Case Name: PEOPLE v. FERNANDEZ (ON REMAND)
Court: Michigan Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Michigan
Decision Date: 1987-11-16
Citations: 164 Mich. App. 485
Docket Number: Docket No. 98521
Parties: PEOPLE v FERNANDEZ (ON REMAND)
Judges: Before: Beasley, P.J., and J. H. Gillis and Gribbs, JJ.
Reporter: Michigan appeals reports; cases decided in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Volume: 164
Pages: 485–491

Head Matter:
PEOPLE v FERNANDEZ (ON REMAND)
Docket No. 98521.
Submitted September 16, 1987, at Detroit.
Decided November 16, 1987.
Stephen R. Fernandez was convicted of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and aiding and abetting assault with intent to murder, Detroit Recorder’s Court, Thomas E. Jackson, J. The trial court imposed a sentence of life imprisonment on the conspiracy conviction, indicating its belief that such a sentence was mandatory. The Court of Appeals affirmed, but remanded for resentencing, finding that a life sentence, while within the sentencing discretion of the trial court, was not mandatory. 143 Mich App (1985). On appeal by the people and cross-appeal by defendant, the Supreme Court reversed, holding that a mandatory life sentence is required on conviction of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. The Supreme Court remanded for a determination by the Court of Appeals of whether a person sentenced to life imprisonment for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder is eligible for parole under the parole statute, and if so, the proper retroactive effect of such a decision. 427 Mich 321 (1986).
The Court of Appeals held:
A person convicted of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder is eligible for parole after he serves ten years.
1. MCL 791.234(4); MSA 28.2304(4), which provides that a prisoner under sentence of life or for a term of years who has served ten calendar years of the sentence may be released on parole, only excludes from consideration for parole those prisoners who were sentenced for first-degree murder or a major controlled substance offense.
_2. There is no restriction arising from Proposal b on the application of MCL 791.234(4); MSA 28.2304(4) to a life sentence for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
References
Am Jur 2d, Homicide § 549.
Am Jur 2d, Pardon and Parole §§ 73, 81.
Validity, under equal protection clause of Fourteenth Amendment, of state statutes relating to parole or pardon of convicted criminal. 35 LEd 2d 775.
3. This decision, being a restatement and clarification of existing law, has full retroactive effect.
J. H. Gillis, J., dissented. He would hold that a person convicted of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder must be sentenced to mandatory, nonparolable life in prison, reasoning that the Legislature, when it enacted the present conspiracy statute, intended to punish conspiracy to commit a felony at least as seriously as the commission of the felony itself and was charged with the knowledge that the penalty for first-degree murder was, at the time of passage of the present conspiracy statute, and continues to be, mandatory, nonparolable life imprisonment. Additionally, Judge Gillis would give great weight to the parole board’s similar interpretation of the parole statute.
Conspiracy — Homicide — First-Degree Murder — Sentencing — Parole.
A person convicted of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder is eligible for release on parole upon serving ten calendar years of his mandatory sentence of life in prison (MCL 791.23[4]); MSA 28.2304[4]).
Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General, Louis J. Caruso, Solicitor General, John D. O’Hair, Prosecuting Attorney, Timothy A. Baughman, Chief of the Criminal Division, Research, Training and Appeals, and Thomas M. Chambers, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for the people.
State Appellate Defender (by Susan Meinberg Thomas), for defendant on appeal.
ON REMAND
Before: Beasley, P.J., and J. H. Gillis and Gribbs, JJ.

Opinion:
Per Curiam.
On appeal, the Supreme Court has reversed the decision of this Court and held that a mandatory life sentence is required on conviction of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder under MCL 750.157a; MSA 28.354(1). The Supreme Court further provided as follows:
We remand the case to the Court of Appeals for briefing and decision on whether a person sentenced to life imprisonment for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder is eligible for parole consideration under MCL 791.234(4); MSA 28. 2304(4) and, if so, the proper retroactive effect of such a decision.[ ]
The "lifer law" set forth in MCL 791.234(4); MSA 28.2304 (4) provides as follows:
A prisoner under sentence for life or for a term of years, other than prisoners sentenced for life for murder in the first degree and prisoners sentenced for life or for a minimum term of imprisonment for a major controlled substance offense, who has served 10 calendar years of the sentence is subject to the jurisdiction of the parole board and may be released on parole by the parole board, subject to the following conditions .
Both defendant and the prosecutor agree that after serving ten years defendant is eligible for parole consideration under MCL 791.234(4); MSA 28.2304(4) where, as here, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. The lifer law statute does not specifically exclude persons convicted of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment from the jurisdiction of the parole board after serving ten calendar years of the sentence. The conspiracy statute, MCL 750.157a; MSA 28.354(1), provides for punishment by penalty equal to that which could be imposed if defendant had been convicted of committing the crime he conspired to commit. The first-degree murder statute, MCL 750.316; MSA 28.548, provides that a person convicted of first-degree murder shall be punished by imprisonment for life. This statute does not, however, state that such a sentence of life imprisonment is nonparolable. What makes first-degree murder a nonparolable life offense is MCL 791.234(4); MSA 28.2304(4). In other words, first-degree murder is nonparolable because it is specifically excluded from the above statute, while conspiracy to commit first-degree murder is not.
Furthermore, Proposal b does not preclude application of the lifer law to persons convicted of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. In 1984, in People v Johnson, the Supreme Court held that Proposal b had no application to fixed or life sentences. Therefore, as the Supreme Court recognized in the within case:
Thus, there is no apparent restriction arising from Proposal b on application of the "lifer law" to a life sentence imposed for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.[ ]
We agree with both defendant and the prosecutor and conclude that a person sentenced to life for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder is subject to the jurisdiction of the parole board after serving ten calendar years.
We further believe that this decision, which is essentially a restatement and clarification of existing law, should receive full retroactive effect.
People v Fernandez, 143 Mich App 388; 372 NW2d 567 (1985).
People v Fernandez, 427 Mich 321, 343; 398 NW2d 311 (1986).
421 Mich 494, 498; 364 NW2d 654 (1984).
Fernandez, supra, 427 Mich at 333.
See People v Kamin, 405 Mich 482, 494; 275 NW2d 777 (1979); People v Szymanski, 102 Mich App 745; 302 NW2d 316 (1981).