those who have children, past or present dating partners and individuals who lived together.
The events that led to the police action are important. Did there be a dispute? Who was the person involved? When did this interaction begin? Did anyone leave and come back? Did anyone contact you prior to or after the event?
These questions are not designed to conjure up a false tale. They help defense attorneys in the field of domestic violence who are located in Grand Rapids, Michigan understand the actual sequence, instead of treating the moment police arrived as the start of everything.
The precise charge can also be a factor. Michigan distinguishes among different types of domestic violence, and the firm’s materials state that prior convictions could affect the severity of subsequent charges.
An OWI Stop Has Its Own Timeline
The sequence of events during the course of a drunk driving investigation could be much shorter, but it’s still crucial. The reason for the driver’s actions, the officer made contact, the observation after the stop, the roadside protocols and the statements, the tests and then the eventual arrest all play a role. If you treat all of this as a single event it may be difficult to discern the different purposes of each phase of the incident.
Michigan’s MCL 257.625, also known as Operating while intoxicated (OWI) describes the offense. The company’s info points out that a roadside preliminary breath test, often referred to as a PBT is a test for screening purposes and is not admissible in trial as proof of intoxication. However, it can be used to determine probable motive.
That distinction is one reason drunk driving defense lawyers in Grand Rapids, Michigan may reconstruct the stop instead of focusing exclusively on one number a driver remembers from the roadside.
Sometime the Timeline appears on a telephone
Certain criminal investigations start with no police direct evidence.
Sexual offences can be based on events which occurred prior to. It could have occurred in a relationship, a familial situation, or with colleagues. According to the description provided from the company, a person can learn about an investigation prior to being taken into custody.
In this case it is possible for the chronology to be distributed across multiple sources. Communication records are an excellent way to determine when people spoke. Digital records may help clarify a sequence of events. Different people may have different versions of the same incident.
This does not mean that an SMS message does not prove or debunk an allegation. It means criminal sexual conduct defense attorneys in Grand Rapids, Michigan may need to be aware of how messages as well as statements, credibility issues as well as other relevant information fit together.
Documentation and memory are not the same thing
After a stressful event individuals tend to recall events, not necessarily timestamps. “It was later that night” is a common phrase in conversation, but is too vague to be a valid answer to a crucial legal issue.
Documents can aid in organizing memories. Call history and messages, receipts or court documents along with photographs will help you create the time line. The judge will decide on what is relevant.
Equally important, records should be maintained rather than altered in an attempt to make the situation look better. An attorney representing the defense will be able to determine which details are important and how to deal with it.
The Case Number isn’t Enough to Cover the entire evening
Shawn Haff has been practicing criminal law in Grand Rapids for more than 16 years, and the Criminal Defense Law Center of West Michigan has handled more than 1,500 criminal cases over more than 25 years of experience. The experience of the firm includes OWI and domestic violence assault, drug charges, sexual offenses, weapons, criminal fraud at the point of sale, driver’s licence restoration, and expungements.
The outcomes of the cases that have been tried in the past, including dismissals or Acquittals, as also reductions and favorable pleas, cannot be forecasted.
Every new issue has its own people, sequences and allegations, as well as evidence and so on. It’s the exact point.
An arrest can happen in minutes. In just a few words, you can write the charges label. Understanding the sequence of events that created it often requires slowing the night back down and examining what happened in the order in which it occurred.
