General Blog

Despite significant scientific controversy surrounding the idea that a human can shake an infant hard enough to cause significant damage (without first injuring the baby’s neck), prosecution of shaken baby syndrome continues. A misdiagnosis of shaken baby syndrome, also called abusive head trauma, (SBS/AHT) causes irreparable harm to the child and the adult caregivers who might face allegations of child abuse, yet neither legal professionals in the child welfare system nor prosecutors apply the same level of scrutiny or objectivity to diagnoses of SBS/AHT as they would with other medical…Read More

A hot-off-the presses published opinion of the Court of Appeals has finally determined that registration under Michigan’s Sexual Offenders Registration Act (SORA) is a “direct consequence” of guilt. People v Fonville, No. 294554 (Decided January 25, 2011). As a “direct consequence,” it is ineffective assistance of counsel to not identify this requirement to a defendant who is considering a plea offer for a charge that requires registry. Before now, criminal defendants all too frequently agreed to plead guilty and take their punishments by way of jail or prison time, only to…Read More

As if we needed yet another reminder, the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has “reminded” everyone once again that it is NEVER safe to possess child pornography – even for a “legal” purpose like an attorney or an attorney’s expert using it as an exhibit in court. On January 19, 2011, the Sixth Circuit reversed a ruling by a Federal District Court Judge in Ohio that an Ohio lawyer was not guilty of “creating” child pornography for use as exhibits in defending child porn charges in court. The lawyer, Dean Boland, was…Read More