People of Michigan v. Leon Watson

912 N.W.2d 203

• Court: Michigan Supreme Court
• Decided: June 15, 2018
• Docket: SC: 156637; COA: 333125
• 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. We DIRECT the Cass County Prosecuting Attorney to answer the application for leave to appeal within 28 days after the date of this order. Specifically, the prosecutor shall address: (1) whether the rape-shield statute, MCL 750.520j, barred evidence of the complainant's sexual activity with two classmates when offered as proof of an alternative cause of the possible scarring observed by the sexual assault nurse examiner, see People v. Shaw , 315 Mich. App. 668 , 892 N.W.2d 15 (2016) ; (2) if so, whether that evidence was nevertheless admissible to preserve the defendant's constitutional rights to confrontation and to present a defense, see People v. Hackett , 421 Mich. 338 , 365 N.W.2d 120 (1984) ; and (3) whether the defendant's former appellate counsel rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance by failing to raise these issues in the Court of Appeals.

The application for leave to appeal remains pending.