Category Archives: Defenses to Crimes

Court of Appeals Reverses Lower Court In People v. Dunbar, during a police traffic stop, some contraband was found. In turn, the defendant moved to suppress the evidence on the basis that the stop violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The trial court denied the motion. However, the Court of Appeals granted the defendant’s application for […]

 Wafer / McBride Trial Continues On Monday morning the front porch murder trial of Theodore Wafer resumed with Michigan State Police Detective Lt. David Balash retaking the stand for the defense. Balash, who is a gun and crime scene expert, testified that it was without a doubt that Wafer’s gun had fired the bullet from […]

In the case of Lafler v. Cooper, the United States Supreme Court recently issued a ruling that stands up for the rights of criminal defendants everywhere. This case began in Michigan and worked its way to the United States Supreme Court. In the case, Anthony Cooper was charged as a habitual offender with the Michigan […]

In December, we wrote an article regarding the entrapment defense as it relates specifically to sex crimes under Michigan law. In this article, I will discuss the general differences of entrapment under Michigan law compared to federal law as it relates to all crimes. In general, the federal courts use what is called a “subjective […]

A few months ago, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in the case of People v. Fackelman that the defendant was denied his Constitutional right of confrontation. In this case, the jury heard in-court testimony from both a doctor hired by the defense and a doctor hired by the prosecution about whether the defendant was legally […]