At Prain Law, PLLC, we concentrate on defending those facing Michigan Criminal Sexual Conduct charges (called "CSC" for short), and have successfully won verdicts of NOT GUILTY of Criminal Sexual Conduct in countless jury trials in these cases. Lawyers and Judges love to throw around words and phrases in Court that are foreign to the average person.
If you are facing a Michigan CSC charge, you don't need to become a CSC expert yourself, you just have to get the right one working for you. Nevertheless, it never hurts to understand some of the lingo commonly used in these cases so you can have a working understanding of what's going on in your case. So here are a few common Sex Crimes related terms defined in plain English for you...
- "Alternative Hypothesis": during a forensic interview (see below) of a suspected victim of sexual abuse, a possible reason why they might be making the allegation against the suspect when in-fact they did not perpetrate the alleged sexual abuse. For example, the possibility that the touching alleged was actually routine caregiving, that suggestive questioning by someone caused the child to falsely believe it happened (see below), or that the allegation is being made for a particular motive, such as revenge or bias against the accused. Proper protocol for a forensic interview involves appropriate questioning to attempt to "test" such hypotheses.
- "APA": Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, such as the specific Prosecutor assigned to your case.
- "Bond": the promise a Defendant makes as ordered by the Court to do or not do certain things while their case is pending as a condition of their release. Bond may include a range of conditions in CSC cases, including "No Contact" Orders, GPS tethers, checking in with Pretrial Services, and it often includes the payment of money Bail as well.
- "Child Advocacy Center" (or "CAC"): a place in the County where children and adults with developmental disabilities who are suspected victims of Child Abuse and Criminal Sexual Conduct are "forensically interviewed," meaning that they are questioned by someone specially trained in the Michigan DHHS Forensic Interviewing Protocol. Most Counties have their own CAC, but with different names. For example, "CARE House of Oakland County," "CARE House of Macomb County," "Wayne County Kids Talk," and "Ingham County Small Talk." These are typically non-profit organizations, and sometimes also provide counseling and other services aside from forensic interviewing.
- "Count" (as in "Count 1...", "Count 2..."): the term used to refer to each individual CSC charge a person is charged with in a single case. For example, all in one case, a Defendant might be charged with multiple Counts (i.e., "Count 1 - First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct; Count 2 - Second Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct," and so on...).
- "Degree": as with many categories of criminal offenses, the term used to indicate the relative severity level of the different kinds of CSC charges. Michigan has four "Degrees" of CSC.
- "Discovery": the process by which, under the Michigan Court Rules and other Legislative enactments and Constitutional principles, the two sides of a case exchange certain documents and other materials between each other so that each side can prepare and present their case at the various stages. This can include Police Reports, audio and video recordings, other statements, photographs, Lab Reports (see below), and other materials and information. You may hear the word "discovery" is used as a verb to describe this process of exchanging these materials, or you may hear the word used as a noun to refer to the actual documents and other materials themselves.
- "Elements": the separate, individual facts that come together to make up a particular charge or "Count" (see above) of Criminal Sexual Conduct. To convict someone at trial, the Prosecution must prove each individual fact or "element" beyond a reasonable doubt. For example, in a CSC 2nd Degree case, a jury may decide that the Prosecution proved the "element" that some type of touching actually occurred beyond a reasonable doubt, but may decide that the additional "element" that the touching was "done for sexual purposes or could reasonably be construed as having been done for sexual purposes" was NOT proven beyond a reasonable doubt, which requires a verdict of NOT GUILTY by law.
- "Forensic Interview": an interview of a child or developmentally challenged adult suspected to be the victim of Child Abuse or Criminal Sexual Conduct, usually conducted at a CAC (see above), by an individual trained in the Michigan DHHS Forensic Interviewing Protocol, a method of interviewing which, if performed correctly, examines alternative hypotheses (see above) for the allegation and seeks to avoid the problem of that very interview becoming a source of suggestibility (see below). However, research shows that even a properly conducted forensic interview will NOT undo the lasting effects of suggestive influences that predated the interview, and following the Protocol does NOT mean that a child who claims to the interviewer that they've been sexually abused is telling the truth, that their claim is not false, or is otherwise reliable.
- "Hackett Motion": a Motion (see below) where a Defendant asks the Court to allow evidence at trial of certain evidence about the alleged victim accusing them, such as evidence that they may have falsely accused someone else of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the past.
- "Information": the document listing all of the individual charges or "Counts" (see above) that the Defendant in a CSC case (or any criminal case) is charged with, the maximum possible penalty for each Count, any Sex Offender Registration Act ("SORA") penalties that apply in the event of a conviction, and sometimes other collateral circumstances following a charge, conviction or "bind-over" to Circuit Court after Preliminary Exam (see below). At the early stages when the case is in District Court, a similar document is called the "Complaint." In the County Circuit Court where a Criminal Sexual Conduct trial happens, it is called the "Information."
- "Lab Report": the final Report and conclusions, if any, issued by a forensic scientist at an agency who performed scientific testing in a case. In a Michigan Criminal Sexual Conduct case, that agency would most likely be the Michigan State Police, even if they're not the main Police agency that is investigating the case. The type of testing can cover many things, but in a CSC case, the most common would be the testing of DNA samples, including those collected during a "SANE examination" (see below).
- "Mentally Incapacitated": according to MCL 750.520a, the "Definitions" section of the Michigan Criminal Sexual Conduct laws, this term "means that a person is rendered temporarily incapable of appraising or controlling the person’s conduct due to the influence of a narcotic, anesthetic, alcohol, or other substance, or due to any act committed upon that person without the person’s consent." This is one fact or "element" (see above) that is sometimes required to be proven to convict someone of CSC 1st Degree, CSC 2nd Degree, CSC 3rd Degree, and even CSC 4th Degree when any of those charges are brought in some of their various forms or "multiple variables" (see below).
