People of Michigan v. Geoffrey Lavar Lawson

• Court: Michigan Supreme Court
• Decided: May 26, 2021
• Docket: 161746
• Status: Published

Opinion

Order Michigan Supreme Court Lansing, Michigan

May 26, 2021 Bridget M. McCormack, Chief Justice

161746 Brian K. Zahra David F. Viviano Richard H. Bernstein Elizabeth T. Clement Megan K. Cavanagh PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Elizabeth M. Welch, Plaintiff-Appellee, Justices

v SC: 161746 COA: 352449 Genesee CC: 08-024090-FC GEOFFREY LAVAR LAWSON, Defendant-Appellant.

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On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the May 6, 2020 order of the Court of Appeals is considered. We DIRECT the Genesee County Prosecuting Attorney to answer the application for leave to appeal within 28 days after the date of this order. In particular, the prosecuting attorney shall address: (1) whether the presumption of prejudice to a defendant from a substantive communication with a jury outside the presence of defense counsel applies when such a claim is brought in a motion for relief from judgment, compare People v France, 436 Mich 138, 143 (1990), with MCR 6.508(D)(3)(b); and (2) if such a presumption applies here, whether trial counsel’s statement that he had no objection to the court providing the written jury instruction effectively rebuts that presumption or whether an evidentiary hearing must be held.

The application for leave to appeal remains pending.

I, Larry S. Royster, Clerk of the Michigan Supreme Court, certify that the foregoing is a true and complete copy of the order entered at the direction of the Court. May 26, 2021 b0519 Clerk