Michigan Sex Crime Attorneys Blog

According to ABC News Detroit, the head of the University of Michigan's Debate program has been arrested on internet sex charges. Police allege that he used the internet to solicit sex with a minor.

Investigators set up a sting, with an officer from the internet crimes unit pretending to be a 14-year-old girl. The police claim the U of M director contacted the "girl" in a chat room and then sent her an instant message.

Internet sex crimes are considered felonies and convictions may carry with them fines, jail time, and require registration on the sex offender registry.

Use of these types of "stings" by law enforcement agencies is increasingly popular due to the proliferation of on-line chat rooms and social networking sites. Police may lie to entice law-abiding citizens to form inappropriate relationships, and to download or share inappropriate images over the internet. Even seemingly innocent conversations can become misconstrued, and serve as potential evidence of criminal sexual conduct.

Often, when police conduct these stings, they overstep their authority and violate innocent individual's rights. In these cases, you may be able to defeat the charges with the defense of entrapment. "Entrapment" means that the police have coerced an otherwise law-abiding citizen to break the law.

Continue reading "University of Michigan Director Accused Of Internet Sex Crimes" »

A wrongfully convicted Michigan man finally had his day in court. For over nine years, Kenneth Wyniemko was imprisoned for a rape he didn't commit. Earlier this week, he was able to confront the man now accused of the crime for which he was falsely imprisoned.

Tragically, its unknown how many individuals sit in Michigan jails for sex crimes they didn't commit. Every day innocent people are wrongfully convicted because of a shoddy police investigation, mistakes made by prosecutors or inadequately skilled defense attorneys. Further, those facing charges may unwittingly make serious mistakes at the beginning of a case - such as an accused talking to the police or CPS worker - innocently thinking the charges aren't credible - only to be later incriminated by these statements. Consulting an experienced sex crimes defense attorney immediately can ensure the wrongfully accused does not become the wrongfully imprisoned.

In Wyniemko's matter, he was received a sentence of 40-60 years in prison as the result of the victim's incorrect identification of him as the stranger who broke into her home and repeatedly assaulted her.

Relying on DNA evidence, the Thomas M. Cooley Law School Innocence project successfully exonerated Wyniemko in 2003. DNA evidence now links a different man to the crime. According to the Detroit Free Press, Michigan State Police place the odds of the DNA match not being correct at "quadrillions to one."

Because sex crimes often lack witnesses, tragedies such as Wyniemko's are all too frequent. As a result, its crucial to utilize all possible methods to exonerate the innocent - including lie detector tests, DNA analysis, computer forensics, rape trauma analysis and child forensic protocols.

Continue reading "Wrongfully Convicted Man Confronts Rape Suspect In Macomb County Circuit Court" »

According to the Grand Rapids Press, a lawsuit has been filed on behalf of four homeless individuals with criminal convictions for minor sex offenses to allow them to stay in homeless shelters. The suit was filed in the Ingham County Circuit Court before the State asked to move it to the U.S. District Court. The case was prompted after a homeless man was found frozen to death in a salvage yard after being turned away from an emergency shelter. The man, Thomas Pauli, was listed on the sex crimes registry and as a result, was banned from staying in a shelter because it was located within a school zone.

The recent matter seeks an injunction preventing prosecution for those homeless sex offenders who need "a safe place to stay at night." The case seeks to clarify whether homeless sex offenders on the registry can have access to emergency shelter. Earlier this year, the Michigan Court of Appeals determined that homeless sex offenders did not have to place their names on the sex crimes registry, based in part on the fact that being homeless necessarily means that these individuals have no permanent residence and thus cannot provide a home address.

In Grand Rapids, all emergency shelters are located within school zones and hence, when emergency shelter is necessary, homeless sex offenders are left with the choice of sleeping on the streets and confronting possible life threatening situations such as rape, assault and frigid temperatures or staying in a facility and facing possible prosecution from the State. It places those who are already down on their luck, many with minor convictions, in a no win situation. As the lawsuit states, the ban on staying in a shelter constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment."

Continue reading "Grand Rapids Homeless Sex Offenders File Suit Seeking Shelter" »

According to the Detroit Free Press, sexual assault charges were dropped against former Detroit Lions player, Tommie Boyd. Boyd was accused of third-degree criminal sexual conduct based on his relationship with his girlfriend who was 16 at the time. The charges were dropped after the judge determined that no coercion was involved.

Boyd and the accuser had entered into a romantic relationship while he was a track coach at Fraser High School in Fraser, Michigan. Under Michigan law, the age of consent is 16. Further, although Michigan law prohibits school officials from having sex with students regardless of age, the accuser attended a different high school than where Boyd coached.

The girl testified that she and Boyd were in a relationship with Boyd from spring 2006 to fall 2007 and had been in love. She also testified that she believed he was going to leave his wife for her. Based on the nature of the relationship, the court determined that this was a consensual relationship and dismissed the charges.

Often, finding the true motivation behind filing sexual misconduct charges is one of most important components of a successful defense. Broken-hearts, jealously and anger can all lead to filing false accusations of sexual misconduct. Because of the emotional nature of the claims and the potential serious consequences such as potential jail time and having to register as a sex offender, it's crucial you hire an experienced sex crimes attorney to vigorously defend you against any false accusations.

Continue reading "Sexual Assault Charges Dropped Against Former Detroit Lion" »

A Sterling Heights man has been exonerated on charges of sexual assault after DNA evidence recovered at the scene failed to match his.

According to C&Gnews.com, prosecutors dismissed three charges of criminal sexual assault and one count of unlawful imprisonment against Ricky Seggie, 25, after they determined they had falsely charged the wrong man.

Unfortunately, many criminal sexual conduct cases are charged and prosecuted, with the potential for serious, life-long consequences such as jail time, probation, and placement of your name on the sex crimes registry, despite a lack of credible evidence.

In Ricky Seggie's matter, Seggie was wrongfully accused and arrested after attempting to assist the assault victim. He had heard screams from the alleged scene of the crime, nearby Dodge Park and 16 ½ mile on July 17, 2009 and came out of his house to see if he could help. Seggie then saw the suspect back his car into a tree and then flee the scene. After giving the police a description, investigators then became suspicious of Seggie because of his physical similarities to the suspect and placed Seggie in a line-up. The victim then identified Seggie as the perpetrator.

Although DNA evidence was collected at the crime scene, significant backlogs at the Michigan State Police Crime Lab delayed release of the results. After a second man, Christian Phillip Margosian, was arrested in December for aggravated indecent exposure, DNA samples were collected and compared to the DNA from the July incident, ultimately implicating Margosian. These results were released in March, and charges were dropped against Seggie.

Despite the charges being dismissed, the Macomb County court still retains Seggie's fingerprints and photographs. Sadly, he has legal little recourse against the system that falsely imprisoned him and charged him with criminal sexual assault.

Continue reading "DNA exonerates Sterling Heights sexual assault suspect " »