Child Abuse Pediatricians and False Accusations
Recently, a case from Wayne County is garnering national attention after a child abuse pediatrician incorrectly diagnosed a child as having been abused, when in fact an alternate medical explanation for the child’s condition existed. After the children were removed from their parents for months, the Court concluded the child was not abused and reunited the family. The […]
First Degree Child Abuse Case: A Success
Incorrect diagnoses of child abuse, or non-accidental trauma, are devastating for parents and children. Often, medical determinations made by a sole child abuse physician is sufficient for bringing out first degree child abuse charges and petitions to terminate parental rights. Consider for example, the story of one of our clients, who noticed bruising on her daughter’s […]
False Report of Rape
In today’s political climate, one of the major movements that has influenced how people look at sexual assault is certainly the “Me Too” movement. Our office does not deny that sex abuse happens or the horrors of cases involving true allegations of criminal sexual conduct in Michigan. However, there are cases of false claims, and our office […]
Consent in Criminal Sexual Conduct Cases in Michigan
Today an interesting article came out discussing the concept of “affirmative consent” in the Wall Street Journal. Affirmative consent is where the accused must show that the accuser gave affirmative consent — and that the accuser’s actions during sex are not enough. A Judge in Tennessee found that this way of thinking shifts the burden to the […]
Child Shaming as Child Abuse in Michigan
We’ve seen the videos and pictures on Facebook and other social media sites…parents running over video games with lawn mowers, dads wearing the same revealing outfits as their daughters, parents cutting their child’s hair, and even messy rooms. “Child shaming” has become a popular form of punishment for parents. It’s easy to snap a picture […]
Electronic Monitoring for Criminal Sexual Conduct Convictions
In 2006, the Michigan Legislature added the lifetime electronic monitoring requirement for convictions of criminal sexual conduct, among other revisions, to Michigan law. According to the Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency, the rationale for the amendments were a result of nationwide efforts to increase penalties and post incarceration supervision of sex offenders convicted of crimes involving children […]
First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct Case Dropped
In late 2013, a teenage male was accused of sexually assaulting a female relative and was subsequently charged with first degree criminal sexual conduct and two other felonies related to the assault. At a preliminary examination that took place last year, the teenager, Justin Hannahs, was charged with a second count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Hannahs […]
False Allegation Leads to CSC Acquittal
During a preliminary examination, a 13-year-old girl testified that a 45-year-old man that lived with her had sex with her multiple times while her mother was away at work. The girl stated that the man discussed sex with her before and the first time he had sex with her she was 12. She gave a […]
Teenagers Need to Know Their Rights
The New York Times recently reported that an estimated 37% of teenagers that went through an interrogation falsely confessed to criminal acts. It further reported that 31% of teenagers during those interrogations made incriminating statements against themselves. One thing was shocking about this study, none of the teenagers involved in the research invoked their constitutional […]
Snapchat is Dangerous!
The smartphone app “Snapchat” is a popular application that teens and adults alike download to their smartphones daily. With billions of pictures sent on a daily basis, Snapchat has become part of the everyday lives of smart phone users. However, most users are not aware of how the application really works or the dangers that […]