Michigan Criminal
Defense Attorney
When your freedom, career, or license is on the line, you need more than a plea bargain lawyer.
Michigan Criminal Defense
When freedom, career, and future are at stake, a plea bargain lawyer is not enough. Aggressive, strategic defense, built on science, investigation, and trial experience, is the only kind worth having.
For 25 years, Jim Makowski has defended clients facing felonies, misdemeanors, OWI charges, and complex criminal cases where careers hang in the balance. The approach isn't about taking the easiest path. It's about challenging the prosecution's case, exposing weaknesses in their evidence, and fighting for outcomes that protect not just freedom, but professional licenses, records, and reputations.
Unlike high-volume firms that push plea deals, Makowski Legal focuses on science-based OWI defense, challenging field sobriety tests and breathalyzer results with expert testimony. For professionals facing charges, nurses, teachers, CDL holders, security workers, the pursuit is non-public dispositions and creative sentencing that protect licenses. For serious felonies, every case is prepared as if it's going to trial, because prosecutors negotiate better when they know defense counsel is ready to fight.
Makowski Legal's criminal defense practice spans DUI/OWI defense, assault charges, domestic violence, drug crimes, weapons offenses, white-collar crimes, and driver's license restoration. Whether facing a first misdemeanor or a serious felony, the standard is the same: level the playing field against the prosecution's resources and fight to keep the record clean.
Defensive Philosophy
Built to fight, not to settle. Every case is prepared as if it's going to trial, because that's when prosecutors take the defense seriously.
Most criminal defense attorneys evaluate cases by how quickly they can be resolved. Jim Makowski evaluates them by how effectively the prosecution's theory can be destroyed. That means starting with aggressive pre-trial investigation, obtaining and analyzing all discovery materials, police reports, body camera footage, forensic evidence, and witness statements before the prosecution can lock in their narrative.
Investigation begins immediately upon retention: preserving surveillance footage before it's overwritten, securing witness statements before memories fade, retaining forensic experts to challenge scientific evidence, and identifying constitutional violations that may suppress key prosecution evidence. In OWI cases, that means challenging breathalyzer calibration records and field sobriety test administration. In assault cases, it means reconstructing the incident through forensic and physical evidence.
Discovery is a weapon, not a formality. Michigan's discovery rules are used aggressively, demanding complete disclosure, filing motions to compel when prosecutors withhold evidence, and scrutinizing every item for inconsistencies, chain of custody problems, and Brady violations. Prosecutors who cut corners on discovery face consequences.
The result is a defense posture that forces prosecutors to evaluate their cases honestly. When Makowski Legal is prepared for trial — expert witnesses retained, motions filed, evidence challenged — prosecutors negotiate from a position of weakness, not strength. That's when outcomes improve. That's the philosophy behind every case.
Frequently Asked Questions
What clients need to know before their first call
Invoke your right to remain silent and your right to an attorney immediately, not after you explain your side, not after you clear up the misunderstanding. Provide your name and identification when lawfully required; do not consent to searches; do not answer questions about where you were or what you did. Contact a criminal defense attorney before arraignment if at all possible. Voluntary statements made before an attorney is present are among the most damaging pieces of evidence in criminal cases, and they are almost always avoidable.
Immediately, not after arraignment, not after you see what the charges are, not after you talk to family. The period between arrest and arraignment is when critical decisions are made: bail conditions set, statements taken, evidence preserved or lost. Pre-arraignment attorney involvement can influence bail arguments, prevent damaging statements, and begin identifying constitutional issues before they are waived by inaction. After charges are filed, the window for diversion programs, deferred adjudications, and pre-indictment negotiations begins to close. Early involvement means more options, not fewer.
For most clients, the collateral consequences of a conviction are more damaging than the sentence itself. Professional licenses — nursing, teaching, law, medicine, real estate, contracting — carry mandatory reporting and potential revocation triggered by criminal convictions. Any felony conviction results in permanent federal firearms prohibition; domestic violence misdemeanors trigger additional federal firearms disabilities under the Lautenberg Amendment. OWI and certain drug convictions result in mandatory CDL disqualification. Security clearances, immigration status, employment eligibility, and housing access can all be affected by a criminal record. Every collateral consequence is mapped before any plea is discussed, because a sentence that avoids jail but destroys a career is not a good outcome.
Michigan's Clean Slate Act (2021) significantly expanded set-aside eligibility, but expungement is not automatic, not immediate, and not available for all offenses. Most misdemeanors are eligible after three years from sentencing; most felonies after seven years, with up to three felony convictions eligible for set-aside. Certain qualifying offenses are set aside automatically after 7–10 years without new convictions. Life offense felonies, first and second-degree criminal sexual conduct, and OWI causing death or serious injury are not eligible. A set-aside removes the conviction from public records and restores most civil rights, but the record remains accessible to law enforcement and in some licensing contexts. The best expungement strategy is preventing the conviction in the first place.
Makowski Legal's criminal defense practice covers the full spectrum of Michigan state court charges, including felonies and misdemeanors such as assault, weapons offenses, drug charges, domestic violence, and fraud; science-based DUI/OWI defense challenging breath and blood evidence, field sobriety tests, and the traffic stop itself; driver's license restoration before the DAAD/OAH; and creative sentencing and diversion programs for clients whose most important exposure is collateral, not criminal. Contact Makowski Legal to discuss your specific situation and the consequences that matter most.