No criminal justice system is perfect: although our state’s criminal justice system is a great regulatory strong-arm, sometimes innocent people are convicted by mistake.

A police officer did not have the authority to search a backpack belonging to the passenger in a vehicle because the officer did not first obtain the passenger’s consent.

The 2-1 published decision in Bensch upholds the rule first set forth in People v Peterson, 62 Mich App 258 (1975), allowing criminal defendants to reject probation for jail time.

According to the Michigan Constitution, congressional districts must be redrawn every ten years based on the state census results and by using what is called “Apol criteria”.

The Court of Appeals explained it is “axiomatic” that there be an “actual agreement on the essential features of the plea” for a plea agreement to be valid.

The probate court properly issued a permanent injunction to prevent the Lenawee Community Mental Health Authority from transferring a protected individual to another facility.

A probate court did not err in appointing the daughters of a woman with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia as her co-conservators rather than appointing her husband.

A probate court should not have appointed a conservator for a 74-year-old woman who suffered some minor memory problems and math difficulties.

In Hegadorn v Dep’t of Human Services Director, the SCT reversed and remanded the MI COA decision that said SBO trust assets are automatically countable for Medicaid eligibility.

Unless the Probate Court finds that an elderly woman’s son cannot provide for her care, custody and control, the son should be appointed her permanent guardian.

The Court of Appeals found that the parties’ unambiguous consent judgment of divorce demonstrated their intent to only modify spousal support.

The trial court committed “clear legal error” by considering whether the children’s mother would be able to maintain her existing parenting-time schedule if the children moved to IN.

The trial court erred by failing to properly address whether an established custodial environment existed and, if it did, whether the relocation would alter that environment.

A trial court correctly rejected a mother’s motion to change the domicile of the parties’ minor child to Pakistan because Pakistan is not a party to the Hague Convention.

When law firms enter into referral agreements, the client must be advised of & not object to the division of fees, but the client need not have an attorney-client relationship with the referring firm.

When issuing its custody order, the trial court improperly refused to consider new evidence about the minor child’s speech development.

The termination of the mother’s rights under a best interests analysis must be vacated because the trial court did not address the child’s placement with a relative.

The COA held that the defendant was neither a mandatory reporter of child abuse nor did she make the report of child abuse herself, she was still criminally liable for the false report.