Court Opinion

ID: 9686552
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 15:55:08.903536+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:20.069378
License: Public Domain

Shepherd, J.
(concurring in part and dissenting in part). I concur in the majority opinion with the exception of that portion which deals with the effective assistance of counsel. Defendant claims that his attorney failed to properly prepare a meritorious insanity defense. The record indicates that there was evidence of extreme provocation when defendant’s property was being systematically destroyed by a gang employed by his wife. Defendant’s theory is that he lost control of his senses as a result of such provocation. Whether a more complete insanity defense could have been developed is not clear from the record, but I am able to conclude that a strong probability exists that evidence could have been developed to show that the defendant was suffering from a substantial disorder of thought or mood which signifi*365cantly impaired his judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize reality, or his ability to cope with the situation he found at the scene of the crime. The preceding language is taken directly from MCL 330.1400a; MSA 14.800(400a).
Since there was no real development of this issue, I would remand for a hearing in the trial court at which there would be a determination of whether the insanity defense could have been developed and for a ruling, after an evidentiary hearing as to why it was not. The trial court would then make a determination of whether the defendant received adequate assistance of counsel. See People v Lewis, 64 Mich App 175; 235 NW2d 100 (1975).