Former Michigan Prosecutor | Jonathan Andrew Paul
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Resisting Arrest Michigan Attorney

Call Me: 248-924-9458

Michigan Resisting Arrest

If you've been charged with Michigan Resisting Arrest for the very first time, this doesn't make you a criminal or a bad person.  I see clients on a daily basis who have have never been involved with the police and have never hurt a person in their life.  It's quite common that a good person will get themselves in a bad situation, which results in being charged with Michigan Resisting Arrest. 

Click here to learn how to take a growth mindset to a resisting arrest case in Michigan

Michigan Resisting Arrest is defined as "an individual who assaults, batters, wounds, resists, obstructs, opposes or endangers a person who the individual knows or has reason to know is performing his or her duties".  Resisting arrest in Michigan is a felony that carries a penalty of two years in person.

If during the incident the police officer is injured and requires immediate medical attention, the offense is a four year felony.  If the police officer suffers a serious impairment of a body function, the offense is now a 15 year felony, and if the incident causes death to a police officer, it is now a 20 year felony.

It is becoming more common for prosecutors to charge resisting arrest in cases where the charge may not have been issued in the past.  One could argue that most arrests in Michigan have some aspect of either resisting, obstructing or opposing, but the crime is not always charged.  Some prosecutors will cut the defendant a break, and only charge attempted resisting arrest, which makes the crime a misdemeanor rather than a felony.  

Another common charging strategy is to charge a bunch of misdemeanors along with  felony resisting arrest, with the idea that dismissing the felony will be a bargaining chip to get the client to plead guilty to the other misdemeanors.  While a dismissal of the felony is a great result, having a series of misdemeanors on your record will not allow you to expunge your record at a later date.  
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When charged with Resisting Arrest in Michigan, we can apply The New Rules of Criminal Defense we need to apply a strategic approach; a series of steps to position our case with the stakeholders as we take a growth mindset approach.

We need to get out of the box and realize that you're not the victim; being charged with a crime is stressful, you're job and life are in flux and could be impacted, and you're afraid of jail time, but you are NOT the victim.  To feel sorry for yourself would be to take a fixed mindset, and it is not productive.  

We need to change the culture of the case and adopt core values as we work toward complex change.  This requires identifying the stakeholders in the case, and for resisting arrest, more focus is put on the police officer, especially if an injury or assault happened.  A person charged with resisting arrest needs to realize that not only did you break the law, but now you're alleged to be resisting the law; a double whammy. 

We need to create a client balance sheet and adopt the time value of money theory as we get busy on our client value chain of proactive steps.  This progress needs to be measured and shared with the court, prosecutor and probation; we need buy-in from the police officer, and work to re-position the client's brand from a law breaker and resister to someone who is humble, and open to learning from the incident. 

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Representing clients in Ann Arbor, Canton, Brighton, Howell, Saline, Adrian, Taylor, Plymouth, Northville, Westland, Ypsilanti, Pittsfield Towsnhip, Warren, Sterling Heights, Farmington, Pontiac, Romulus, Lansing, Novi, South Lyon, Southfield, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Royal Oak, Troy, Rochester, Jackson, East Lansing, Garden City, Livonia, Dearborn, Detroit, St Clair Shores, Hazel Park, Ferndale, Madison Heights, Waterford, Milford, Shelby Township Clarkston, Oak Park, Berkley, Fraser, Sterling Heights, Clinton Township and others throughout Washtenaw, Wayne, Monroe, Jackson,  Macomb, Ingham, Lenawee, Livingston, Oakland County & Northern Michigan 

Representing clients faced with DUI/drunk driving, retail fraud, possession of marijuana, domestic violence, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, fake ID, open container  and other misdemeanor and felony charges. 

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Michigan Defense Attorney Jonathan Paul - Former New York & Michigan Prosecutor