How to Get Domestic Violence Charges Dropped Without Returning to the State

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Michigan

In December of 2013 an ex partner of mine (J) attacked her mother in their shared residence. Law enforcement intervened, J was arrested and ultimately charged with domestic violence, and CPS placed our daughter (A) in the care of J's mother.

Knowing few details, I was made aware that J had been arrested, and according to her words, "our daughter A has been kidnapped." Having alienated all friends and family and with nowhere left to go, my family rented J a hotel room over the holidays. Against my instincts, J then lured me to the hotel room claiming our daughter A was under duress. Upon arriving, I took what seemed to be the most rational course of action: I called various police lines, until I was ultimately advised to call 911. 911 advised me to take J to the police station where a State Police Officer would meet us to file a police report. There it became clear by J's body language and evasiveness that was lying, and finally it came to light that the child had been placed in temporary custody with her mother. Seeing that as an acceptable short-term solution, I dropped J off at the hotel room, where she begged me to stay while simultaneously becoming increasingly aggressive toward me. Ultimately, her behavior compelled me to leave. At least from my perspective, no further events transpired that night.

Time went on, relationships were mended, and I spent regular time every week with both J and A. No indication was given of what was to come, despite J's knowledge of her actions.

Nearly two years later, in August of 2015 on the way back from the gym, I was arrested for domestic violence during a traffic stop. This shocked me, to say the least, as I was given no indication as to why the arrest had taken place, or even a simple reasoning. The arresting officers also appear shocked, going as far as asking if I had a brother that might have used my name. I assumer them he would do no such thing. As somebody that works with law forcement on a regular basis (passing numerous background checks along the way), I was certain this was an error of some form.

When I was finally released from detainment hours after I had bailed myself--enduring threats of being shackled to the floor and beaten by prison guards, who also made numerous inappropriate comments about my children--I returned home hours later to my distraught family to explain what had happened to the best of my ability, given my limited knowledge of the situation. An arraignment date had been provided, and I was confident the ordeal would end on that date.

At my arraignment, I was hopeful the judge would see the details before him as absurdity, and disgard the case then and there. That did not happen, and he scheduled a pre-trial. Later that day, I retained a criminal offense attorney that I had trusted in this past, and happened to be a family friend. This proved to be a mistake, as he essentially disappeared after collecting my retainer fee. I made numerous calls to his office to not avail, emailed him to no response, and finally managed to get a response (albeit a lackluster one) by emailing his lesser-used email listed on the BAR website.

As the pre-trial conference rolled around, I met with my attorney, but never so much as saw the prosecuting attorney. The my attorney informed me that he had already met with the prosecuting attorney, that J had recanted her story, and a meeting was scheduled at 3:30PM that day to get the charges dropped. It was also revealed to me that in her statement, J claimed I attacked her as I yelled, "this is what bitches get for calling 991." Clearly, this is significantly out of character for me as I called 911 with her and drove to the police station to file a report. I left the meeting ecstactic to hear that one of the darkest chapters in my life was finally coming to close.

Waiting at home, 3:30PM passed without so much as a phone call or email from my attorney. I tried calling his law office using the numbers available, as well as emailing the addresses available to me. I repeated this every day for several days, until receiving an unfortunate letter in the mail: the State of Michigan had decided to pursue charges against me, and the notification was for a bench trial they had scheduled for me.

At that point--reflecting on I had sacrificed to keep my country safe--I could no longer view the courts as legitimate. What was once about justice had been contorted into a punitive mechanism intended do harm to all who become ensnared, regardless of whether or not they had committed crimes. The decision in my mind was firm: I would no longer take part in kangaroo courts.

Following my disillusionment, I left Michigan, which was, in effect, a temporary location to me. After returning to my out-of-state home, I tried a couple other things:

First, I hired an attorney that assured me he could get charges dropped withou my presense. He failed, and demanded that I present myself for at the bench trial. Never in a million years would I do such a thing--I will not submit to a form of justice that punishes innocent men. So, I fired him.

Second, I hired another attorney that claimed the same. Again, he failed, and I fired him.

