Criminal Defense

Parents call our office asking the same question in different words: is there any way this doesn't follow my kid for the rest of his life? Usually the person charged is nineteen or twenty-two, has never been in trouble, and has just learned that a felony conviction is permanent. Michigan has a statute for that — the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act. It is narrower than most people expect. Who HYTA Covers in Michigan HYTA, MCL 762.11 to 762.15, lets a judge take a guilty plea and r

People call our office after their first court date convinced that nothing happened. They stood in front of a judge, heard a charge read, got a slip of paper with a date on it, and went home. That next date is the first point in a Michigan felony case where the prosecution has to put on evidence and a judge has to decide whether the case goes forward. What a preliminary examination is, and when it happens Felony charges begin in district court, which holds preliminary examina

Learn what happens after an OWI arrest in Michigan, from the traffic stop and license issues to court proceedings and legal review.

Clients call our office a week after an OWI arrest worried about the criminal charge, and then a notice arrives from the Secretary of State suspending their license for a year. No trial. No conviction. That suspension is not part of the criminal case. It comes from refusing the chemical test at the station, and it runs on its own track, with its own deadline. The roadside test and the station test are not the same test People say “breathalyzer” for both. Michigan law does not

People call our office convinced their record cleared itself. Sometimes they're right. Michigan has been automatically setting aside qualifying convictions since April 11, 2023, and the volume is enormous — State Police data reported in April 2026 put the total at more than 1.5 million convictions cleared without anyone filing anything. But the automatic track is narrower than its reputation, and the convictions people most want gone are often the ones it doesn't touch. Here'

The overwhelming majority of criminal cases in Michigan never reach a jury. They end with a negotiated resolution — a plea bargain. That fact makes some people uneasy, and it should prompt a fair question from anyone facing charges: am I getting a real deal, or am I just being processed? The answer depends almost entirely on how well the negotiation is prepared and on whether you understand what you're actually being offered. This post explains how plea bargaining works in Mi