Schulman and Associates, P.C.'s Very Own Running For Office.

Corbett Edge O'Meara, Esq. and Sarah Steslicki, Esq. are running for Judge!

Visit the Campaign Page for Corbett Edge O'Meara for Circuit Court Judge Here!

Sarah Steslicki is Running for a Position on the 16th District Court Bench. See the digital Free Press Article Here!

***Below is News From Schulman and Associates, P.C.***

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Sanford Schulman Hired to Defend Accused Ice Cream Man

Accused Ice Cream Man Faces Judge

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6...1

 

The driver of an ice cream truck is accused of sexually assaulting several teenage boys. Police say the man even handcuffed and photographed the children he took to his home. As FOX 2's Bill Gallagher reports, the man went before a judge Monday in Taylor.

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Attorney Sarah Steslicki Youngest Candidate for Judge

Youngest court candidate says she can make a difference

By Alex Lundberg • OBSERVER STAFF WRITER • July 6, 2008

Sarah E. Steslicki, the lone woman running to become the new judge of the 16th District Court said people work hard and they need a court that will work hard for them, too.

There are four attorneys who have filed paperwork to replace retiring 16th District Judge Robert Brzezinski: Steslicki, John McLean, Sean Kavanagh and David Stevens. The field of four candidates will be narrowed down to two on the primary on Aug. 5 and the winner will be chosen on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Steslicki, the youngest of the four candidates, said she got into the law as a way to help people.

"I came from a poor neighborhood and I've seen people I grew up with make bad decisions," she said. "I want to help them make better decisions. I think I can make a difference in kids' lives. As a judge, I can accomplish more than I did as a lawyer."

That she is the youngest candidate up for election in the race is not lost on her. She said it's a positive thing and her age will allow her to relate better to young people brought before the court.

And a judge, she said, has to work with what he or she has been given.

"A judge has to stick close to the letter of the law, laws aren't made by judges," she said. "If elected I will stay strictly to what the legislature has given to me."

What she can influence is the way the court runs day in and day out. She said she's practiced all over the southern part of Michigan and she's seen some stark differences in the way the courts operate.

"There are some that are very efficient and some that keep residents waiting for hours," Steslicki said. "There are some where you get your paperwork lost. My experiences have always been good in Livonia, The staff is kind and the judges are fair."

She said she wasn't sure if it is right for the 16th District Court to arrange new fines to help pay for a new courthouse.

The fees should be adjusted if they're not in line with comparable courts, she said, but that's all.

"I don't know if that should be their decision," Steslicki said.

Overall, she said a judge is there to help keep a community safe. But locking people up, she said, isn't the only way to do that.

"Livonia is a great city and I want to keep it safe," she said. "But that also means stopping repeat offenses. I'm energetic, I have a lot of ideas."

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Attorney Sanford Schulman Successfully Defends William Ballentine

Not Guilty

Stabbing doesn’t bring murder conviction

By Rosalie Currier
Sturgis Journal
Published: Thursday, December 6, 2007 9:32 PM CST

http://www.sturgisjournal.com/articles/2007/12/06/news/doc...txt

William Ballentine appeared stunned Thursday when a not-guilty verdict was read.

After less than two hours of deliberation Thursday, the jury in the murder trial of Ballentine came back with a not-guilty verdict.

Ballentine was being tried for the June 23 stabbing death of Angelo Williams in Three Rivers.The charge was open murder, which encompasses first-degree murder, second-degree murder and manslaughter.

Ballentine, who found it difficult to control his emotions throughout the trail, appeared stunned when the verdict was read.

"This was a difficult case," said St. Joseph County Prosecutor Doug Fisher. "It's not hard to understand where the jury was coming from."The jury of four men and eight women were a concern for defense attorney Sanford Schulman, but the worries for the defense proved to be unfounded.

In a private interview Thursday, Schulman, an active criminal defense attorney from Detroit, said in some Michigan counties this case would never have come to trail.

"If a guy like Angelo Williams would have come pounding on the door of any one of those jurors, they would have blown him away and it would have been ruled self-defense," Schulman said.That was Schulman's basis for his closing arguments on Thursday. Ballentine was at home sleeping at 4:30 a.m. June 23, when a 215-pound man came pounding at his door, Schulman said. Ballentine wasn't out looking for trouble. He wasn't looking for a fight, Schulman told the jury.

Fisher's closing statements differed. Williams, he said, was "rude, obnoxious and nasty, but did he deserve to die?"

Why did Ballentine flee the scene in the car of Whitney Lewis, the woman with whom he was temporarily staying? Those were the actions of a guilty person, Fisher said.And since Williams had come to the apartment complex looking for drugs that night, Fisher included a scenario that perhaps Ballentine left to get rid of the drugs as well as the murder weapon, which was found under the drivers seat of Lewis' car.

Schulman didn't deny that Ballentine killed Williams. That wasn't the question, he said.

"The defendant doesn't have to prove he acted in self-defense," Schulman told the jury in his closing statement. "The prosecutor has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it wasn't self-defense."The three witnesses called by the defense were Donald Jolly, Vernis Mims and Ballentine.

Schulman said Jolly heard Williams say, "I'm going to stick-up someone," meaning he was looking to commit a robbery.

Mims had been a friend of Williams, and worked with another witness, Tim Thomas.Schulman said Mims confirmed much of Thomas' testimony, saying that Williams had knocked on Ballentine's door for about 20 minutes.

Once Ballentine was on the stand, he found it difficult to testify without breaking down emotionally. The court recessed several times while he fought for control of his emotions.

Ballentine testified that the third time he opened the apartment door in response to the knocks, Williams tried to push his way into the apartment.Thomas, the only eyewitness, never saw that incident, and Schulman told the jury that those few seconds were enough to make Ballentine's actions self-defense.

Earlier, Thomas had testified that when he started to leave, Williams was leaning on a railing. When he turned around, Williams was against the wall next to the apartment door, with Ballentine leaning into him. Williams then raced down the stairs and the two men fled to the parking lot, where Williams collapsed.

Acting out the scenario, Schulman said to Thomas, the final witness, "You don't know what happened from here (leaning on the railing) to here (up against the wall) do you?"Thomas agreed he did not.

Although Thomas was the prosecutor's key witness, it wasn't enough. His stories conflicted and his language was colorful.

Fisher said the makeup of the jury, which contained 11 white jurors and one black juror, may have questioned Thomas' credibility.

"Timothy Thomas was a difficult witness for a white, middle-class jury to accept," Fisher said. "But he's all we had."

Despite the verdict, Fisher said the investigation and testimony by police was strong.

"All the officers conducted a high-quality investigation and testified objectively," Fisher said. "I'm proud of the way they conducted themselves, both in the investigation and the trial."

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Attorney Sanford Schulman is hired to represent Ralph Stegall

Accused Serial Rapist Jailed in Detroit

Santiago Esparza/ The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080119/METRO/801190410

DETROIT -- A 52-year-old man remained jailed Saturday on charges he raped four women dating back to November 2004.

Ralph Stegall faces a preliminary exam on Jan. 29 on five counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, third-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping and armed robbery.

He was arraigned Wednesday.

Police allege Stegall's most recent assault involved a 49-year-old woman and occurred over a five-hour period on Dec. 19, 2007 on the 1600 block of Burt. Police said if Stegall is convicted he faces an additional sentence for being a habitual offender.