Jeffery Willis Trial

I am not sure why the Muskegon County Prosecutor wanted to try him on all issues at once. It would obviously prejudice him in the minds of the juries. They might think he is guilty one murder and not the other and convict of both because he is a "murderer." I am not personally involved the case, but I have a feeling that the case against him, especially against Jessica Herringa. They don't have a body and there is no real proof that she is dead.

http://woodtv.com/2017/04/27/judge-to-decide-on-fate-of-jeffrey-willis-trials/

Results baby results

  I see a lot of my competition marketing their experience or former experience as prosecutors, law enforcement officers, etc. I also see a lot of them talking about their reviews and their rankings on one of the online attorney ranking systems. What I don't see much is their talk about results. Actual results. By that I mean actually winning cases in front of juries and getting dismissals and extraordinary plea deals. If all an attorney is doing is holding your hand to keep you out of jail, he or she really isn't adding much value. You should be paying for some one who has proven he or she can actually get results. So few attorneys do.

  There used to be a saying that "if most high profile criminal defense attorneys ran into their reputation on the street, they wouldn't recognize each other." I couldn't agree more. One's self created reputation on the internet is a poor substitute for actually winning.

  Pay for what an attorney can do, not what he says he can do.

Ryan Maesen
www.maesenlaw.com

Sometimes you have to say no

Sometimes you have to say No.

I was meeting a new divorce client today and the gentlemen she brought with her made the comment that in his business, it is often best to turn down clients that seem to be more bother than they are worth. I couldn't agree more. When I was new and desperate for money, I took on many clients that I really didn't want because I needed to money. I have been fortunate that I can now be a bit more selective in the cases I take.

I don't need or want any more narcissistic people who don't understand that they can't pay me a small amount of money and expect me to drop everything and make their case my highest priority. If I have one pet peeve, it is people who wait until the last minute, have very little money and then expect me to make them number one. Sorry, it doesn't work that way.

Sometimes, the best thing any lawyer or other professional can do is say "no thanks." As much as you may want to help everybody, you just can't.


Ryan Maesen
www.maesenlaw.com

Working Referrals

  This blog is not about the typical legal subject matter. I am writing because I wanted to point something out that I have learned after practicing law for nearly a decade; namely that the best way to find clients, and presumably an attorney also, is by word of mouth. I know that many of my competitors have large marketing budgets and spend a lot of time trying to convince you that they are best. They may post awards and plagues throughout their website, and may pay a small fortune for Ad Words and other marketing devices. But I have found that the best way to get clients is to simply provide the best service possible and hope they will return the favor by repeated business and referrals. As time goes on, more and more of my practice consists of repeat business and referrals. It is a win-win for everyone. The people coming through the front door are able to feel confident in meeting me and I can feel confident that a quality former client was able to vouch for them.

Ryan Maesen
Attorney, Grand Rapids, MI
www.maesenlaw.com

It's been awhile

  It has been far too long since I have last blogged here. Much has happened to me in my practice of law. I have continued to win trials and fight for what I believe is justice. I think going forward, I will be posting my thoughts and telling about my cases rather than trying to educated people on the law. I think that will actually make it easier to learn the law and learn how the legal process really works.

Ryan Maesen
www.maesenlaw.com

Sentencing Guidelines - An Overview

Sentencing Guidelines – Basic Overview

A person charged with a felony is going to hear their attorney talk about “sentencing guidelines” and because this often creates a lot of fear and confusion, I thought it would be helpful to offer a brief overview on what exactly sentencing guidelines are and how sentencing works in Michigan.

The first thing to understand is that the number your attorney (or judge, prosecutor, or probation officer) uses when describing sentencing guidelines refers to the range of months that judge must sentence you to for the minimum portion of your sentence. The maximum is set by the statute and your attorney doesn’t have much say at all what happens on the back end of a sentence. A defendant is at the mercy of the Department of Corrections and the parole board. However, most inmates are paroled as soon they are eligible to it is important to work hard to get the minimum number (the sentencing guidelines range) down to the lowest amount possible.

