Judge Sandra Cicirelli

A graduate of U of M Dearborn and Wayne State University Law School, was elected to be judge of the 18th District Court in 2006. Prior to being Judge of the Westland District Court she was the Mayor of Westland. She runs the Sobriety Court and Teen Court program.

Judge Mark McConnell

A graduate of Bowling Green State University and the University of Detroit School of Law, was elected to the bench in 2008. McConnell previously served as a research attorney for the Michigan Court of Appeals and a professor at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

The procedure for a misdemeanor criminal charge at the 18th District Court is as follows:

Arraignment at the 18th District Court

This is the first time you will appear in the court and come in front of a judge or a magistrate. At arraignment you will formally be told what criminal offense you are being accused of and what the maximum possible penalty is that you are facing. The judge is not asking if you agree with it or not, just simply if you understand it or not.

In almost all misdemeanor cases the 18th District Court will allow your lawyer to waive your arraignment and jump ahead to the pre trial. There are strategic reasons why you may or may not want to do waive your arraignment.

The judge will also address bond at this stage. Bond is a promise to return to court and may require you to pay money to the court along with other conditions such as random alcohol or drug testing.

Pre Trial at the 18th District Court

After your arraignment you will get a date to come back to the court. The next stage is the pre trial. At the pre trial your lawyer will speak with the prosecuting attorney, that is the attorney who is trying to convict you of a crime and see what can be worked out. If the parties cannot agree on anything then the case may be set for a motion, evidentry hearing, or trial.

Motions and Evidentiary Hearings

These hearings do not occur in every criminal case. They challenge legal issues like probable cause and reasonable suspicion but do not challenge facts. Facts, for the most part, can only be challenged at a trial.

Most motions are the 18th District Court are set as evidentiary hearings in criminal matters. This means that the arresting officer, or witnesses for the prosecution will have to appear and testify. You can think of it as a mini trial.

Trial at the 18th District Court

There are two types of trials, a bench trial where the judge will decide the facts of the case as well as the law, or a jury trial where the jurors will decide the facts and the judge will decide the law. If you are found guilty you will proceed to sentencing, if you are found not guilty then you are free to go. Most criminal charges are resolved without trial.

Sentencing at the 18th District Court

If you lose at trial, or if your lawyer works out a plea for you where you get some kind of deal then your next hearing will be the sentencing. Sentencing can be as simple as paying a small fine, or it can be the other end of the spectrum where you have to serve jail time.

In some cases you may be able to have your sentencing hearing the same day as your pre trial if your attorney has worked out a plea for you. This is very convenient for people who cannot miss additional time off work or live away from the court’s jurisdiction.

The prosecutor is the attorney that represents the city or state government and is against you. At the 18th District Court, the City of Westland has its own prosecutor. One year misdemeanor’s and felonies are handled by the State of Michigan’s Prosecutor’s Office.

Prosecutors work closely with police departments and their goal is to enforce the law. You should never talk with the prosecutor without your lawyer present. Any admission you make will be used against you.

Prosecutor for the City of Westland

Fausone Bohn, LLP 41700 Six Mile Rd Suite 101 Northville, MI 48168

Prosecutor for the State of Michigan

Wayne County Prosecutor, Kym L. Worthy 1441 Saint Antoine Street Frank Murphy Hall of Justice Detroit, MI 48226

Annually, there are close to a thousand or more drunk driving arrests in Westland alone. The 18th District Court in Westland offers a Sobriety Court program for individuals convicted of one ore more drinking and driving offenses.

Sobriety Court at the 18th District Court

The program works like probation but it involves intensive supervision by the Sobriety Court Probation Officer, and the Sobriety Court Judge, Sandra Cicirelli. People enter the program voluntarily but they cannot leave the program voluntarily.

The benefit to someone entering the Sobriety Court program is that they avoid jail, are put on track to reinstate their drivers license, and they get intense treatment for alcohol abuse that has been proven to reduce the changes of recidivism.

Sobriety Court Eligibility

To be eligible to enter the program, your conviction must be for drinking alcohol and driving, Common offenses would include the High BAC offense also known as Super Drunk, Operating While Intoxicated, or Operating While Visibly Impaired. Driving on drug offenses like operating while under the influence of a controlled substance or driving with the presence of a controlled substance are excluded from the program.

Many sobriety courts throughout the state require that you live within the court’s jurisdiction. This is not the case for the 18th District Court’s Sobriety Court program. There is no requirement that you live within the jurisdiction; however, most people in the program do not have a valid driver license, at least not for the first 45 days or more, so complying with all of the requirements and living a great distance away can be very difficult.

