Source: http://www.wnj.com/Blogs/Appellate?tagname=Constitutional+Law&groupid=2
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 06:51:14+00:00

Document:
The Michigan Supreme Court granted mini-oral argument in People v. Randolph, No. 153309 to address two related issues. First, whether a defendant’s failure to prove plain error automatically precludes a finding of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Second, whether the plain error’s prejudice standard (“affecting substantial rights”) announced in People v. Carines is the same as the ineffective assistance’s prejudice standard (“reasonable probability” of a different outcome) in Strickland v. Washington.
Detaining a defendant to wait for a drug dog and its handler to arrive and perform a canine sniff for contraband after a traffic stop is completed is an unconstitutional seizure when the initial traffic stop does not reveal a reasonably articulable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot, held the Michigan Court of Appeals in People v Kavanaugh, No. 330359.
In Winkler v. Marist Fathers of Detroit, Inc., No. 152889, the Michigan Supreme Court held that though the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine (the “Doctrine”) does not allow a court to substitute its opinion for that of a religious entity on matters that are ecclesiastical in nature, it does not divest a court of jurisdiction over claims as a whole just because they involve an ecclesiastical question.
The Michigan Court of Appeals recently upheld the constitutionality of three Michigan laws that impose costs on criminal defendants. In the consolidated cases of People v. Shenoskey, No. 332735, and People v. Crawford, No. 333375, the court examined the constitutionality of three statutes imposing costs on criminal defendants. MCL 769.1j(1)(a) allows a sentencing court to order a criminal defendant to pay $68.00 if the defendant is convicted of a felony. MCL 771.3c(1) requires that, for each order of probation for a defendant, the department of corrections shall collect a supervision fee of not more than $135,00 per month for each month of probation, not to exceed 60 months. MCL 600.4803(1) imposes a 20% penalty for failure of a defendant to pay a penalty, fee, or cost within 56 days of the due date. The defendants did not properly preserve their issues for appeal, so the court reviewed for plain error. The court held that all three stautes were constitutional.

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