For example, if a particular person’s sentencing guidelines are 51-80 months and the person is convicted of a 15 year felony, the maximum sentence is 15 years and the minimum part will be between 51-80 months. The judge has the discretion to sentence the defendant to some term between 51-80 months before the defendant is eligible for parole. So the final sentence may be 60 months to 180 months or 5-15 years.

People often get confused when they hear their attorney say the guidelines are 10-23 months on a ten year felony and think that the person will be out in 23 months at the latest. That is NOT the case. The 23 months is the maximum for the minimum portion of the sentence. The judge could set the minimum as low as 10 months or as high as 23 but it will be a set number within that range.

Some crimes have mandatory minimum terms and some require life in prison. There is another tricky category that sets the penalty at “life of any term of years.” In those cases, the judge can set the maximum wherever she feels fit; often a chilling proposition. In many cases, however, there is a plea agreement to a lesser charge that removes this possibility. I have also had clients that are convicted of a crime that has “life or any term of years” get a maximum sentence of only 5 years, so it isn’t necessarily a “death sentence.”

In a future blog, I will discuss the factors that go into determining a person’s sentencing guideline range.

Ryan Maesen

Criminal Lawyer

Grand Rapids, MI

www.maesenlawplc.com

www.westmichigancriminaldefense.com

Consecutive Sentencing Part III - Discretionary Consecutive Sentences

Consecutive Sentencing Part III – Discretionary Consecutive Sentencing

While mandatory consecutive sentencing is fairly straightforward, discretionary consecutive sentencing contains a creature that can be uncooperative, mean, fickle, frustrating, and downright painful to deal with: the judge.

This “X-Factor” can wildly affect whether a person gets a consecutive sentence or not. Different judges and different counties have different philosophies and tendencies. The prosecutor can even influence this if he or she requests a consecutive sentence, or conversely agrees with the defense attorney one not be imposed.

Most competent defense attorneys (i.e. not Cooley graduates) will takes steps early in your case to make sure that the specter of consecutive sentencing is dealt with ahead of time. Keep in mind, the prosecution does not have to provide advance notice if they are seeking a discretionary consecutive sentence. And in the absence of a Cobbs agreement or as part of a plea deal, the judge doesn't have to warn the defendant either.

Even though the judge’s consecutive sentencing authority is discretionary, he must still get his authority from a statute authorizing consecutive sentencing. The following is a brief list of some of the more common scenarios where consecutive sentencing is allowed but not required.

• Assaulting a police officer
• Use of a computer for a felony
• Homicide involving the use of a motor vehicle
• First degree home invasion
• First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct

All of the above allow discretionary sentencing where the crime is part of a series of other crimes. For example, a first degree home invasion may involve tying up or kidnapping the residents of the home, assaulting them, or, in tragic cases, even killing them. Child pornography is an example of an additional crime that uses a computer.

The most common example where criminal defense practitioners see the potential for discretionary consecutive sentencing is when a client is out on bond an commits another felony. Ironically, one of the more common new felonies is not showing up for a court proceeding and then being charged with “absconding bond.” Very ticky tack, but it happens.

“Drug dealing” and related charges arising out of that behavior often includes a provision allowing for consecutive sentencing.

Ryan Maesen
Criminal Lawyer
Grand Rapids, MI
www.maesenlawplc.com
www.westmichigancriminaldefense.com

Consecutive Sentencing Part Two - Mandatory Consecutive Sentencing

Consecutive Sentencing Part II – Mandatory Consecutive Sentencing

Mandatory Consecutive Sentencing is pretty straightforward. In the following scenarios, the judge must sentence the offender to a consecutive sentence. There is not debating it.

