Court Opinion

ID: 9516342
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 23:40:53.446294+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:34:41.656555
License: Public Domain

Smolenski, J.
(concurring in part and dissenting in part). I concur with part n of the majority opinion. I also concur with part i of the majority opinion concerning the proper standard of review for a probate court’s denial of a motion to waive jurisdiction.
However, I respectfully dissent concerning the application of that standard of review to the facts of this case. "The appropriate standard for purposes of a phase ii hearing is 'whether the interests of the juvenile and the public would best be served by granting the motion [for waiver].’ ” People v Hana, 443 Mich 202, 223; 504 NW2d 166 (1993) (emphasis in original). In this case, the probate court found that there was probable cause to believe that respondent had forced the complainant to engage in conduct constituting four counts of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree. Respondent was ineligible for placement at any juvenile facility because of his age. The complainant claimed that she had kept silent about respondent’s alleged sexual assaults because respondent had threatened her.
Therefore, I would hold that under the circumstances of this case the probate court abused its discretion in failing to appropriately weigh the seriousness of respondent’s alleged crimes, and the *313best interest of the public welfare and the protection of the public security. See MCR 5.950(B)(2) and MCL 712A.4; MSA 27.3178(598.4); see also Hana, supra. I do not believe that under these circumstances respondent should be rewarded for allegedly living a life free of crime for eight years. I would reverse the circuit court’s affirmance of the probate court’s order declining to waive jurisdiction, and remand. I note that after being waived to adult criminal court, respondent would still be afforded the right to a jury trial and the presumption of innocence. Hana, supra at 220.
Alternatively, I invite the Legislature to address the appropriate factors to be considered by a probate court in a situation, such as this, where a person allegedly commits a crime while a juvenile but criminal proceedings are not initiated until adulthood.