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Medical Marijuana Charge Dismissed
Midland, MI - A resident of Midland County Michigan was charges with Manufacture and or Delivery of Marijuana. The individual was charged with the four year felony even though Michigan has enacted a very liberal Medical Marijuana statute. The Barrix Law Firm representing this individual raised the medical defense after learning that the client had several qualifying medical conditions.
The client while not possessing the medical prescription card as required was clearly the exact person the statute was designed to help. The Barrix Law Firm raised the issue at the preliminary examination. The Barrix Law Firm has successfully handled a number of these cases since the law was enacted.
The case was dismissed by the District Court it is not clear yet if the prosecution will continue to pursue the matter. However, Jason Barrix stated that his firm has successsfully helped medical marijuana users even if they do not have the medical prescription card.
The Barrix Law firm concentrates its practice in the areas oof alcohol, drug, license restoration, and related criminal offenses.
Not Guilty Verdict In Ottawa County DUI
Grand Haven, MI- A person who was found intoxicated and passed out in their vehicle at a well traveled intersection in Ottawa County was found not guilty by a Grand Haven jury. The defendant had told police that defendant had consumed 3-4 glasses of wine after work and was heading home. The officer found the defendant's vehicle in park, with the engine running, lights on and defendant's foot on the brake.
At trial the defendant testified that defendant did not have a good memory of the events after arriving at the scene but that defendant did not drink at work and had actually only drank at the scene. Defendant then stated that they threw the bottle from the car. The officer testified that defendant never mentioned that they had drank on scene and that defendant's blood alcohol level was rising at the jail. The officer also indicated that he did not search the scene for alcohol empties.
According to the defendant's attorney, Jason Barrix of the Barrix Law Firm in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the issue turned on two questions for the jury to decide. First, the jury had to decide did the defendant drink at work and then drive intoxicated. If defendant did drink at work did the government prove defendant was intoxicated at that time defendant drove by defendant's own statements? The second issue for the jury to decide was defendant being parked with the car running in the east bound lane of traffic operating a vehicle under the drunk driving laws [MCL 257.625(a)].
The Defense was able to get a special instruction read to the jury defining operating as being actual physical control and that a person who puts a vehicle in motion or a position posing no significant risk continues to operate until that vehicle is returned to a position posing no such risk. Risk was the probability of harm or loss, and significant means that the risk of harm must be more likely than not, more than possible or speculation.
The State argued that a vehicle in an eastbound lane of traffic was a significant risk, as a car could have struck the car. They also argued defendant's own statement on the night of drinking at work was an admission of drinking prior to driving and therefore the defendant was clearly driving while intoxicated since defendant never told the police about any later consumption of alcohol.
The jury after two hours of deliberation found the defendant not guilty at 8 p.m. Jurors were unavailable for comment. Jason Barrix said, "The jury obviously paid attention to the details and followed the law. The jury ultimately had to find that the government did not prove that the defendant had driven while intoxicated or that the parked vehicle was being operated by the defendant. This was clearly the right decision by the jury as the defendant was clearly not operating the vehicle while sleeping and posed no significant risk of causing a collision". The jury did ask the judge to reread the instructions and to provide them a copy of the definition of operating. Barrix added "this jury got it right and justice was served in Ottawa County".
For more information:
Contact Jason Barrix
616-456-1900
CMU student says basketball scholarship canceled because she wore makeup
A Central Michigan University basketball player claims in a federal court suit that she was benched and lost her scholarship because she wore makeup and "was not a lesbian." The complaint also alleges Coach Sue Guevara subjected the player "to unwelcome harassment and discrimination because of plaintiff's heterosexual preference and refusal to abandon her heterosexual preference and adopt a homosexual preference." The Detroit News has the story.
Barrix Law Firm Publishes Website
January 30, 2006--Michigan
Barrix Law Firm Published Barrix Law.com today. The site currently includes valuable legal information on Drunk Driving as well as contact information. Jason Barrix said "the purpose is to provide information to the public about the firm's areas of practice, which includes Personal Injury, Criminal Defense, Drunk Driving Defense and License Restoration among other areas of litigation.
The website is planning expansion to include detailed information regarding the other areas of practice including a blog. Barrix Law Firm is planning to take a more aggressive approach to informing the community about their legal rights.
Barrix Law Firm was formed in 1993 in Grand Rapids, MI. Since it's inception Jason Barrix has been aggressively fighting for the seriously injured and the wrongfully accused.
For more information on the Barrix Law Firm contact
Jason Barrix at
or call 616-456-1900