• A person is in prison/jail and commits a new crime (for example, assaults another inmate)
• A person escapes from prison/jail and commits a new crime (escaping is in and of itself a felony that will trigger mandatory consecutive sentencing)
• A felony committed while on parole (being on felony probation does not trigger a mandatory consecutive sentence)
• A major drug crime committed while a person has a pending felony case (regardless of whether the original case was drug related or not)
• Any felony where a firearm is used (felony firearm), this is an automatic 2 year stab in the back at the end of the underlying prison sentence. If probation is imposed, then this mandatory two year doesn't apply. You can’t do time just for the felony firearm enhancement in and of itself.

Ryan Maesen, criminal lawyer in Grand Rapids, MI

www.westmichigancriminaldefense.com

www.maesenlawplc.com

Consecutive Sentencing Part One - Overview

Consecutive Sentencing Part I - Overview

There is some confusion out there regarding the difference between consecutive sentencing and concurrent sentencing. This issue comes up most frequently arises when a person: 

•  pleads guilty or is convicted of multiple felonies
•  commits a felony while on probation or parole
•  commits a new crime while on bond or while incarcerated

Consecutive sentencing is when a person must complete one prison or jail sentence before beginning to serve time on the next one. For example, if someone is serving a 3 year sentence for and then gets a convicted of something else, the sentence on the new crime would not begin until the 3 years is up. This obviously can add a lot of time to one’s time in prison. That is why most defendants prefer concurrent sentences.

Concurrent sentences allow a person to serve multiple sentences at the same time, getting credit for all of them at once. Fortunately, this is the norm in Michigan. However, there are certain instances when consecutive sentencing does occur.

The first is when the legislature makes it mandatory as part of a statute and the second is when the judge has discretion to sentence a defendant consecutively. Not surprisingly, the legislature has been steadily adding provisions whereby consecutive sentencing is becoming more common.

The next part of this blog will discuss mandatory consecutive sentencing. That blog will be followed by one discussing discretionary consecutive sentencing.

Patience can pay off

  We have all heard that patience can pay off but many of my prospective clients don't practice it. I had a call recently (which was a referral from another attorney) that left me a voice mail at around 9 AM while I was in court. By the time I called the guy back at 11, he had already hired somebody else because he was so anxious to get an attorney on retainer right away. I apologized for having services that are in demand so that I am not always able to sit around waiting for the phone to ring, and I wished him the best of luck. Talk about impatience. And the kicker was that this guy wasn't even charged with a crime yet.

Ryan Maesen
www.maesenlawplc.com

Attitudes

   This will be a short blog but it makes a point I have been mulling over for some time. I am not a big believer in "your attitude is everything" or "positive thinking" or any of those type of new age/self-help slogans. However, I do believe that attitude can be important in certain areas of life.
   One important area is the attitude we as parents have towards the world at large and the various groups and institutions in it. I recently had a client whose was facing some serious drug charges along with 5 co-defendants. All of his co-defendants had been watched by the police for some time and were known meth manufacturers, users, and dealers. By all appearances my client was in the wrong place at the wrong time. All of his co-defendants stated that they barely knew him and that he was not part of the regular group. However, some of them later were willing to testify against him in exchange for leniency. Because his involvement was fairly minimal, the prosecutor offered him a pretty plea deal which he took, rather than risk a lengthy prison sentence.
   As is sometimes the case, my client was on probation in another county for stabbing a guy in the stomach and got a longer prison sentence for that than what he received for the drug charges. My client, who is in his early twenties, had a pretty long juvenile record prior to picking up the adult felonies. That is not so unusual.
   What got me thinking about attitude is the kid's father. I know he loves his son and is worried about him but I suspect that this man's attitude towards everything is part of why his son can't stay out of trouble.
    From the first time I met him, he kept acting like everyone was out to get his son. Everything had a rationalization about how the police were out to get him and how every crime he had committed had some justification. For example, the stabbing that had landed him on probation was justified because the other guy was much bigger. I had to hold me tongue when I really wanted to tell him that he would have done his son a much greater service had he forced him to take responsibility for his actions and his life when he had first starting getting in trouble. Blaming everyone and everything else around him was not going to keep his son from someday serving a lengthy prison sentence. Responsibility would. If this kid's dad had that attitude, then why would the kid every straighten out? He could just do whatever his impulses told him to do and then point the finger at something or some one else?
    It is important that we make sure our children know right from wrong and to take responsibility for their actions. Life is not fair but feeling sorry for yourself won't accomplish anything.

