COVID’s Impact on Bail Bonds in Michigan

Due to the types of cases that we defend we often find ourselves fighting for our clientsto either stay out of jail, or to get out of jail, at arraignment. It is incredibly difficult to convince a judge to release our clients especially if they had been previously represented by another attorney who was not […]

What To Do If You’re Under Investigation For Child Pornography in Michigan

Michigan takes sexual crimes seriously, and the consequences are even more severe when it comes to child pornography.  Child pornography involves the production, receipt, possession, and or distribution of sexually depicted images of children under the age of 18 – all of which is illegal. If you’ve been caught with or accused of child pornography, the […]

The Movie Cuties in a World of Sexting, Social Media and Fitting In

Over the last week, my Facebook feed was flooded with controversy posts about the Netflix movie Cuties alongside hashtags of #savethechildren and #cancelnetflix. For anyone who has not heard of the movie, the story is about an 11-year old girl who becomes a part of a group of girls who eventually participate in a dance competition.  They learn dance […]

Should I take my child to an interview at CARE House or a Child Advocacy Center (CAC)?

In Michigan, when a child makes an allegation of criminal sexual conduct, law enforcement and Child Protective Services should set up a forensic interview for the alleged victim at a child advocacy center.  Child advocacy centers, including CARE House and Kids-TALK, are the physical centers where interviews take place.   During the interviews, the law allows […]

Should I take a polygraph to prove my innocence?

Every week we get at least one phone call with the same question – “I have been accused of a crime, the police have asked me to take a polygraph….should I take the test to prove I’m innocent?”  When it comes to police polygraphs there is not a hard and fast rule that people should follow […]

Convicted by the media long before your day in court

In the Court of public opinion and the media there are no rules of evidence, no burdens of proof, no cross examination – no questions and no answers.  In emotionally charged cases such as the ones that we defend at Smith Lehman, P.C. our clients are often convicted in the media long before they ever have […]

Vouching Testimony in Child Criminal Sexual Conduct Trials

Sometimes watching trials of other defense lawyers can feel like watching nails on a chalkboard. This is particularly true when the prosecution plays dirty and the defense attorney does not catch on. Unfortunately, this happens all too often. You see, in a trial, no witness is allowed to comment on the credibility or lack of […]

Anatomy of a Murder Acquittal

Smith Blythe’s Mariell Lehman just secured a not guilty verdict for her client, Curtis Brown. That’s a rare thing in a case where there was no question our client pulled the trigger. Rarer still in a county where the police commissioner announced Curtis’ arrest with, “I can’t emphasize enough that when a crime of this […]

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