Call Me: 248-924-9458

​5 Steps to Take Immediately After Receiving a Tailgate Offense

1. Take a deep breath; there is nothing you can do in the moment, go enjoy the game or the rest of your night; if its late, go to bed.  If you wish to take touch with an attorney, send me an email jonathan@michiganlawgrad.com or text/call me 248-924-9458.  You can send me a copy of the ticket; get that off your plate.  If you're a family member of the person ticketed, please email and call me, we will get a copy of the ticket later in the day. 

2. Once you regroup that evening or the next day, you will see a text reply or email reply letting you know that your case is manageable and everything is going to be OK.  You are where 100's of my clients have been in the past, and every single one of them had a favorable result if they followed my plan.  We will discuss next steps to work together. 

3.  In the coming days, once we are working together, I will give you a few proactive steps to take on your own time to improve your case, and help me help you figure out a great outcome.

4.  Our goal is to keep you from having a criminal record; that is a possible; it's also possible to have you excused from court, or to join court via zoom. 

5. This case does not need to have long-term consequences on your life; you're successful, and having a criminal record over an isolated moment in time is not equitable.  Believe in common sense; lean in on telling your story; this case will not define you.  

Michigan Urinating in Public - Indecent Exposure, Disorderly Persons

I talk to a lot of clients who are charged with an MIP or Open Intox, and also get charged with urinating in public.   I also get a lot of clients who are only charged with urinating in public, which in Michigan is a misdemeanor offense.  The crime of urinating in public can be written up in many different ways.  It may fall under state law, as "indecent exposure" which is considered a sex crime under certain circumstances.  It can also be charged as a disorderly person offense, which is quite board, but includes the language of  "a disorderly person is also one that is engaged in indecent or obscene conduct in a public place.  See the two examples below. 

• Indecent Exposure:  The State of Michigan has a statute against “indecent exposure”.  MCL 750.335a states that a person shall not knowingly make any open or indecent exposure of his or her person or of the person of another.  There is a 1 year / $1000 misdemeanor and a high court (treated in the nature of a felony) 2 year / $2000 misdemeanor.  A sexually delinquent person can be punished for an indeterminate term, the minimum of which is 1 day and the maximum of which is life.

• Disorderly Persons:  Michigan also has a statute punishing disorderly persons, which references indecent exposure.  Under MCL 750.167, a disorderly person is a person who is intoxicated in a public place and who is either endangering directly the safety of another person or of property or is acting in a manner that causes a public disturbance.  A disorderly person is also one that is engaged in indecent or obscene conduct in a public place.  Either one of these could apply to someone who urinates in public.

The offense of urinating in public can also be written up under a local ordinance such as City of Ann Arbor, City of Novi or City of East Lansing.  These cities, particuarly Ann Arbor and East Lansing tend to issues these late a night in a college town setting as many college age kids are walking home from bars and peeing outside in public.  These are also misdemeanors, but are not considered indecent exposure as a possible sex crime.  This offense unlike an MIP cannot be taken under any "first offender" type of option, but I have been very successful in having these types of charges dismissed, because my client was willing to begin my proactive program and demonstrate they are a good natured person who simply did a dumb thing.  Self-imposed sanctions ahead of time can generally have this matter dismissed, but it is not as easy as you may think. 

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