So, here I am, posting this on an internet forum, with a rather unorthodox offer:

Without my presence in Michigan or so much as a phone call to the courts, find a way to get the domestic violence charges in question dropped, and do so without the addition of any new charges filed against me. Should you succeed, I will gladly reward a single payment of $5,000 for your time. Note that payment is contingent solely on the clearing of the charges against me, the lack of additional charges brought forth, and without my physical or telecommute presence. If interested, I will gladly draft a more formal agreement.

You should break out the phone book and start calling criminal defense lawyers in the county in which you are charged.

If the prosecutor says, "AtTheMidpoint has chosen to be a fugitive, and he's going to have to show up in court and face the charges", even if you up your promised fee to $1 billion, you'll need to go to court.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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You should break out the phone book and start calling criminal defense lawyers in the county in which you are charged.

If the prosecutor says, "AtTheMidpoint has chosen to be a fugitive, and he's going to have to show up in court and face the charges", even if you up your promised fee to $1 billion, you'll need to go to court.

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The county is impoverished and quite small, and at this point, I don't have many options remaining for defenders. Even years layer, the whole situation is baffling to me. I was a respected member of the community, and gave back in numerous ways (for example, I put $500 toward a highway sign after a chunk of local highway was renamed in honor of a friend killed in Iraq--the state refused to put a dollar toward the sign). Thinking of that (which happened after the events described in my prior post) and considering the amount spent on their witch-hunt against me, my blood boils.

If nobody knows of a technicality that can help me here, so be it--I will continue my work with law enforcement, and do my part in on contributing to national security, all while living as a "fugtive". And, as my business grows I vow to never assist Michigan in any way (and God knows they need my help).

What a ****ing joke this is.

You just think the world revolves around you don't you? So all innocent people charged should just not go to court and become fugitives?

If it hasn't happened already, you will have an arrest warrant issued for you. Whenever you get stopped by the police anywhere in the country you will be detained - and these detentions tend to happen at the worst times. You will live like that for the rest of your life if you don't get extradited.

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Quoting Highwayman

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You just think the world revolves around you don't you?

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Not even close, what an idiotic statement. I live an exceedingly frugal life despite the success of my company, and a good chunk of my money goes to those in need. I'm quite selfless, but it seems you have gleaned otherwise.

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Quoting Highwayman

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So all innocent people charged should just not go to court and become fugitives?

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If they experience as I did, absolutely! I see my actions as civil disobedience, a technique well known in free and democratic societies.

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Quoting Highwayman

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If it hasn't happened already, you will have an arrest warrant issued for you. Whenever you get stopped by the police anywhere in the country you will be detained - and these detentions tend to happen at the worst times. You will live like that for the rest of your life if you don't get extradited.

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Ah, this old trope. Sorry, but my name has been run numerous times while I had an active bench warrant against me (both prior to and after my knowledge of said warrant), and nothing has happened. It's a non-issue, and I am free to live out my days elsewhere. Quit spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

I read nothing beyond the original post.

It's real simple; not going to happen. In addition, since the court date has passed, there is a warrant outstanding for your arrest for failure to appear and absconding.

I have to presume the original charge is a misdemeanor. Michigan most likely won't come after you out of state although you can be detained for the warrants outstanding and held while the involved state gives Michigan a chance to extradite you. No promises it will or won't happen; just that it can.

As to working in any business dealing with national security; ya, it's your story. Tell it how you want.

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Quoting jk

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I read nothing beyond the original post.

It's real simple; not going to happen. In addition, since the court date has passed, there is a warrant outstanding for your arrest for failure to appear and absconding.

I have to presume the original charge is a misdemeanor. Michigan most likely won't come after you out of state although you can be detained for the warrants outstanding and held while the involved state gives Michigan a chance to extradite you. No promises it will or won't happen; just that it can.

As to working in any business dealing with national security; ya, it's your story. Tell it how you want.

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Thanks for taking the time to read the original post and respond with something straight forward rather than the snark that seems to be so prevalent around here. Given my experiences living on the other side of the country, I question whether the warrant is in the national system (not that I'm well versed in this domain). At a minimum, nobody seems to care, including an officer that was highly suspicious of my recent single car accident.

Regarding my work, my company does defense contracting, so none of us are mired by the typical red tape a la background checks, criminal history, etc. My clients know about me and my past, but do not care as long as requirements don't go unfulfilled. Paradoxically enough, this year has been the best yet.