Ann Arbor Criminal Defense Blog

In 2010, the Supreme Court in Padilla v. Kentucky held that the Sixth Amendment requires an attorney for a non-citizen criminal defendant to advise on the possibility of deportation that could result from a guilty plea. Failure to advise on these consequences could be the ineffective assistance of counsel. The question before the Court in Chaidez v. United States was whether the rule in Padilla applies retroactively, so as to provide relief to defendants who may have had ineffective assistance of counsel in past cases.

Chaidez was a lawful permanent resident of the United States. In the late nineties Chaidez plead guilty to two counts of mail fraud. Mail fraud is an aggravated felony, requiring mandatory removal from the country.

Removal proceedings were initiated in 2009 after Chaidez applied for citizenship and immigration officials received notice of her conviction.

The Michigan Court of Appeals in People v. Gomez was asked whether the United States Supreme Court decision Padilla v. Kentucky would apply to cases that were already decided and ruled that Padilla’s effect would not be retroactive.

In Padilla, the Supreme Court held that criminal defense counsel must advise a non-citizen defendant that a guilty plea may result in deportation. Failure to advise on the basic deportation consequences could be ineffective assistance counsel.

Defendant Gomez was a citizen of Mexico but had resided in America for most of his life.  He was convicted of possession with intent to deliver and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Four years after Gomez finished his sentence that included jail and probation, he was informed by the Department of Homeland Security that his conviction rendered him deportable.

Reckless driving is a misdemeanor offense in Michigan and comes with serious consequences, both for the driver’s wallet and driver’s license.

A conviction is punishable by up to a $500 fine, 93 days in jail, or both. In addition, a total of $1,000 will be assessed in driver’s responsibility fees by the Secretary of State. Six points are added to driver’s record. A first offense results in a mandatory 90 day license suspension. Two convictions within seven years results in license revocation.

To be convicted of reckless driving, there must be evidence that the “defendant was driving in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.” Another way of saying this is that the driver operated a vehicle with gross negligence. Reckless driving is distinguished from the civil infraction of careless driving, which requires evidence of only ordinary negligence.

As police surveillance techniques become more sophisticated due to technological advances courts will be asked how this squares with the Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable searches.

In U.S. v. Jones the U.S. Supreme Court was asked whether the placement of a global positioning device on a person’s car is a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. The Court ruled it was a search.

In 2004, the government obtained a search warrant to place a global positioning device on Defendant Jones’s car. The warrant allowed for the device to be placed within 10 days, but the police installed the device after the permitted time period. The Government then retrieved information from the device for 28 days, leading to a drug distribution conspiracy charge for Jones. The GPS device produced more than 2,000 pages of data.

We’ve all seen a police vehicle with its light flashing on the side of the road. How should we proceed past that police car? The law explains what you should do – a violation of this law could be charged as a misdemeanor. And a violation that results in an injury or death will be a more serious charge.

Emergency Vehicle on Side of Road

When passing a stationary emergency vehicle on the side of the road with its lights flashing, you must either

• Get into the left lane if there is a left lane
• If you are unable to get in the left lane due to either weather, road conditions, or traffic, then you must reduce and maintain a safe speed for the weather, road conditions, and traffic, and then proceed with due care and caution, or as directed by an officer.

To summarize, once you see those flashing lights on the side of the road, start trying to get over to the left lane as far as possible. If you are unable to get over, start slowing down immediately so that you are moving at a slow speed by the time you are passing the emergency vehicle. The law does not specify, but if there is only one lane, then your move should be to slow down and proceed with due care and caution.

A new marijuana transportation law will prescribe the manner in which medical marijuana may be transported lawfully.

Marijuana to be transported soon must be either;

-Enclosed in case that is carried in the trunk of a vehicle, or

The Michigan Medical Marihuana Act requires that individuals seeking the broad immunity from prosecution provided by Section 4 of the Act must keep marijuana plants in an enclosed, locked facility, among other requirements.

The MMMA did not originally define what was an enclosed, locked facility, leading prosecuting officials and courts to fill in the blanks.

House Bill 4851 amends the MMMA to specifically define what constitutes an enclosed locked facility.

The Michigan legislature took steps to further restrict the rights of parolees from prison. As a condition of release, parolees must now provide written consent to all searches of their person or property by peace officers or parole officers upon demand. The only exception is that the consent does not extend to searches that are conducted with the sole intent to harass or intimidate. MCL 791.236(19).

More: Information on Criminal Charges in Michigan.

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