Articles Posted in Domestic Violence

A domestic violence charge in Oakland County does not have to define the rest of your life. Michigan law provides several paths to recovery, including deferred sentencing under Michigan Compiled Laws (MCL) 769.4a, expungement through Michigan’s Clean Slate Law, and counseling programs that can lead to a dismissal. However, the penalties for a conviction are serious, and the long-term consequences can affect employment, custody, housing, and firearm rights. At Michigan Defense Law, Oakland County criminal defense attorney Paul J. Tafelski represents individuals charged with domestic violence throughout the county. Paul J. Tafelski has defended hundreds of clients from arraignment through...

Police can question a child without parental consent in many situations in Oakland County and throughout Michigan. The rules change depending on whether the child is a witness, a victim, or a suspect in custody. When a child is arrested or not free to leave, Miranda protections apply, and the child’s age must be considered when determining whether the questioning was voluntary. At Michigan Defense Law, Oakland County criminal defense attorney Paul J. Tafelski represents parents and defendants facing charges that affect their families. Whether you are dealing with police interviews of your child or concerns about how charges may...

Domestic violence charges can turn your world upside down. One moment, life is moving along, and the next, you’re facing accusations that carry serious consequences. These charges aren’t just about the law; they affect your relationships, your job, your peace of mind, and your future. If you’re being accused of domestic violence, you might feel overwhelmed, angry, scared, or all of the above. That’s completely understandable. These situations are complicated and deeply personal, and it’s important that your side of the story is heard. At Michigan Defense Law, our Oakland County domestic violence lawyers take the time to understand what...

There can be no doubt that domestic violence is a serious matter under Michigan’s Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Act. However, you are in a very difficult position if the allegations against you are untrue, exaggerated, or based upon ulterior motives. Unfortunately, false accusations of domestic abuse are more common than you think. They are particularly prevalent in divorce or custody cases when one party is trying to gain an advantage in court.  Even when you know you are innocent, anger, frustration, and despair may take the place of logic. Do not allow your emotions get the best of you...

Earlier this month, a state appellate court issued an opinion in a Michigan domestic violence case involving the defendant’s challenge to the admission of the victim’s statement to police. The case required the court to discuss the general prohibition of hearsay in criminal trials, as well as the “excited utterance” exception. Hearsay is defined as an out-of-court statement that is being offered to establish the truth of the statement’s contents. For example, a witness’ statement that “the man was wearing a red hat” would be inadmissible to prove that the color of the man’s hat was red. However, if the...

Interviewer: When the police are called, will there always be an arrest made? Paul Tafelski: If somebody claims that the other person touched them in any kind of a way –which could be grabbing them, preventing them from leaving, poking them, pulling their hair, scratching their face, some kind of physical altercation, however brief – there is usually going to be somebody arrested. Again, that’s the case in most places in metropolitan Detroit, and I mean Wayne, Oakland and Macomb County. However, in some of the more upscale and conservative areas such as Rochester, Troy, Birmingham, Bloomfield, Novi, Plymouth, Canton,...

Yes, there is a statute in Michigan that is known as MCLA 769.4a, which is a statute specifically pertaining to domestic violence and to first offense domestic violence cases. Under that statute, if the court takes your case under advisement and you successfully complete probation, then the case can be dismissed and not be on your record after you’ve completed probation. Oftentimes, we try to negotiate a deal that would get the clients’ plea taken under advisement pursuant to that statute so that they can ultimately create a record. Additionally, five years after you were sentenced, if you only have...

Interviewer: What are no-contact orders or a protection order or a restraining order? How do they work? Paul Tafelski: A judge will just order you the conditional bond to have to contact with the complaining witness or any other witnesses. It’s really fairly difficult for the prosecutor or the court to enforce that, but if they do find out about a violation they will often revoke the bond or give the person some time in jail. There are significant consequences, but basically it’s just a court order. They tell you that you cannot have contact in any way, which means...

Interviewer: What kind of plea agreements are typically going to be offered by the prosecution? Paul Tafelski: Depends on, each court is a little bit different, each prosecutor is a little bit different but we’ve been able in many cases of first offence situations to negotiate plea deals where if the client successfully completed a period of probation with some anger management they could avoid having a conviction on their record. That’s the most important thing, to come out of this with is no conviction because it doesn’t look too good on employers to see domestic violence convictions. They get...

The biggest one is that it involves very serious physical confrontations, where someone is getting beat up or punched or severely abused. In reality, the vast majority of the cases involve relatively minor skirmishes, where one person calls the police and usually the person who calls doesn’t even want the other person arrested, they just want the police to make them go away for a while. The police don’t do that anymore, so then somebody gets arrested and that opens up a whole new can of worms for the people and their families and everything else. What Are Some Unintentional...