Opinion ID: 815418
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ronald Plunkett and Barry Resnick

Text: After Haskell was arrested, he retained Ronald Plunkett (“Plunkett”) as his attorney. On the day before his trial, Haskell sought to have Plunkett removed as his counsel. Among other things, Haskell said that Plunkett had failed to communicate the terms of a pending plea bargain until immediately before trial. The trial court granted Haskell’s request for new counsel, revoked his bond, and held him in custody until trial. Haskell then hired Barry Resnick (“Resnick”), and the court granted a two-month continuance so Resnick could prepare for trial. Before being replaced, Plunkett had filed a Notice of Intent to Assert the Insanity Defense as required by Michigan law. Resnick also pursued the insanity defense. Resnick offered the testimony of Dr. Pitts, Haskell’s attending physician at the University of Michigan, who testified (1) that Haskell’s assault on Russell was brought on by a complex partial seizure (“CPS”)2 that left Haskell incapable of appreciating the wrongfulness of his conduct and (2) that Haskell could not conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. The State’s expert witness, Dr. Lisa Marquis, evaluated Haskell and agreed that he suffered from a CPS disorder, but disagreed that his disorder prevented him from conforming his behavior to the requirements of the law. Before trial, Plunkett failed to file a motion under Michigan law that he intended to offer evidence of Russell’s past sexual conduct. Resnick also failed to file the motion, although he had 2 CPS involves the temporal lobe of the brain and produces: (1) neuropsychiatric symptoms, (2) visual and olfactory hallucinations, (3) psychotic phenomena after the seizure, (4) rapid heart rate, (5) aggressive acting out, (6) no memory or awareness during the episode or seizure, and (7) no appreciation of any behavior or surroundings during the episode or seizure. 5 No. 10-1432 Haskell v. Berghuis, Warden been on the case for more than sixty days before trial. Resnick believed that Michigan law required the motion to be filed within 10 days of arraignment, and he came into the case well after that deadline had passed. The trial court originally prohibited Resnick from asking about Russell’s sexual history, but reconsidered its ruling after the State’s opening argument placed the former couple’s sexual history at issue. Resnick requested, and the trial court granted, permission to ask about Russell’s sexual relations with Haskell the Sunday before the events in question. Resnick did not request the opportunity to explore Russell’s complete sexual history.