People of Michigan v. Robert Kendall Nicholls

• Court: Michigan Supreme Court
• Decided: December 9, 2015
• Docket: 151038
• Status: Published

Opinion

Order Michigan Supreme Court Lansing, Michigan

December 9, 2015 Robert P. Young, Jr., Chief Justice

Stephen J. Markman Brian K. Zahra 151038 Bridget M. McCormack David F. Viviano Richard H. Bernstein Joan L. Larsen, PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Justices Plaintiff-Appellee, v SC: 151038 COA: 318090 Wayne CC: 13-003691-FH ROBERT KENDALL NICHOLLS, Defendant-Appellant.

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On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the December 23, 2014 judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered and, pursuant to MCR 7.305(H)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we REVERSE in part the judgment of the Court of Appeals, and we REMAND this case to the Wayne Circuit Court to determine whether it would have imposed a materially different sentence under the sentencing procedure described in People v Lockridge, 498 Mich 358 (2015). On remand, the trial court shall follow the procedure described in Part VI of our opinion. If the trial court determines that it would have imposed the same sentence absent the unconstitutional constraint on its discretion, it may reaffirm the original sentence. If, however, the trial court determines that it would not have imposed the same sentence absent the unconstitutional constraint on its discretion, it shall resentence the defendant. 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.

We do not retain jurisdiction.

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. December 9, 2015 s1202 Clerk