People v. Frazier
Opinions
The prosecution appeals, by leave granted, the July 28, 2004, order of the trial court granting defendant’s pretrial motions to exclude certain evidence during his new trial. Specifically, the court prohibited the prosecution from using for impeachment purposes statements made by defendant should defendant waive his Fifth Amendment privilege and take the stand in his own defense. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan previously found that these statements were elicited in violation of defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel.1 The trial court also prohibited the prosecution from presenting the testimony of two witnesses whose identity was procured from those inadmissible statements, absent a showing that these witnesses were, in fact, discovered from an independent source. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
In 1996, defendant was convicted following a jury trial of two counts of felony murder,2 two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony (felony-[175] firearm),3 and one count of armed robbery.4 Defendant’s convictions arose from the 1995 murders of James Goff and Aaron McColgan. Kenneth Haywood implicated defendant in the crime. Mr. Haywood told investigating officers that he drove defendant and codefendant, Idell Cleveland,5 to Mr. McColgan’s home on the night of the murders. Mr. Haywood waited in his car while defendant and Mr. Cleveland went inside. Through the open windows of the house, Mr. Haywood heard Mr. Cleveland say, “Get on the floor.” Mr. Haywood then heard two gunshots, whereupon he fled the scene alone. He went to the police station the following day, after reading of the murders in a local newspaper.
Based on the information provided by Mr. Haywood, officers executed a search warrant at defendant’s home three days after the murders. Thereafter, defendant’s mother retained an attorney to represent her son. The attorney advised defendant to speak with the police in an attempt to negotiate a plea bargain, and accompanied his client when he surrendered to the authorities. Two days later, and following his arraignment, defendant gave three statements to the police detailing his involvement in the crime. Although initially denying any knowledge of Mr. Cleveland’s plans, defendant ultimately admitted that he knew that Mr. Cleveland was armed and intended to rob Mr. Goff and Mr. McColgan.6 Defendant also admitted that Mr. Cleveland [176] gave him two $50 bills following the robbery. Defendant told officers that two men operating a street sweeper gave him a ride home following the shootings. The prosecution located these witnesses, Anthony Wright and Wilbert Mack, who testified that defendant indicated that he had been at a party and could not find a ride home. They further testified that defendant asked them if they had change for a $50 bill.
In his first appeal, defendant alleged that counsel was ineffective for advising him to speak to the police absent an official offer to enter into a plea agreement. This Court originally affirmed defendant’s convictions.7 Upon receiving information from the defendant that the challenged interrogations occurred following arraignment, however, the panel reconsidered and remanded for a Ginther8 hearing.9 At that hearing, defense counsel testified that he remained with defendant while he waived his Miranda10 rights and agreed to speak with the police. However, counsel admitted that he did not accompany his client into the interrogations, as he was uncertain whether the officers would have [177] allowed him to be present. Despite counsel’s abandonment of his client, the trial court denied defendant’s motion for a new trial and this Court affirmed.11 Defendant then filed an application for leave to appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court, which was denied.12
The defendant subsequently filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Defendant alleged for the first time in that petition that defense counsel’s abandonment during the police interrogations violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel under United States v Cronic.
Footnotes
715 N.W.2d 341 (People v. Frazier) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.
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