Opinion ID: 1716842
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: McMiller

Text: In People v McMiller, 389 Mich 425, 434; 208 NW2d 451 (1973), we said: [W]e hold that upon the acceptance of a plea of guilty, as a matter of policy, the state may not thereafter charge a higher offense arising out of the same transaction. We also said: A prosecutor can protect himself against being forced to try a defendant on a lesser offense by calling the attention of the judge, before he accepts a plea of guilty, to any failure to comply with the prescribed procedure for taking such a plea. Trial judges and prosecutors have expressed concern about McMiller creating a costless breaking of a plea bargain and an unwarranted encouragement to appeal, a free ride as it were. Errorless plea taking is the primary responsibility of the trial judge. The oral arguments and colloquy with this Court in connection with the hearing of these cases indicated that as court officers both the prosecutor and the defense attorney should share with the trial judge the responsibility for error-free plea taking. The prosecutor no less than the defense attorney should be alert to bring to the trial court's attention any errors of omission or commission. Trial courts should be ready and receptive to taking advantage of any such proper advice. The hearings indicated that some judges have discouraged prosecutors in performing this duty, while others welcome this help. It is to be hoped that all prosecutors and all judges will take advantage of this opportunity to improve the administration of justice. We have amended the rules to facilitate the prosecutor calling to the court's attention any error by adding the following subrule: 785.7(4) Additional Inquiries and Statements by the Court. Upon completing the colloquy with the defendant, the court shall, (a) ask the prosecutor and the defendant's lawyer whether the court has complied with subrules 785.7(1)-(3). If it appears to the court that it has failed to comply, the court shall do so. The prosecutor should be specific and clear in calling error to the court's attention. This will permit the court more readily to take proper action and may in some instances, as in advising the defendant of his rights, actually fulfill the requirement of Rule 785.7 that the court personally inform the defendant of certain rights. If the prosecutor calls the court's attention to plea-taking error before the plea is accepted, McMiller will not apply in the event the trial court vacates the plea on defendant's motion or with defendant's consent or the trial court is reversed on appeal on the basis of the same error.