Ryan Maesen
www.westsidelawoffices.com

Voluntary Dismissals

  Lately, a large percentage of prospective criminal clients have been calling in and asking if we can get their case dismissed. They seem dismayed when I tell them the truth which is: "maybe, but don't count on it."

  I am not sure why many defendants are suddenly thinking that the prosecutor's office will just walk away from a case. Perhaps they feel that the prosecutor will "see the light" and just give up. While that does occasionally happen, it is fairly rare. And when it does happen, it usually happens right before the trial begins, as in the day before or the day of.

  Even if the facts are weak, many prosecutors will hold out and see if the defendant pleads guilty to something. Many people cave into the pressure and just want to get it over with. The best bet if you are innocent is prepare a vigorous defense and send the message that you are not going down without a fight. Then, and only then, they may decide to save themselves the trouble and their office the money and voluntarily dismiss the case. But again, don't count on it.

Ryan Maesen
Grand Rapids Criminal Attorney
www.maesenlawfirm.com
www.westmichigancriminaldefense.com

New Location

  I can't believe that I have not updated this yet, but our new office location is 1632 Leonard St. NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49504. The move actually took place in July. We are the only tenants presently on the second floor. The phone number and website have stayed the same. A street sign should be up in the near future.

The Snake Oil People Sell

  This will be short. I am getting tired of all the people calling me on a daily basis trying to get my hard earned money to list me on their website or somehow get my website to come up on page one of Google. They must think I am stupid or something. I know the legal market is insanely competitive, but I am not a fool. Please stop bothering me. Most of what you are selling is a complete waste of my money and time.

www.maesenlawfirm.com

It can wise to fight

  The majority of people charged with a crime end up taking a plea deal. That means that the prosecutor offers them an opportunity to plea down to a lesser charge or a lesser penalty if they plea guilty and avoid a trial. This can make a lot of sense for some people.

  If you are a first time offender and can get a deferred sentence or a diversionary program where you have no permanent record, this can be an enticing offer. If you are not a first time offender but are facing your first felony charge, an opportunity to plea down to a misdemeanor can be a good thing; particularly if you are concerned about getting a job as a convicted felon. Sometimes just staying out of jail is enough to make this worthwhile. Even an innocent person will sometimes take a plea deal to avoid the risk of a lengthy prison sentence if he were to lose at trial.

  On the other hand, there are times where people should think long and hard about the consequences of just "pleading out." For example, if the state's case isn't very strong, you may very well get a jury to return a not guilty verdict. It can and does happen. Also, occasionally the prosecutor will make a better offer nearer a trial or may even dismiss the case outright. Having the stomach to hang in there is difficult but can be worth it.

  Also, because Michigan tends to punish repeat offenders more severely, avoiding any kind of a record can be to one's long-term advantage. No one thinks that she will get in trouble again, but if she does, having a clean slate the second time around can be a large bargaining chip. Michigan has a number or crimes that become an automatic felony the third time through. Domestic violence, retail fraud, and drunk driving are three common ones.

  Those long ago guilty pleas can come back to bite you later on. Think long and hard about the merits of the state's case before accepting any plea offer.

Ryan Maesen
www.maesenlawfirm.com

Seller's Market

  It appears that after several years of a dismal real estate market, that things are finally turning around. The "buyer's market" of the past several years seems to be breaking and turning into a bit of a "seller's market." Whether this is a true seller's market or simply a more normal market it hard to say, but overall it is a sign of good economic health.

