People of Michigan v. Fred Huston-Darnell Chandler

912 N.W.2d 859

• Court: Michigan Supreme Court
• Decided: June 27, 2018
• Docket: SC: 156620; COA: 333207
• Status: Published

Opinion

On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the August 22, 2017 judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered and, pursuant to MCR 7.305(H)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we VACATE that part of the Court of Appeals judgment addressing the admission of other-acts evidence and we REMAND this case to that court for reconsideration in light of People v. Denson , 500 Mich. 385 , 902 N.W.2d 306 (2017), and People v. Golochowicz , 413 Mich. 298 , 310-311, 319 N.W.2d 518 (1982). The prosecutor sought to admit the other-acts evidence to prove identity. " Golochowicz identifies the requirements of logical relevance when the proponent is utilizing a modus operandi theory to prove identity." People v. VanderVliet , 444 Mich. 52 , 66, 508 N.W.2d 114 (1993). On remand, the Court of Appeals shall apply Golochowicz to determine whether the other-acts evidence was admissible to prove identity. The Court of Appeals shall consider whether the defendant's other act and the charged offense were sufficiently similar to support this theory of relevance. See Denson , 500 Mich. at 402-404 , 902 N.W.2d 306 . In all other respects, leave to appeal is DENIED, because we are not persuaded that the remaining questions presented should be reviewed by this Court.