Justia Michigan Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan (the ACLU) filed a complaint against the Calhoun County Jail and Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office (the CCSO), alleging CCSO violated Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) when it denied the ACLU’s request for documents. The ACLU sought disclosure of all records related to the December 2018 detention of United States citizen Jilmar Benigno Ramos-Gomez. Ramos-Gomez’s three-day detention at the Calhoun County Correctional Facility occurred pursuant to an Intergovernmental Service Agreement executed between United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the jail. The CCSO denied the ACLU’s request, asserting that the requested records were exempt from disclosure under MCL 15.243(1)(d) because they related to an ICE detainee. The Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal, finding the records at issue were exempt public records from disclosure under the statute. The Michigan Supreme Court reversed the appellate court, finding error in that court holding a federal regulation had the legal force of a federal statute; "federal regulation is not a federal statute." The case was remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings. View "American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan v. Calhoun County" on Justia Law

Defendant Theodore Wafer was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder, statutory involuntary manslaughter, and carrying a firearm during the commission of a felony (felony-firearm), for the killing of Renisha McBride. Defendant was sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 15 to 30 years for second-degree murder and 7 to 15 years for manslaughter, to be served consecutively to the two-year term of imprisonment for felony-firearm. In the early morning hours one day in November 2013, McBride crashed her vehicle into a parked car. Around 4:00 a.m., McBride arrived at defendant’s home, and defendant heard someone banging on his door. Defendant retrieved his shotgun, believing that someone was trying to break into his house. He opened the door a few inches and fired his gun when he saw a person approaching the door, shooting McBride in the face and killing her. Defendant appealed his convictions, alleging, among other things, that the multiple punishments for second-degree murder and statutory involuntary manslaughter violated the Double Jeopardy Clauses of the United States and Michigan Constitutions. In an unpublished opinion, the Court of Appeals concluded that defendant’s convictions for these two offenses did not violate double-jeopardy protections because each offense contained different elements. Defendant sought leave to appeal in the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court initially denied leave to appeal, but upon reconsideration, heard argument on whether to grant defendant’s application or take other action regarding his double-jeopardy claim. The Court determined conviction of both second-degree murder and statutory involuntary manslaughter for the death of a single victim violated the multiple-punishments strand of state and federal double-jeopardy jurisprudence. Accordingly, the Court of Appeals judgment was reversed, defendant’s statutory manslaughter conviction vacated, and the case remanded for resentencing. View "Michigan v. Wafer" on Justia Law

Fraser Township filed a complaint against Harvey and Ruth Ann Haney, seeking a permanent injunction to enforce its zoning ordinance and to prevent defendants from raising on their commercially zoned property, hogs or other animals that would violate the zoning ordinance, to remove an allegedly nonconforming fence, and to plow and coat the ground with nontoxic material. Defendants brought a hog onto their property as early as 2006, and defendants maintained hogs on their property through the time this lawsuit was filed in 2016. Defendants moved for summary disposition, arguing that plaintiff’s claim was time-barred by the six-year statutory period of limitations in MCL 600.5813. The trial court denied the motion, concluding that because the case was an action in rem, the statute of limitations did not apply. The Court of Appeal reversed, finding that the statute of limitations applied. Finding that the appellate court erred in concluding the statute of limitations applied, the Michigan Supreme Court reversed and reinstated the trial court's order denying defendants' motion for summary judgment. View "Township of Fraser v. Haney" on Justia Law

Defendant Donald Davis, Jr., was convicted by jury on multiple felonies in connection with the shooting death of Devante Hanson. During a recess on the second day of the trial, the mother of the victim’s child made contact with a juror in the hallway. When the trial resumed, the court ordered the woman and all other spectators, with the exception of the victim’s mother, removed from the courtroom and directed them not to return for the remainder of the trial. After his conviction, defendant appealed and moved to remand for an evidentiary hearing, arguing that he had been denied his constitutional right to a public trial and that his trial counsel had been ineffective for failing to object to the closure of the courtroom. The Court of Appeals granted the motion. On remand, following the evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied defendant’s motion for a new trial, stating that it had not actually closed the courtroom to the public and that the doors were never locked. In addition, the court concluded that while it had poorly worded its directive to the spectators not to return during the trial, defendant was not prejudiced by the removal because no one supporting defendant had been affected by the removal order. The Court of Appeals affirmed, stating that the courtroom had been “cleared” rather than closed, that defendant had waived his right to a public trial when defense counsel failed to object to the clearing of the courtroom, and that even if the courtroom had been closed and the error had been forfeited rather than waived, defendant would not have been entitled to relief because any error in this regard would not have warranted reversal. The Michigan Supreme Court found that the trial court’s closure of the courtroom for nearly the entirety of defendant’s trial after a single, benign interaction between an observer and a juror constituted plain error. Because the deprivation of a defendant’s public-trial right was a structural error, the error necessarily affected defendant’s substantial rights. This structural error presumptively satisfied the plain-error standard’s requirements for reversal, and neither the prosecution’s arguments nor the record evidence rebutted that presumption. The Court of Appeals judgment was reversed, and the case was remanded to the trial court for a new trial. View "Michigan v. Davis" on Justia Law

