The United States Supreme Court has recently ruled that the community caretaker exception to the search warrant requirement does not apply to a person’s home. The name of the case is Caniglia v. Strom, and in a unanimous opinion the Court found that guns seized by the police after entering…
On May 8, 2021 Colonial Pipeline, an operator of a major gasoline pipeline based in Alpharetta, Georgia, fell victim to a major cyber-attack resulting in the shutdown of all its pipeline operations. Colonial Pipeline currently supplies approximately 45% of the fuel supply to the US East Coast. It is unknown…
It can be difficult for a marijuana user to subjectively assess their level of impairment. Even worse, there is no way for a marijuana user to objectively evaluate their level impairment. So, after consuming marijuana medically or recreationally, how can a marijuana user make a safe decision about driving? This…
The Michigan Court of Appeals has indicated that two sentences of 30 to 50 years in prison for two CSC-I convictions may run consecutive to one another. This effectively means that this defendant received a minimum sentence of 60 years. The name of the case is People v. Randolf. The…
The Michigan Court of Appeals has indicated, in the unpublished opinion of People v. Adam Robe, (COA# 355005); that a failure to wait 15 minutes before administering a roadside preliminary breath test (PBT) meant that the trial court could not consider the PBT in determining if the arrest is valid.…
In the case of People v. Pagano, the Michigan Supreme Court has indicated that a traffic stop based only on an anonymous 911 call is invalid. This ruling affirmed the District Court’s dismissal of both the child endangerment drunk driving and open intoxicants in a motor vehicle charges. As the…
In this Michigan Intoxicated driving causing death, the defendant Willett entered a no contest plea thereby admitting that he was operating a motor vehicle with the presence of any amount of marijuana in his body, and that the operation of his vehicle caused the death of another, under Michigan Compiled…
A recent Michigan Court of Appeals panel reversed a conviction for Criminal Sexual Conduct First Degree, commonly called rape, due to improper witness vouching. The case involved three expert witnesses, all of whom testified for the government. In different and sometimes subtle ways, each expert made improper statements about the…
A psychosexual evaluation (PSE) is a psychological assessment administered by a licensed psychologist that collects information about one’s biographical and sexual history. In addition to the clinical interview, the therapist will also administer several related psychometric tests, and based on both, will provide an opinion relative to the propensity one…
In most situations the answer is no, but the most complete answer is “it depends.” First, it is important to know that restitution is different from fines and costs. Fines are defined by statute and meant to be punitive. For example, if you were convicted of prescription fraud under 18…