Court Opinion

ID: 9739668
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:19:16.258361+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:13.400403
License: Public Domain

MacKenzie, J.
(dissenting). I agree with the majority that this case is not the best vehicle for defining the contours of prosecutorial discovery. Nevertheless, given the existing state of the law regarding the subject, I am unwilling to hold that the trial court abused its discretion in granting discovery.
As noted by the majority, there is at present a *83split of authority in this Court regarding whether general discovery may be ordered in favor of the prosecution. In People v Paris, 166 Mich App 276; 420 NW2d 184 (1988), this Court concluded that, in the absence of a court rule, the prosecution does not have a right to discovery except where statutorily mandated. In People v Johnson, 168 Mich App 581, 584; 425 NW2d 187 (1988), and People v Tronti, 176 Mich App 544, 550; 440 NW2d 62 (1989), however, this Court held that trial courts have inherent discretionary power to grant the prosecution discovery despite the absence of specific authorization by statute or court rule.
Because the trial court’s discovery orders are reviewed for abuse of discretion, Tronti, supra, defendants must establish that an unprejudiced person, considering the facts on which the trial court acted, would say that there was no justification or excuse for the ruling made. People v Watkins, 176 Mich App 428, 430; 440 NW2d 36 (1989). Here, the trial court was entitled to follow the Johnson line of authority, see In re Bay Co Prosecutor, 102 Mich App 543, 549; 302 NW2d 225 (1980), and defendants offered only their unsupported allegation that discovery would tend to reveal their defense theory and strategy. Under these circumstances, I would find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s order and accordingly would affirm.