- "Motion": a written or oral request by either side of a case asking the Judge to make a decision about something affecting the case (i.e. by issuing an Order of some type). These requests can address an almost endless range of topics, including what "discovery" each side is entitled to receive (see above), the Defendant's Bond conditions or money Bail amount (see above), and much more. Motions asking the Judge to make decisions in advance of trial about what evidence will or will not be allowed at trial are called Motions "in Limine," meaning "on the threshold."
- "Multiple Variable": any one of the various types of each Degree of CSC in Michigan. For example, First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct, MCL 750.520b, contains "multiple variables," or a range of different factual scenarios that could cause a person to be charged with First Degree, for example, the alleged victim simply being under age 13 without more. Or the alleged victim could be an adult but sex is alleged to have occurred by "force or coercion" while causing "personal injury" (which can include "mental anguish"). Think of it this way: if the "Degree of CSC, like First Degree or Third Degree CSC, etc. is the car company like "American Motors / AMC," the "multiple variables" are the car models under that company, like the AMX, the Rebel, and the Javelin.
- "Other Acts" (sometimes loosely called "27a evidence," "27b evidence" or "404(b) evidence"): in a CSC case, an allegation that the Defendant committed acts of sexual assault upon a person (whether the alleged victim in the case or someone else) other than those for which they are actually being charged in the current case, sometimes even if there was never any report, charges or a conviction (think: Harvey Weinstein's case). In order to introduce Criminal Sexual Conduct "other acts" evidence in Michigan, certain requirements must be met, including Notice of Intent. The law surrounding this topic is extremely expansive and complex.
- "Physically Helpless": under the Michigan CSC laws, this term "means that a person is unconscious, asleep, or for any other reason is physically unable to communicate unwillingness to an act." This is an "element" of certain types of Michigan CSC charges.
- "Preliminary Exam": a hearing early in a case in District Court, kind of like a "mini-trial" but very abbreviated and without a jury, where the Prosecution has to show "probable cause," a relatively low standard of proof, in order for each individual "Count" to survive to the next stage (referred to as being "bound-over") to the Circuit Court as opposed to being dismissed for lack of probable cause. The Preliminary Exam is a type of "evidentiary hearing," meaning that a witness or witnesses actually testify in Court and other evidence and Exhibits may be introduced, as opposed to many other Court hearings where the lawyers and Judge simply discuss and make arguments.
- "Probable Cause Conference" (or "PCC"): another hearing early in the case in District Court, before the Preliminary Exam (see above), which has several purposes, but for ease of understanding, most typical PCCs can be thought of as a simple early "check-up" in the case after initial Arraignment and (hopefully) release on Bond.
- "Rape Shield": a shorthand term for the various laws in each State that place limits on what types of evidence of the past instances of an accuser's own sexual conduct may be used in a Criminal Sexual Conduct trial, and for what purposes. This area of law is very complex and contains certain timing requirements and other unique procedures. Michigan's "Rape Shield" law is MCL 750.520j, and there is a voluminous body of "case law" (written decisions by Appellate Courts) interpreting that statute and defining how it applies to specific situations.
- "SANE Examination": a physical examination of an alleged victim of sexual assault performed by a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner ("SANE") for forensic purposes (i.e., for use in a legal proceeding). This involves the completion of a "SANE Report," a standard Form (FSD-097) produced by the Michigan State Police, as well as the collection and packaging of various items of physical evidence, or "samples," from the alleged victim, such as swabs for DNA, body fluids, hair samples, clothing, etc. The swabs and samples are placed into a box called the "Evidence Collection Kit" which is sealed and transported to the Michigan State Police Forensic Biology Unit (or other appropriate agency or Unit) for testing, the results of which will eventually be the subject of a "Lab Report" (see above) disclosed to the Defense in the "discovery" process (see above). The SANE examination and Evidence Collection Kit are commonly (but incorrectly) referred to as a "Rape Kit" or "having a "Rape Kit done.
- "Stanaway Motion": a special type of Motion (see above) where a Defendant asks the Court to do an "in camera" (or private, for the Judge's eyes only) review of the counseling, therapy, or other privileged records of another person (typically their accuser) based on a belief grounded in "articulable fact" that the records are likely to contain "material information necessary to the defense." If the Judge agrees that such likelihood exits and therefore privately reviews the records, they may or may not decide that certain information can ultimately be used in the accused's defense at trial.
- "Suggestibility": roughly stated, the concept of how both external and internal factors can influence a person's memory to cause them to believe something occurred when in fact it did not. These factors include suggestive questioning, bias, emotional factors, and many others. This topic has been studied by experts extensively, it's a real thing, and the reason it matters in many Criminal Sexual Conduct cases is that it could be the very reason someone is being 100% falsely accused by a person who appears to others to be emotionally congruent with their allegations (i.e., believable) to others who don't know any better.
We could probably fill an entire legal dictionary with various CSC related words and phrases. Hopefully, this provides a better understanding of some of the most common ones with the intent that it might help someone more intelligently and informatively understand common issues that arise in these cases.
If you are charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct and seeking an experienced, aggressive, trial lawyer with the results and credentials where it matters most, contact Prain Law, PLLC through our website or by calling (248) 731-4543 (*please note that we only consult with and represent those with current CSC investigations or Court matters, and do not handle post-plea, post-conviction matters).