Tag Archives: Michigan Criminal Defense Attorneys

One of the main responsibilities that police officers have is to serve as watchmen, keeping the state safe from any dangerous activity while promoting public safety. However, the public must ask the ultimate questions: if law enforcement officials are watching us, then who is keeping an eye on them?

After returning from working overseas, Glenn Shriver applied for a position with the Central Intelligence Agency. However, he was arrested afterward by law enforcement officials after the government alleged that he either denied or omitted information that he had meetings with Chinese intelligence officers, accepting $70,000 in cash. Providing false information to a federal agent is considered a felony, and if convicted Shriver could face serious consequences including jail time.

This November, Michigan voters will be able to decide whether individuals convicted of certain felonies should be banned serving in public office for an extended period of time. While supporters of the measure believe that the proposal will set standards for officeholders, it also could potentially prevent reformed individuals from using their past experience to make positive future changes.

Last Wednesday, former University of Michigan football player Boubacar Cissoko pled guilty to a count of Michigan armed robbery charges, as well as four counts of larceny in the Washtenaw County area. If sentenced to the maximum extent, the Cissoko could spend 45 years behind bars for his involvement in the case.

In 2002, a black man was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to serve between 12 and 35 years behind bars as a result. However, the Michigan Court of Appeals have since awarded him a new trial because not one person in the 42-member jury is African American–ultimately protecting his constitutional right to a trial by jury of peers.

In a new ruling handed down by the Michigan Court of Appeals, it is possible for a defendants under the jurisdiction of the Court be placed on the Sex Offender Registry retroactively. As long as the convict is on probation, the prosecution can request to have he or she placed on the registry at anytime. However, the law also allows defendants to be placed on the registry for crimes against minors, which are not generally considered sexual offenses by nature.

In a recent ruling, the US Supreme Court handed down a decision that clarified the scope of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA)–potentially affecting many convicted sex offenders who were convicted and relocated prior to the effective date of the law.

Even though repeat offender Robert Wilber narrowly escaped jail time after pleading guilty to Michigan theft charges, he is still ordered to compete three years of probation–still restricting many enjoyed personal liberties and freedoms.

In an effort to curb drug distribution and illegal gun use in Detroit, law enforcement officials have stepped-up enforcement, looking for suspicious persons breaking minor laws so they can legally question and search them. Despite the good intentions, some Civil Rights organizations claim that the task unit is just designed to racially profile innocent people.

Last week, a Macomb County Circuit judge tossed out a bioterrorism charge held against an HIV-positive man accused of biting someone in an attempt to spread the deadly virus. Although the state passed a bioterrorism charge in the wake of the 1998 Oklahoma City bombing and an anthrax scare, Daniel Allen’s Michigan criminal defense attorney successfully argued in court that the legislation was misapplied in this case.