Michigan Criminal Lawyers Blog

The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution provides that the criminal defendant is entitled to a speedy trial. Without this right, criminal defendants could be held indefinitely under a cloud of unproven criminal accusations. The right to a speedy trial also is crucial to ensuring that a criminal defendant receives a fair trial. If too much time elapses between the charge and the trial, witnesses may die or leave the area, their memories may fade, and physical evidence may be lost. When our founding fathers came up with this concept, it is safe to say that they did not anticipate a national pandemic such as COVID-19. The battle of judicial economy and the factors of a speedy trial are on a collision course. The four factors that a court will examine when examining if the right to a speedy trial include: The length of the delay; the reason for the delay; the defendant bringing the assertion of the delay, and the defendant’s prejudice. To discuss these factors, we spoke to several of the top criminal defense lawyers in the state of Michigan and gathered their insight.

Scott Grabel is the founder of Grabel and Associates, which is known as the top criminal defense firm in Michigan. Grabel spoke of the length of delay when he said, “The jail can only hold a defendant in their facility for 180 days. If we are following this rule by the book, the 180 days can work to the defendant’s favor, but the rule is not always black and white.”

Joe Brugnoli is a Senior Associate for Grabel and Associates and is known as the top criminal defense attorney in Kent County, Michigan. Brugnoli spoke of the reason for the delay, which is factor number two. Brugnoli stated, “As a defense counsel, you cannot have adjournments attributed to the defendant and then argue for a speedy trial. It would help if you strategized about this when you have a client charged with a capital case and cannot afford or has been denied a bond. Denial of bond does not mean the case is not winnable. The politics of bond arguments can play a large factor.”

Original Case Details

Our blog has covered the multiple corruption charges and cases relating to former Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith since its inception, and as of this writing, the federal case against him is still pending an official plea. Smith was originally arrested and charged with 10 different state public corruption charges as discussed in a previous blog here. He was later charged federally with a single count of obstruction of justice. His federal obstruction of justice charge is related to the allegations that Smith set up an illegal kickback scheme to funnel $70,000 from his reelection campaign account. The federal and state charges are unrelated and operate independently of one another. Back in September, Smith agreed to plead guilty to the count of obstruction of justice. The actual in-court plea has not happened yet and is being delayed due to Smith being diagnosed with COVID-19. It has been reported that Smith was released from the hospital on November 9th and remains quarantined in his home. He is reportedly still suffering extreme symptoms related to the virus. As such, his attorneys submitted a motion to the court asking for the plea date to be moved due to Smith’s COVID-19 diagnosis and continued health concerns. 

Pending Plea

The Michigan Citizen’s Arrest Law Explained

A number of cases have arisen recently in the state of Michigan that have raised questions about the existence and legitimacy of the ability for private citizens to be able to make a “citizen’s arrest.” In general, private citizens are not allowed to act like police and arrest people they believe need to be arrested. Michigan law, does however allow for a private citizen to make a citizen’s arrest in certain circumstances, they include:

• The ability to make an arrest for a felony committed in the person’s presence;

Expungements in Michigan

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently signed into law an expansion of the state expungement statute making more people eligible for expungement as well as making some expungements automatic. An expungement is a legal process where a court will remove one or more criminal convictions from your permanent record. You are not able to expunge every type of criminal conviction, so it is important to understand the new law as it applies to you. A 2019 University of Michigan study found that only 6.5% of people who are eligible for an expungement get their records cleared within five years. So, 93.5% of people who have a criminal record and are eligible for an expungement to remove the criminal conviction don’t get it done within the first five years they are eligible to do so. These convictions can hurt your ability to find good employment, can limit where you are able to live, and can otherwise be a black mark on you that limits your opportunities. These startling statistics symbolized the need for an expansive change in the expungement process leading to new Michigan expungement laws.

Major Changes in New Expungement Laws