Michigan Minor in Possession

The Need for This Website

Every day I see hundreds of college students attending their first court sessions with looks of fear and panic on their faces. They are lining the benches, sometimes with their parents by their sides, fearful of what is going to happen to them.

We decided to create this website because we could not scream out in court to them, PLEAD NOT GUILTY! As I sat there and quietly stewed, one by one every kid pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor criminal case that could affect their career, income…and ultimately their future forever!

The courts generate thousands and thousands of dollars in revenue every time the campus police conduct a “party patrol”. Until the powers that be change the drinking age to 18, the police will continue to arrest minors for possessing alcohol. The reason why the drinking age will not be lowered is that federal highway funding is directly linked to the drinking age being set at 21.

NEW LEGISLATION ALERT

Even though the Michigan Legislature has chosen to make a first offense MIP a civil infraction, do not take these cases lightly! Hidden in the statute is the fact that a second offense can carry up to 30 days in jail! The current laws only allow jail time after a violation of probation. Therefore, our advice is to absolutely FIGHT any civil infraction due to the severity of the second offense. We also believe that this legislation will be an incentive for police and municipalities to increase their ticketing to generate revenue. This will open the floodgates of students and young people who blindly pay their fine and go about their lives. They will not want to tell their parents and then will be shocked when they are facing a large legal bill to defend a second offense that carries jail time. Prepare yourself now and be ready for this new law.

– By Attorney William McNeil, Of Counsel for The Law Offices of Raymond Purdy

Are You Getting the Picture by Now?

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE COURTS MAKING MONEY! The courts know you have it and they will continue to take it from you. In addition, the federal government has allocated 18 million dollars to combat underage drinking! If you read this website and educate yourself on the court process, you will be better armed to handle the icy waters that await you in court. You will also be better equipped to tell your parents and show the court that you are taking your case seriously. This will be even more prevalent now that they have essentially decriminalized the use of alcohol for the first offense. The flood gates could open of young people who will now take the risk to drink underage due to the lowered penalties.

This website can help you to:

• See how the MIP court process works
• Learn about your constitutional rights
• Learn how to tell your parents about your MIP
• Learn what to look for when hiring an MIP attorney
• Become familiar with MIP consequences and your future & career

From a Mother’s Perspective…

You’ve done everything right as a parent. You were proactive in talking about drugs and alcohol as your children grew; you held them accountable for their actions from a young age and taught them right from wrong. You sent them off to camps and overnights so they would grow independent. Values were shared and difficult subjects were handled as a family. And whether or not you are ready the day eventually comes when you have to send them off to college.

No matter how well you have prepared them or yourselves, you will never get over the shock of receiving a call and hearing that your college student is in trouble with the law. It is a roller coaster ride you don’t want to be on with twists and turns that can take your breath away as you learn how to deal with the law. You drown in alphabet soup as you learn terms like MIP, PO, PBT, HYTA, 7411 and more. You question your child’s judgment and even your own as a parent. It all happens so fast that no matter what you did to prepare it seems to never be enough. Not only are they held accountable but you are as well probation officers and even family members question your parenting skills and you begin to wonder how such a smart kid could land in so much trouble.

You need this book, you need to know how to manage the speed at which things happen and most of all you need an expert who is accustomed to the language, the pace and the surprises of our legal system.

Nowhere in college planning guides do campus officials tell you that police write an average of between 50 and 200 MIP tickets in a single weekend. Attorney William McNeil helped us manage the ride; he is an attorney that knows what he is talking about. While we hope you won’t ever need this information, your child should not leave home for college without reading this website first.

– Written by mother of a client represented by Attorney William McNeil, Of Counsel for Raymond Purdy

From a Client’s Perspective…

When I was stopped by the police, I was so scared I could barely think! It was my first week in college and I was just doing what every one of my new friends was doing drinking. I was walking down the street with a couple of my buddies, and we were laughing and enjoying the night. The police officers intimidated us for sure, and we all told them the truth about having had a couple of beers that night. We thought if we were honest with them, they might take it easy on us WRONG!

The police officer then put us all in the car and drove us around for about 20 minutes, complaining about their car and how they needed a new one. They asked us all to take a Preliminary Breath Test (P.B.T), and we asked them what would happen to us if we did not. The officers responded that it would be no different if we did or did not. Boy were they wrong! We agreed to take the test, and we all blew above the limit. We were released from the car with our tickets in hand and told to read the ticket and go to court. It was about 10 degrees outside so talk about being left out in the cold!

I searched the internet for information about my first criminal charge EVER. It was very frustrating because there were ads for a lot of attorneys, but they all seemed to specialize in drunk driving, I was not drunk driving! I wish there had been a book like this when I got busted. I would have bought it in a second to have the information I needed BEFORE going to court. I was lucky because I found Attorney McNeil’s website and saw that he specialized in representing college kids. We retained his services and from that point on everything was great. I was able to focus on my studies and his office handled everything.

I learned so much going through the process with an attorney. I was present when we had our motion hearing, and got to help with the cross-examination of the officers! The judge was interested enough in our argument that she asked the prosecutor to file an additional paper supporting their argument. We all walked out of the court room and Attorney McNeil told me to wait in the hall for a second. He came back after talking with the prosecutor and told me that my case was DISMISSED!! No probation, no class, nothing. I walked out of court thankful that my family had hired an attorney.

– Written by a client of Attorney McNeil, Of Counsel for Raymond Purdy,  and used with permission

Call 1-616-502-1646 for a Free MIP Consultation