With another incredible result in a sex crimes case, Michael Boyle, Partner and Senior Trial Attorney at the Barone Defense Firm, has established himself as one of the leading experts in defense of sex crimes charges in Michigan. The most recent result occurred in a circuit court in West Michigan. The charges in this case were 2nd degree Criminal Sexual Conduct, 2nd degree Child Abuse, and Accosting a Minor.
The potential consequences that Mr. Boyle’s client was facing in this case were life-changing, as they are in most sex crimes cases. The consequences included multiple felonies, up to 15 years in prison for the CSC 2nd degree charge, and the permanent embarrassment of having sex crimes on the Client’s criminal record. It was imperative to the Client that Mr. Boyle minimize jail time and clear the Client’s name to the greatest extent possible in a situation in which the Client was innocent of the allegations against him.
The allegations against Mr. Boyle’s client were cringe worthy. It was alleged that the Client squeezed, rubbed, and touched the buttocks area of a young family member while the family member was sleeping in a room with the alleged victim’s two siblings present. From the time that the Client first called the sex crimes attorneys at the Barone Defense Firm for help, he was completely embarrassed and disgusted by these allegations. Not only did the Client believe these allegations to be false, the timing of them was highly suspect. The allegations were made during a highly contentious divorce, filed by our Client, prior to which the alleged victim had chosen to live with our Client. The allegation was that the incident happened about a half-year prior to it being reported to the police. During this time, the alleged victim chose to live with our Client. These facts- that the allegations were being used as a tool in the divorce and that the alleged victim would chose to live with her alleged abuser- became issues that Mr. Boyle leveraged throughout the case.
This being a felony case, it started in the local district court and was bound over to circuit court after the preliminary exam. The district court phase presented an opportunity to get all or some of the charges dismissed. During this phase, Mr. Boyle was able to show that there wasn’t even probable cause for the Accosting a Minor charge to move forward. Therefore, that charge was dismissed. The district court judge found that there was enough evidence for the 2nd degree CSC and 2nd degree Child Abuse charges to move forward to circuit court.
During the pretrial negotiations at the circuit court, Mr. Boyle tried to work out a plea deal with the prosecutor to dismiss the Criminal Sexual Charge, the most serious of the two remaining charges. However, the prosecutor would not offer any deal whatsoever during this phase of the case. The Client, maintaining his innocence, decided to proceed to trial after careful consideration with Mr. Boyle.
During the trial, Mr. Boyle discovered multiple mistakes made by the prosecution regarding notice of evidence to be used at trial and violations of information not permitted to be used in front of a jury. Mr. Boyle brought these violations by the prosecutor to the attention of the judge in the case, which may have resulted in a mistrial. After bringing these issues forward, the prosecutor agreed to discuss a plea deal. Mr. Boyle was able to convince the prosecutor to drop both remaining charges of 2nd degree Criminal Sexual Conduct and 2nd degree Child Abuse and allow the Client to plea to Attempted 2nd degree Child Abuse. The Client, still maintaining his innocence, felt it was in his best interest to plead No Contest to the Attempted 2nd degree Child Abuse Charge as opposed to redoing the trial. Without this plea deal, the prosecutor would have retried the case, putting the Client through another lengthy trial experience and potential guilty verdict on the Criminal Sexual Conduct Charge. The Client elected to take the plea deal and avoid the CSC conviction.
Thanks to Mr. Boyle’s diligent work, his care for his client and the specific effects of the case and the consequences on the Client’s life, and his elite trial skills, Mr. Boyle was able to avoid the worst for this client.