15 minutes: The waiting game
Michigan Law requires that prior to the administration of a Datamaster test officers must monitor the person submitting to the test for the 15 minutes prior to the datamaster administration. A datamaster is a test that is often times administered at the jail after an individual has been arrested for Operating Under the Influence of Liquor. While Datamaster results are admissible in any civil or criminal case, the admissibility is not absolute. Datamaster results are admisi
Court of Appeals: Doctor Testimony Not Required for Section 8 Defense.
Unregistered patients do not need to have a doctor testify at a hearing to determine whether that person is permitted to present an affirmative defense under Michigan’s Medical Marihuana Act (MMA) to a jury. In an unpublished opinion, the Michigan Court of Appeals vacated Mr. Sherwood’s conviction and sentence ordering a new trial on the allegations that he was unlawfully manufacturing marihuana. The primary issue was whether the MMA required unregistered patients to presen
Lockridge is a Game Changer for Sentencing in Michigan.
The Michigan Supreme Court has changed the way criminal defendants will be sentenced in a dramatic fashion. As a criminal defense lawyer, I have had the fortune of traveling around the state on a number of criminal cases. Some are high profile and others are not. Regardless, I knew one thing: if my client was convicted or pled to a felony, seeking a downward departure from the mandatory sentencing guidelines was going to be the primary challenge. The Michigan sentencing gui