18th District Court Sobriety Program

The Sobriety Court program is broken down into four parts referred to as phases. As you complete the phases, move forward, and satisfy requirements your obligations decrease.

Phase One: 2 to 3 months with full compliance and 45 days continuous documented sobriety to complete.

• Daily alcohol testing
• Random drug screens
• Weekly meetings with probation officer
• Bi-weekly court hearings
• Substance abuse evaluation and begin treatment
• Weekly AA meeting
• Comply with random home visits
• Comply with community service or work program
• Comply with required journaling/worksheets
• Obtain a license after 60 days of continuous sobriety a valid Breath alcohol ignition interlock system.

Phase Two: Three months to complete with 60 days of continuous documented sobriety.

• Meet with Probation Officer twice a month
• Attend Sobriety Court Review Hearings monthly
• Attend substance abuse counseling
• Submit to random drug testing and daily alcohol testing
• Continue 12 step meetings and contact sponsor at least one time per week and obtain sponsor
• Comply with home compliance visits
• Comply with required journaling/worksheets
• Comply with community service or work program
• Attend MADD class

Phase Three: Three month minimum with 90 days of continuous documented sobriety.

• Attend Sobriety Court Review Hearings monthly
• Attend substance abuse counseling
• Submit to random drug testing and daily alcohol testing
• Continue 12 step meetings and contact sponsor at least one time per week and obtain sponsor
• Comply with home compliance visits
• Comply with required journaling/worksheets

Phase Four: Graduate from sobriety court after six months of compliance and 120 days of continuous sobriety.

• Attend Sobriety Court Review Hearings every six weeks
• Attend substance abuse counseling
• Submit to random drug testing and daily alcohol testing
• Continue 12 step meetings and contact sponsor at least one time per week and obtain sponsor
• Comply with home compliance visits
• Comply with required journaling/worksheets
• Comply with community service or work program
• Penalties for Violating Sobriety Court Probation
• Penalties for non-compliance with the sobriety court program can include anything from increased drug and alcohol testing to jail time. The ultimate violation is being kicked out of the sobriety court program.

Sobriety Court Drivers License

A conviction for a second drinking and driving offense within seven years of a first offense conviction results in the loss of your driver’s license for at least a year. Three drinking and driving convictions within ten years results in the loss of your drivers license for at least five years.

Absent sobriety court, a person can petition for driver’s license
reinstatement through the Secretary of State Driver Assessment and Appeal Division after their period of revocation has run. The process for regaining driving privileges is time consuming and can be difficult. Most people will take longer than the minimum 1-year and 5-year revocation period because petitioners are required to prove a minimum of twelve months sobriety and can be denied if that period of sobriety was while on probation. In actuality, it can take someone 2-3 years on the short end and 6 years on the long end before they are eligible and likely to obtain restricted driving privileges through the Driver Assessment and Appeal Division. For these reasons, the sobriety court is must more appealing way to regain driving privileges.

Sobriety Court License Requirements

A Sobriety Court license at the Westland District Court can be issued as soon as 60 days of continuous documented sobriety is achieved and participation in the Sobriety Court.

The applicant must be in complete compliance with all terms of sobriety court.

Fines and costs paid in full.

A Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device (BAIID) must be installed on the vehicle.

Larceny From a Person – Dismissed

Our client was charged with larceny of a person at the Westland Mall. A customer accused our client of stealing her phone while she was shopping. The customer used the Track My iPhone application which put the phone in a large apartment complex where our client lived. We filed a motion to suppress the iPhone application as being unreliable and the judge agreed. The case was dismissed.

Larceny From a Person – Dismissed

Our client was a nurse taking care of an elderly patient. The client was accused of stealing her patient’s pain medication (oxycodone). Our client never had a complaint made against her in over 25 years. We took the case to trial and when it came time to select the jury  the case was dismissed.

Criminal Sexual Conduct – No Charges

Our client was accused of forcibly raping the accuser in a car. The accuser’s story had a lot of holes and was made after the accuser found out that their family was disowning them for wanting to be with out client. On top of that, the accuser found out our client was seeing someone else. We helped out client invoke his 5th Amendment Right against self-incrimination and was never charged.

Possession of drugs – Dismissed

Westland Police charged our client with possession of drugs. Our client was arrested and admitted that he did have drugs and tossed them. The police could would not be able to legally produce the drugs at trial and the case was dismissed.

Operating While intoxicated – Dismissed

Our client was charged with drunk driving. After countless pre trials and negotiating with the prosecuting attorney the charge was dismissed in exchange for a lesser offense unrelated to alcohol, which saved our client from losing his job.