Until the end of April, the 14A and 14B district courts are waiving all penalties and late fees for outstanding tickets for traffic civil infractions and parking violations dated on or before December 31, 2011.
These courts encompass the cities of Pittsfield Township, Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township, Saline, and Chelsea.
The license clearance fee for suspended driver licenses is not waived and must be paid before a license can be reinstated.
A new law targeting organized shoplifting rings goes into effect today. Organized retail crime is now a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 5 years, a $5,000 fine, or both. Restitution will likely be ordered. Read the full Organized Retail Crime Act.
A person is guilty of organized retail crime when that person does any of the following;
1. Knowingly commits an organized retail crime.
Trespassing is entry onto another person’s land without permission. Michigan state law forbids trespassing and contains provisions for trespassing in specific situations. Townships and cities generally have ordinances prohibiting trespassing that are not listed here.
In addition to fighting the trespass charge, there are several options to keep a trespass conviction off your permanent record, such as deferred sentencing or Holmes Youthful Trainee status.
It is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail, a $250 fine, or both, to
In the first court challenge to a city’s ability to enforce zoning laws concerning medical marijuana activity, the Washtenaw County Circuit Court held that the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act does not preempt city zoning ordinances.
Previous challenges to city zoning laws regarding the MMMA, such as in Ter Beek v. City of Wyoming, were based on a city’s attempt to ban medical marijuana activity because federal law makes such activity illegal.
Last year, an Ypsilanti Township couple was charged with growing marijuana in their home in an amount in excess of that allowed by the city zoning ordinance regulating.
There are many potential driving-related civil infractions in Michigan that drivers can receive. For many people, their only contact with the justice system will be a traffic-related citation. One of the most common infractions is a speeding ticket.
Upon receiving a speeding ticket the driver has several options. The driver may simply admit responsibility and pay the fine. Or the driver may admit responsibility with the goal of mitigating the consequences of the civil infraction. Lastly, the driver may deny responsibility and challenge the speeding ticket.
There are two means by which to challenge a civil infraction, either by an informal hearing or a formal hearing. An informal hearing is where the driver represents him or herself and no city prosecutor is involved. At a formal hearing, the driver is represented by an attorney and will face a city prosecutor.
Due to automatic spending cuts to take effect on Friday, the federal agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement has released 2,228 of illegal immigrants held in detention centers throughout the country.
Detainees were released from centers located in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, New Jersey, and New York.
Officials claimed the high cost of detaining immigrants was impractical in the face of spending cuts to the agency. The cost of detaining an individual for one day is between $122 and $164, according to the National Immigration Forum.
House Bill 4271, to be introduced into the Judiciary Committee, seeks to legitimize and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. The bill follows the Michigan Supreme Court ruling in People v. McQueen, which essentially made the operation of a commercial dispensary impossible under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act.
The bill envisions legal dispensaries, which it refers to as “medical marihuana provisioning centers,” as wells as establishments called safety compliance facilities, where marijuana would be tested for safety. The centers would be exempt from criminal and civil prosecution and penalties so long as all state and municipal laws are followed.
The bill outlines a range of regulations for the centers. For example, marijuana products would be labeled with health warnings. Employees of the centers must be over 21 and not have a felony conviction within ten years prior to employment. Centers would have to keep records to ensure that no more than the permitted amount of marijuana is sold.
A Killebrew agreement is plea bargain in which the prosecutor promises the defendant will receive a particular sentence. Plea bargains area common part of criminal law. A plea bargain is where a person admits guilt in exchange for a benefit in return.
Common plea bargains may involve a guilty plea in exchange for a dismissal of a charge, or a reduction of the charges. Plea bargaining speeds up the disposition of cases, especially where there are no disputed factual matters, reducing backlogs in the courts and jails.
A Killebrew agreement, also known as a sentencing agreement, concerns plea bargains that involve promises by the prosecutor that the defendant will receive a certain sentence. The term comes from case of People v. Killebrew.
In Chico-Polo v. Department of Corrections, Chico-Polo was convicted of delivery/manufacture of a controlled substance greater than 650 grams and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He filed for relief in trial court to compel the defendant, the Department of Corrections, to parole and release him to the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
MCL 791.234b provides that the parole board shall place a prisoner (who meets certain criteria) on parole and release that prisoner to the custody of ICE for the sole purpose of deportation. A prisoner is eligible if he has served half of the minimum sentence imposed by the court and is not incarcerated for a conviction of murder or criminal sexual conduct.
Chico-Polo argued on appeal that the 20 year minimum for parole eligibility for individuals given life sentences should be held to be the “minimum sentence” required by the statute. This argument was based on a Department of Corrections code provision providing that a prisoner sentenced for violation of MCL 333.7401(2)(a)(i) who have served 20 years of their sentence may be placed on parole.
For a police officer to make a warrantless search of a vehicle the officer must have “probable cause” that evidence of a crime will be found, as required by the Fourth Amendment.
In Florida v. Harris the Court discussed when the source of the probable cause is a drug-sniffing dog, and affirmed the rule that such probable cause would be analyzed with the same general totality-of-the-circumstances test that is used to evaluate all probable cause.
“The question – similar to every inquiry into probable cause – surrounding a dog’s alert, viewed through the lens of common sense, would make a reasonable person think that a search would reveal contraband or evidence of a crime,” wrote Justice Kagan. “A sniff is up to snuff when it meets that test.”
Ann Arbor Criminal Defense Blog
