Case Name: PEOPLE v. HARRISON
Court: Michigan Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Michigan
Decision Date: 1982-06-23
Citations: 117 Mich. App. 472
Docket Number: Docket No. 56727
Parties: PEOPLE v HARRISON
Judges: Before: Cynar, P.J., and M. J. Kelly and D. C. Riley, JJ.
Reporter: Michigan appeals reports; cases decided in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Volume: 117
Pages: 472–475

Head Matter:
PEOPLE v HARRISON
Docket No. 56727.
Submitted January 14, 1982, at Detroit.
Decided June 23, 1982.
Leave to appeal denied, 414 Mich 897.
James Harrison was charged with first-degree murder. He pled guilty to a charge of second-degree murder and was sentenced to prison, Wayne Circuit Court, Charles Kaufman, J. Defendant appeals, alleging that the trial court erred by failing to inform him that second-degree murder was a nonprobationable offense.
Held:
The failure of the court to inform the defendant, prior to accepting the guilty plea, that he could not be placed on probation for the offense of murder constituted error requiring reversal.
Reversed and remanded.
M. J. Kelly, J., concurred in the result because reversal is mandated by Supreme Court precedent. He would suggest, however, that such a result exalts form over substance in a case where the defendant knows prior to pleading guilty that he will not be placed on probation. He would allow a defendant who successfully appeals his guilty plea conviction based on a nonsubstantive error to move in the trial court to set aside the guilty plea, with the proviso that if the motion is granted the original charge would be reinstated.
Opinion of the Court
1. Criminal Law — Guilty Pleas — Nonprobationable Offenses — Court Rules.
Failure of a trial court, prior to accepting a defendant’s plea of guilty to a charge of murder, to advise the defendant that he cannot be placed on probation for that offense constitutes reversible error (GCR 1963, 785.7[1][Q).
References for Points in Headnotes
21 Am Jur 2d, Criminal Law § 477.
Court’s duty to advise or admonish accused as to consequences of plea of guilty, or to determine that he is advised thereof. 97 ALR2d 549.
Concurrence by M. J. Kelly, J.
2. Criminal Law — Guilty Pleas — Nonprobationable Offenses — Court Rules.
Failure of a trial court, prior to accepting a defendant’s plea of guilty, to advise the defendant that the offense to which he is pleading guilty is nonprobationable should not be grounds for reversal of the guilty plea where defendant knows before pleading guilty that he will not receive a sentence of probation; rather, such a case should be remanded to allow the defendant the opportunity to move to set aside his plea and have the original charge reinstated (GCR1963, 785.7[l][fj).
Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General, Louis J. Caruso, Solicitor General, William L. Cahalan, Prosecuting Attorney, Edward Reilly Wilson, Principal Attorney, Appeals, and Don W. Atkins, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for the people.
Chari Grove, Assistant State Appellate Defender, for defendant on appeal.
Before: Cynar, P.J., and M. J. Kelly and D. C. Riley, JJ.

Opinion:
Per Curiam.
Defendant was charged with first-degree murder, MCL 750.316; MSA 28.548, arising out of the stabbing of James Weatherly. Defendant pled guilty to second-degree murder, MCL 750.317; MSA 28.549, on December 4, 1980, in Wayne County Circuit Court. On December 15, 1980, defendant was sentenced to a term of 7-1/2 to 20 years. Defendant appeals by right.
Defendant contends that the trial court was in error by failing to inform the defendant that the offense pled to was nonprobationable. We agree. Failure of the trial court, prior to accepting defendant's plea, to advise the defendant that for the offense of murder he cannot be placed on probation, constitutes reversible error. People v Rogers, 412 Mich 669; 316 NW2d 701 (1982).
In view of the fact that Rogers requires reversal in the instant case, we need not deal with the other issues raised.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings.