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Tuesday, January 11, 2011
By Michael Nichols
I was trained and continue to believe strongly that when a client wants a trial, my job is to give him or her their best day in court no matter how hard I have to work and no matter how great the sacrifice. I recently had this philosophy put to the test in a Michigan-OWI-DUI-OUIL case in which the client had a prior conviction within 7 years. Because the client had a prior conviction within 7 years and the alleged facts were that he hit a median wall then submitted to a breathalyzer with a result of .18, the prosecuting attorney refused to extend any plea offer. Therefore, the only rational choice was to go to trial. The facts were tough but the client and I were resolute. I told him, "my job is to stand by you no matter what you decide about going to trial and no matter how bad the allegations."
Right off the bat, the first 2 witnesses of the trial helped us establish that it was a distinct possibility that the client's truck did not hit a median wall after all. Throughout the trial, the judge issued some rulings that were helpful to the prosecutor. The inferences, insinuations and the anti-accused climate that permeated the courtroom throughout the trial proved to be too much and the jury returned a verdict of guilty. We preserved an excellent record in the event that the client elected to appeal. So, what did the client gain from all that work, stress and money? The judge heard all the facts. For many clients, it is much better to go to court and let a jury of 6 make the call about whether the prosecutor proved the facts that he alleged. Sometimes it is about process. At the end of the day, you want to be able to feel like your client got his money's worth and that he did not have to bend over, give up his constitutional rights, grab his ankles, and take whatever gets doled out. No matter what, you have the right to a fair trial. No prosecutor can intimidate you when you have the Nichols Law Firm because in 2011 we remain "commited to results" and that means we are commited to you.