Donald Davis was convicted by jury on multiple felonies relating to the shooting death of Devante Hanson. During a recess on the second day of the trial, the mother of the victim’s child made contact with a juror in the hallway. When the trial resumed, the trial court ordered the woman and all other spectators, with the exception of the victim’s mother, removed from the courtroom and directed them not to return for the remainder of the trial. After his conviction, defendant appealed and moved to remand for an evidentiary hearing, arguing that he had been denied his constitutional right to a public trial and that his trial counsel had been ineffective for failing to object to the closure of the courtroom. The Court of Appeals granted the motion. On remand, the trial court denied defendant’s motion for a new trial, stating that it had not actually closed the courtroom to the public and that the doors were never locked. In addition, the court concluded that while it had poorly worded its directive to the spectators not to return during the trial, defendant was not prejudiced by the removal because no one supporting defendant had been affected by the removal order. The Court of Appeals affirmed, stating that the courtroom had been “cleared” rather than closed, that defendant had waived his right to a public trial when defense counsel failed to object to the clearing of the courtroom, and that even if the courtroom had been closed and the error had been forfeited rather than waived, defendant would not have been entitled to relief because any error in this regard would not have warranted reversal. Davis petitioned the Michigan Supreme Court, which vacated the trial court's judgment. The Supreme Court found the trial court’s closure of the courtroom for nearly the entirety of defendant’s trial after a single, benign interaction between an observer and a juror constituted plain error. Because the deprivation of a defendant’s public-trial right was a structural error, the error necessarily affected defendant’s substantial rights. The case was remanded for a new trial. View "Michigan v. Davis" on Justia Law

The Judicial Tenure Commission (JTC) filed a formal three-count complaint against Third Circuit Court Judge Bruce Morrow, arising from comments he made to two female prosecutors during a murder trial. An appointed master found respondent, in Counts I and II respondent had violated Canons 2(B), 3(A)(3), and 3(A)(14) of the Code of Judicial Conduct, and in Count III, the master found that respondent had violated Canons 3(A)(3) and 3(A)(14). The JTC issued a decision and recommendation for discipline in which it largely agreed with the master’s findings of fact and conclusions of law but found that respondent had also violated Canon 2(B) by his conduct in Count III. After determining that the majority of the factors set forth in In re Brown, 461 Mich 1291 (2000), weighed in favor of a more serious sanction, the JTC unanimously recommended that respondent be sanctioned with a public censure and a 12-month suspension without pay. Respondent petitioned the Michigan Supreme Court, requesting that the Court reject or modify the JTC’s recommendation. After review, the Supreme Court concluded the JTC correctly found that respondent committed misconduct in office and that public censure and suspension were appropriate. However, a 6-month rather than the JTC’s recommended 12-month suspension was proportionate. View "In Re Morrow " on Justia Law

The League of Women Voters, Progress Michigan, the Coalition to Close Lansing Loopholes, and Michiganders for Fair and Transparent Elections brought an action in the Court of Claims against the Michigan Secretary of State, challenging the constitutionality of 2018 PA 608, which changed the procedures by which the people of Michigan could circulate petitions to invoke the referendum, initiative, and constitutional-amendment processes set forth in Michigan’s Constitution and statutory election laws. The Court of Claims struck down the geographical limitation in MCL 168.471 as well as the checkbox requirement of MCL 168.482(7); however, it ruled that the affidavit requirement, MCL 168.482a, was constitutional. The Court of Appeals affirmed in part the Court of Claims’ decision, striking as unconstitutional the geographic limitation in MCL 168.471 and the requirement in MCL 168.482(4) that petitions include language identifying the signer’s congressional district. The Court of Appeals also reversed the Court of Claims as to the checkbox and affidavit requirements, holding that the checkbox requirement in MCL 168.482 was constitutional but the affidavit requirement in MCL 168.482a overly burdened the free-speech rights of the petitions’ sponsors. Plaintiffs sought leave to appeal, arguing that the checkbox requirement, MCL 168.482(7), was unconstitutional. The Department of the Attorney General sought leave to appeal the Court of Appeals’ holdings as to the 15% geographic requirement, MCL 168.471, and the affidavit requirement, MCL 168.482a. Defendant Secretary of State sought leave to appeal in order to request that, regardless of the outcome, the decision be applied only prospectively. The Michigan Supreme Court held the 15% cap on signatures from any one congressional district and the pre-circulation affidavit requirement for paid circulators violated the Michigan Constitution. The checkbox requirement, however, passed constitutional muster. "In light of the chaos and injustice that would ensue were the opinion to be applied retroactively," the decision was given prospective effect only. View "League Of Women Voters Of Michigan, et al. v. Secretary Of State" on Justia Law