  Some of the causes of the sluggish market seem to be fading away. For starters, foreclosures are down. These cheaper homes competed with others in the same neighborhood and drove prices down as the banks were anxious to dump their losses. The job market appears to be getting a bit stronger. Not that it is particularly good by historical standards, but it has been slowly improving.  And finally, people finally seem to have found a little confidence in the long-term prospects of the area. Home ownership is a major investment and it does have a way of anchoring one the area. After all, if some one wishes to leave Michigan for greener pastures elsewhere but can't take a bath on her house, she is effectively stuck here.

  On the other hand, the job market really is not great. And the jobs are not necessarily spread around each industry equally. For example, the legal job market is disastrous in West Michigan. And local government has laid off a lot of people and those jobs don't seem to be coming back. And because wages are still kind of low, prices on homes are not going to shoot up anytime soon. That is bad news for those whose house is underwater.

  Only time will tell how long this lasts.

Ryan Maesen
www.maesenlawfirm.com

Crime rates are down, but . . .

  Statistics have shown that crime is down on a national and statewide level. I suppose this is good. On the other hand, I have noticed an unfortunate side effect to lower crime rates: people who commit minor crimes or crimes where the evidence is not very strong may get charged. In a higher crime era, these types of crimes might simply not warrant precious police and prosecutorial resources. But when things are "slow" on the crime front, it seems that more people get charged with things that seem rather silly.

  For example, I have noticed that domestic violence charges seem to have gone up. Also, I have noticed a lot of criminal sexual conduct cases recently. With that one in particular, I know that the evidence in some of these cases is fairly weak. But, for whatever reason, the state is taking more chances charging these people and hoping they plea out. That is frightening for the defendant and his entire family.

   It is a very sad flipside to the coin of lower crime overall. Be careful out there.

Ryan Maesen
www.maesenlawfirm.com

The high cost of Being Cheap

  In West Michigan, many people pride themselves on their frugality. And being careful with one's money is often a good idea. Like all things, however, it can backfire. I have run into a number of people over the years that could have saved a small fortune if they had been willing to pay a professional upfront to help make sure potential problems were highlighted and dealt with before they became big problems.

  Below are some brief examples of the high cost of being cheap. I am not using actual names and will change the facts slightly to protect people's privacy.

  A couple cashes in their life savings to make a large down payment of a fixer upper home that they are buying on land contract. They decide that paying an attorney a few hundred dollars upfront to advise them on the deal is too much cost and bother. Two years later, they get behind in their payments and wind up losing the house. Now, their entire savings and anything they have put into the house are gone forever. They lost over $30,000 all because they believed that the money they paid on the contract was building equity for them. It was not. And they decided to forego the cost of the advice that would helped them understand this risk.

  A guy gets pulled over for a OWI. As he has never had one before, he is charged as a first time offender. Because the only evidence was his breathalyzer result, the entire case against him is based on those. He blew a .11 (the legal limit is .08). Because the officer did not observe him continuously for the required 15 minutes before administering the test, the guy could have had the results barred from being admitted from trial, meaning he likely would have had his case dismissed. Because he didn't want to pay $1200 for a good lawyer, he wound up pleading guilty. A couple of years later, he gets pulled over again. Now, he is a second time offender with a minimum mandatory jail sentence. The fines and other penalties are also increased. And if he gets a third OWI arrest, that charge is an automatic felony, and he is looking at prison time. If he had paid to keep his record clean the first time, he wouldn't be going to jail.

  The cost of serious representation for a serious felony is very expensive. Frankly, it is beyond the means of many criminal defendants. However, some who can come up with the money often just decide to let it ride with a court appointed attorney or a low cost attorney. The risk here is that the difference between the best representation and less than that can be years or decades in prison. There is no attorney that can guarantee a particular result, but if you are paying an attorney for a lot of his time, logically he is going to spend that time learning more about the nuisances of your cases. And those little details can be the difference between winning and losing; or at least a meaningful plea offer or one that doesn't offer much assistance.

