Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: my criminal case

You may well be right in believing that the case would have been dismissed had you chosen to hire a lawyer. If the very few cases where a person TRULY cannot afford a lawyer, they settle for a court appointed lawyer. Some people believe that even a court appointed lawyer is better than no lawyer at all.

For more information, go to:

www.AggressiveCriminalDefense.com

Re: my criminal case

With the limited information you gave us, there is no way for us to assess whether you are correct that "there is no evidence" or that "the case should have been dismissed".

You should talk (face to face) with an attorney who handles criminal appeals. Give that lawyer a copy of the police report, and all other papers you have on the case! You should do this ASAP.

Since you pled guilty, it'll be hard to un-do your conviction. Your attorney will probably have to file a motion for relief from judgment, or a motion to withdraw your plea, etc. It's still hard to win this kind of motion, especially since you pled guilty and have been sentenced already.

Are you a minor??? You said you were convicted of "delinquent use ..." Was this in juvenile court, or adult court? If it was a juvie case, did your parents participate in the plea (meaning, did they object to you pleading guilty without a lawyer)? And, were your parents jointly ordered to pay restitution, too?

As for your comment that you were not guilty of "using" the financial transaction device? In a plea-bargain situation, there's a court rule that allows the court to enter a conviction for any lesser/different crime as long as the guilty plea proved all elements of the original/higher crime. (For example, you might have been charged with B&E Building With Intent to Commit Larceny, but the prosecutor plea-bargained it to Larceny Under $200. If your plea proved all elements of the B&E charge, the court could enter a conviction for any other charge, including Larceny Under ... heck, even Jaywalking. What if the Defendant now says "hey, I never 'stole' anything!"? The fact that the defendant might never have 'stolen' anything, only broke/entered with intent TO steal, is not a reason to undo the plea deal per this Court Rule.)

As for "why wouldn't they plead it to a misdemeanor since you were a first-time offender"? Well, $16,000 is a hell of a lot of money, pal. And when someone is involved to that degree, and the statutory cut-off between a misdemeanor and felony is $1,000 ... it's hard for a prosecutor to justify knocking it down to a misdemanor. Fraudulent use of a credit card to the extent of $16,000 is just gluttony! It is not the same as "$50". Prosecutors have discretion to plea bargain. But defendants do not have a constitutional right to receive a plea bargain!