Jeremiah and his wife Micheline Leffew, were convicted by jury trial in the for first-degree home invasion and third-degree home invasion. Defendants went to the home of Michael Porter with Jeremiah’s mother, Donna Knezevich, to pick up Lisa Seibert, Knezevich’s partner. When defendants and Knezevich arrived at Porter’s residence, Porter briefly answered the door before closing it; Seibert did not leave. Defendants and Porter disagreed as to whether Porter had prevented Seibert from leaving the home. Defendants testified that Porter had dragged Seibert into a room in the back of the home and forcibly held her down in a chair, while Porter claimed that he had picked Seibert up and put her in a chair to help her get her bearings after she had become unsteady on her feet. Both defendants testified that they heard Seibert scream for help and that they had then entered the home without Porter’s permission. Micheline had entered the home first after kicking in the back door, and she was immediately hit over the head with a glass ashtray by Porter, causing bleeding and a seizure. Jeremiah entered the home after seeing his injured wife on the floor and got into a physical altercation with Porter. The fight eventually ended when, according to Jeremiah, he threatened Porter with a knife while pleading with him to let his family go; or, according to Porter, the fight ended when Knezevich called out to Jeremiah, after Jeremiah had struck Porter with a knife and cut Porter’s wrist. Defendants’ attorneys both argued that defendants’ intrusions into Porter’s home were justified because of their reasonable fear that Seibert was in imminent danger, but neither attorney requested a jury instruction on defense of others. Defendants appealed, and the Court of Appeals affirmed defendants’ convictions. The Michigan Supreme Court reversed, finding Defendants were prejudiced and received ineffective assistance of counsel when their attorneys failed to request a jury instruction on the defense of others. The case was remanded for a new trial. View "Michigan v. Leffew" on Justia Law

Defendant Theodore Wafer was convicted by jury of second-degree murder, statutory involuntary manslaughter, and carrying a firearm during the commission of a felony (felony-firearm), for the killing of Renisha McBride. Defendant was sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 15 to 30 years for second-degree murder and 7 to 15 years for manslaughter, to be served consecutively to the two-year term of imprisonment for felony-firearm. McBride crashed her vehicle into a parked car around 1:00 a.m. in November 2013. Around 4:00 a.m., McBride arrived at defendant’s home, and defendant heard someone banging on his door. Defendant retrieved his shotgun, believing that someone was trying to break into his house. He opened the door a few inches and fired his gun when he saw a person approaching the door, shooting McBride in the face and killing her. Defendant appealed his convictions, alleging, among other things, that the multiple punishments for second-degree murder and statutory involuntary manslaughter violated the Double Jeopardy Clauses of the United States and Michigan Constitutions. In an unpublished opinion, the Michigan Court of Appeals concluded that defendant’s convictions for these two offenses did not violate double-jeopardy protections because each offense contained different elements. The Michigan Supreme Court reversed, finding conviction of both second-degree murder and statutory involuntary manslaughter for the death of a single victim violated the multiple-punishments strand of state and federal double-jeopardy jurisprudence. View "Michigan v. Wafer" on Justia Law

The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission (JTC) filed a formal three-count complaint against Third Circuit Court Judge Bruce Morrow, arising from comments he made to two female prosecutors during a murder trial. The JTC issued a decision and recommendation for discipline on June 14, 2021, in which it largely agreed with a special master’s findings of fact and conclusions of law, but found that respondent had also violated Canon 2(B) by his conduct in Count III. After determining that the majority of the factors set forth in In re Brown, 461 Mich. 1291 (2000), weighed in favor of a more serious sanction, the JTC unanimously recommended that respondent be sanctioned with a public censure and a 12-month suspension without pay. Respondent petitioned the Michigan Supreme Court, requesting that the Court reject or modify the JTC’s recommendation. The Supreme Court found the JTC correctly found that respondent committed misconduct in office and that public censure and suspension were appropriate. However, the Court determined a 6-month rather than the JTC’s recommended 12-month suspension was proportionate. View "In Re Morrow " on Justia Law