Criminal Penalties

HYTA Michigan: New HYTA Law Helps Some Avoid Criminal Record

Published on: February 27, 2023 | by Patrick Barone

What is HYTA in Michigan? Michigan’s Legislators recently passed a bill that (in some states) is called a “youthful offender’s law.” The new Legislation in Michigan is Called the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act (HYTA).

Under the new law, if you are more than 17 years of age, but less than 26 years of age. Plus, you must be charged with a crime in Michigan. If not brought up by the criminal attorney you are consulting, be sure to discuss with a criminal law attorney whether you can avoid a criminal conviction by being given youthful trainee status.

The Michigan HYTA Probation Law allows defendants under 26 years old to avoid their criminal record being shown on MI state records.
This HYTA Probation Law allows most people who are under 26 years of age and charged with a crime to avoid a permanent criminal record from being shown on Michigan state records. The new HYTA Michigan law — relating to certain criminal charges for some youthful offenders — was signed into law by Governor Gretchen Witmer October 1, 2021.

What Is Jury Nullification in Michigan? Is It Legal?

Published on: February 7, 2023 | by Patrick Barone

Jury nullification in Michigan can and does happen, which is when a jury judges the law instead of determining if a defendant is guilty of breraking that law.
Jury nullification occurs when a Michigan jury returns a verdict that is contrary to the law given them by the Judge. In a criminal case, jury nullification occurs when the jury, while believing the accused to be guilty, nevertheless return a verdict of not guilty.

Usually this happens when the jurors either don’t like the MI criminal law in question or don’t believe that the criminal law is being appropriately applied. When a jury does this they are thought to “judge” the law.

Jury Nullification Happened in Dr. Jack Kevorkian Trials

How to Write Effective Character Letters for Court Purposes

Published on: February 3, 2023 | by Patrick Barone

Michigam OWI lawyer Patrick Barone owns Barone Defense Fir m in Birmingham, MI. Here he discusses the age of consent (the legal age that a perron must be to have consensual relation with another human being. Your Michigan defense lawyer may ask you to obtain a character letter for court purposes. This article explains how to format and write such a letter. You can share a link to this article with those you ask to write such letters.

While there are many suggestions here, what’s missing is a sample character letter or a form character letter. This is because utilization of a form will cause all character letters to look substantially the same, and this defeats the whole purpose and is counter-productive. Use of such forms is strictly discouraged.

Character Letters for Use During Plea Negotiations

Safe Gun Storage for Michigan Gun Owners

Published on: December 30, 2022 | by Ryan Ballard

The news stories covering the extremely tragic school shooting in Oxford, Michigan has brought the issues of gun safety and gun storage to the forefront in the Great Lakes State once again. As the unfortunate story goes, it is alleged that 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley opened fire on his fellow students at Oxford High School on November 30^th, 2021.

It is alleged that he killed four students and injured seven others including a teacher. Crumbley is facing four counts of first-degree murder, one count of terrorism causing death, seven counts of assault with intent to commit murder, and 12 counts of possessing a firearm while committing a felony.

The Parents of the Oxford Shooter Are Also Being Charged With Crimes

DUI Expungement in Michigan – Talk to Our Lawyers First

Published on: December 1, 2022 | by Ryan Ramsayer

A drunk driving conviction has lifelong consequences. Long after your driver’s license has been restored, you’ll still have the DUI conviction on your permanent record. The good news is that the expungement laws in Michigan for DUI cases have recently been changed.

Michigan DUI expungement lawyer Patrick Barone leads the Barone Defense Firm and is partners with some of the best DUI attorneys who handle the toughest DUI cases.
This means your conviction involving an operating while intoxicated OWI offense can now be removed. And this removal or expungement comes with many benefits. Many kinds of DUI convictions are eligible, sometimes even those drunk driving convictions involving injury or death can be expunged.

What Does DUI Expungement Actually Mean?

First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct in Michigan

Published on: October 13, 2022 | by Barone Defense Firm

Michigan Criminal Sexual Conduct, commonly referred to as CSC, is the unlawful sexual assault or touching or penetration of another. In Michigan, there are four separate offenses each defined by the acts of behaviors of the alleged offender.

Each level of offense is called a “degree.” Within each of these degrees are multiple variables or legal theories that the state must prove in order to support the allegation. Such variables may include the age of the victim, the relationship of the perpetrator to the victim, and whether force or coercion was used in the commission of the alleged crime.

What Must Prosecutor Prove to Establish a Criminal Sexual Conduct in the First Degree?

What to Know About the Sex Offender Registry (SORA) in Michigan

Published on: May 5, 2022 | by Michael Boyle

What to Know About the Sex Offender Registry in Michigan

When Is SORA Registration Necessary in Michigan?

In the past, many violations that would trigger sex offender registration were prosecuted under the old Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) even when the violation was a result of a mistake, ignorance, or unintended violations. If this has happened to you, then you’ll definitely want to hire a Michigan sex crimes attorney to help. Here is some more useful information for you to know about SORA:

Finding a Sex Crimes Lawyer Near Me to Help Avoid Sora

Published on: May 5, 2022 | by Michael Boyle

How Can a Sex Crimes Lawyer Near Me Help Avoid SORA?

A top sex assault lawyer can help you avoid the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) in many different ways. Before we get to that, let’s first talk about SORA, particularly the newest version of SORA in Michigan.

SORA, which is also known as the sex offender registration act, applies to most forms of criminal sexual conduct. If you are facing a sex crime allegation, then you are also facing possibly being listed on SORA. This is also sometimes called sex abuse. If you are facing the kinds of allegations, indecent exposure, you will need a criminal defense attorney well versed in this complex area of law to assist you minimize or avoid the consequences.

Michigan Democratic Lawmaker Charged with Second Drunk Driving

Published on: April 12, 2022 | by Michael Boyle

A recent news report outlines some of the circumstances surrounding the arrest of Michigan Democratic state Rep. Mary Cavanagh of Redford, and as true with many media outlet stories it seeks more shock than substance. To help elaborate on substance, and dispel some myths and misunderstandings about drunk driving laws, this article addresses the following three topic:

A second DUI arrest does not necessarily mean enhanced DUI penalties, driver license sanctions or conviction,
Being unable to stand on one leg is only a part of standard field sobriety tests, and;

What Happens in Court When I Plead Guilty?

Published on: March 27, 2022 | by Patrick Barone

Now that you understand the plea bargaining process in Michigan and how to prepare for court when pleading guilty, let’s now consider exactly what happens in court when you plead guilty. During the plea taking process the court will be concerned with two things. First that you understand the constitutional rights that you are giving up by pleading guilty, and second, that you are freely, knowingly and understandingly admitting to and acknowledging that you have committed the crime to which you are pleading guilty.

To confirm that you are fully aware that by pleading guilty you are giving up all your constitutional rights associated with trial, the judge will ask you a series of questions almost all of which are answered by the single word “yes”. So, for example, the judge will ask you if you understand that you have an absolute right to trial, to which of course your answer is “yes.” The judge will ask you if you understand that pleading guilty you are giving up your right to remain silent, to which again, the answer is “yes.” There are sometimes a few “no” questions as well, such as “have any promises been made other than those stated on the record, to get you to plead guilty.” The answer to the question so certainty be “no.” Another no question might be “have there been any threats, compulsion or duress used to get you to plead guilty.” Again, the answer should definitely be no. Once the court is satisfied that you are freely knowingly and understandingly giving up or waiving all your constitutional trial rights, and that no promises or threats have been made to induce the plea, then the court will move on to a establishing the factual basis for plea.

What Is a Factual Basis for a Plea?