Court Opinion

ID: 9705920
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 01:26:38.562094+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:17.480085
License: Public Domain

M. J. Kelly, P. J.
(dissenting). I believe the viola*222tion of the statute mandates reversal. I agree that there is no clear demonstration of actual prejudice but this is really not a situation which lends itself to clearly defined prejudice. The statute provides:
"Sec. 14. It shall be unlawful for any prosecuting attorney of this state to defend or assist in the defense of any person charged with crime within the county of which he is prosecuting attorney.” MCLA 776.14; MSA 28.1271.
If the error complained of had occurred in Southeastern Michigan, could we say that a prosecutor, elected or appointed, who assumed office September 1st, could continue to be active in the defense of a client and try his case as defense attorney some four or five months later? The word "shall” is "mandatory and imperative, and when used in a command to a public official, it excludes the idea of discretion”. Brown v Department of Military Affairs, 30 Mich App 463, 467; 186 NW2d 747, 749 (1971).
We must determine what sanction should be invoked for "unlawful” activity on the part of the prosecuting attorney. I readily acknowledge the same distaste mentioned by the majority for allowing a defendant to use error which he has expressly waived as the basis for reversal. Perhaps I would be inclined to vote with the majority and let the violation here go to criminal prosecution or disciplinary action were it not for People v LaPine, 61 Mich App 345; 232 NW2d 401 (1975), which is cited by and relied on by both parties. Although the LaPine Court found no prejudice it cautioned that defense counsel in similar cases should avoid such conflict. Either that warning means something or it does not. I would hold that the mandatory language of the statute, coupled with the *223message contained in LaPine, rendered the defendant’s waiver ineffectual. Were we to require a showing of actual prejudice we would be ignoring the fact that this case was noticed for trial six months after LaPine had been released.
Furthermore, I find another distinction significant. Deputies, assistants, substitutes, and temporary public prosecutors are in a different category than public prosecutors themselves. A county prosecuting attorney in Michigan fills a constitutional office of great importance affected with a public trust. His powers are awesome and his duties should be carried out in a manner which reflects the highest ethical standards. He may be said to belong to the judicial branch of government, but in reality, he is the foremost representative of the executive branch in the enforcement of criminal law in his county. "It is against public policy for the prosecuting attorney, whose duty it is to look after the interests of the State and county and represent county officers, to take a private position antagonistic to that of, or conflicting with, his public duty.” Ray v Gun Plains Township, 340 Mich 549, 555; 66 NW2d 95, 98 (1954).
I agree with the dissent of Judge Brennan in People v LaPine, supra at 350, that the purpose of the statute "is to avoid the possibility of any conflict of interest or the appearance of any impropriety in this area by the imposition of a flat prohibition against prosecuting attorneys”.
Perhaps one other issue raised by defendant-appellant should be mentioned. The trial court was in error when it told the jury that it was not permitted to give the jury a view of certain geographical areas because the case was closed. A trial court has discretion under MCLA 768.28; MSA 28.1051 to allow a jury view, even after *224deliberations have begun. People v Dykes, 37 Mich App 555; 195 NW2d 14 (1972). I would not be inclined to vote reversal on this ground alone because, very clearly, counsel for each side concurred in the trial judge’s decision to disallow a view. The point is that the jury could have been allowed a view and their request should have been discussed in the context of an exercise of the court’s discretion rather than as being flatly foreclosed since deliberations had begun.
I would reverse.