  I know this blog may seem self-serving to some, but when life throws you major problems, you need to look at the long term cost. It is a big picture thing. A $5,000 retainer to a good lawyer is only $42 a month (rounded up) if he can save your 10 years in prison. Freedom is worth the price.

Ryan Maesen
www.maesenlawfirm.com


 

 

Court takes a long time

  It seems that nearly every client complains at how long the legal process can take. To those of us who deal regularly with the court system, the delays are just par for the course. But I do understand the frustration that people feel when they have a problem that urgently needs a solution and they have to wait weeks or months for a judge to make a decision. This is especially frustrating when the facts are not really in dispute and the solution is obvious. For example, a landlord looking to evict a tenant for not paying rent may have to wait a month or so for the process to navigate its way through the court system even though the tenant never disputes owing the money.

  Personal injury lawsuits or other forms of civil litigation can take a year or more. This is especially true when insurance is involved. The insurance company may wish to stall for time earning money on the amount they anticipate paying out. If the lawsuit is complex, it may takes several months for all the documents and other evidence to get into the lawyers hands and be analyzed.

  Criminal matters generally have a short time frame. Our Constitutional right to a speedy trial guarantees a person charges charged with a felony a trial within 180 days. Of course, there are ways for this to be extended lawfully. For example, if the defendant agrees to adjourn a particular hearing or if he/she agrees to take a court ordered competency exam.

  From an attorney's standpoint, delays can be frustrating. We would like to "close the file" and move on. Our time is limited and we want happy clients who can move on wit their lives. There is not much we can do to speed up the process. We do have an ethical obligation not to cause unnecessary delays but there is no bright line on when a delay becomes unethical.

  Sometimes we like to have things take a little time so we can fully investigate the law and the facts on our case and be more prepared when we do go to court. No attorney likes be thrown into a case at the last minute. Relying on incomplete facts because things are hurried is doing the client any favors.

  The best thing a client can do to help the process move along is to hire an attorney as early as possible on the case. After that, make sure you give him or her all the relevant information needed. That means disclosing bad facts. It is far better to hear them from you than from the other party's attorney. Bad facts can be dealt with. Missing information is like an unseen iceberg. And finally, be open to settling your case before trial. That is probably the best way to get a speedy resolution.

Ryan Maesen
Criminal lawyer, real estate lawyer in Grand Rapids, MI
www.maesenlawfirm.com

 

Get the facts first

  I often see these high profile cases in the media about a person accused of some crime. It frustrates me how both the media and the public immediately assume that a person is guilty just because they have been arrested and accused of something. We have a Constitution that requires a person be presumed innocent. Sadly, most people nowadays presume a person is a guilty until proven innocence.

  This is troubling for two reasons. First, a person can rarely prove he is innocent. Unless there is a good alibi defense or some other affirmative defense, often it comes down to one person's word against another. If a defendant tries to prove he is innocent, he is then taking on a burden of proof in the eyes of many jurors. The trial then becomes a credibility war; which few defendants can win. Many people charged with crimes are below average intelligence, scared to death, and are not able to articulate their case well enough to convince a skeptical jury.

  The second reason is that is makes jurors ineffective at doing their job. The whole concept of an unbiased jury that will decide based on the evidence goes out the window if people are pre-disposed to assume some one is guilty. The whole point of a trial is to ascertain the facts. A person whose mind if half made up can't do that. If the emotional pull of the charge, (criminal sexual conduct with a miner, murder, robbery etc) already puts a person in state of skepticism towards the defendant the case is already lost.

  People don't understand or appreciate how many people are in prison based on false accusations and juries that believed the lies in spite of the evidence. It is important that we all keep an open mind and remember that the government may someday come after you or a loved one. The Constitution will no longer seem like a worthless piece of paper at that point.

Ryan Maesen
Criminal Defense lawyer Grand Rapids, MI
www.maesenlawfirm.com