People v. Miles

559 N.W.2d 299, 454 Mich. 90
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 6, 1997
Docket100683, Calendar No. 12
StatusPublished
Cited by143 cases

This text of 559 N.W.2d 299 (People v. Miles) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Miles, 559 N.W.2d 299, 454 Mich. 90 (Mich. 1997).

Opinions

Weaver, J.

Defendant was convicted of armed robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Because the presentence report failed to show that defendant had a prior felony-firearm conviction, the felony-firearm sentence imposed was a two-year consecutive sentence. When the trial court learned of the inaccuracy in the presentence report the court, sua sponte and without affording defendant a resentencing hearing, enhanced the felony-firearm sentence to five years as statutorily mandated. The Court of Appeals affirmed the increased sentence.

We reverse in part and affirm in part the judgment of the Court of Appeals. We remand for resentencing only with regard to the armed robbery conviction and hold the modification of the felony-firearm sentence to be harmless error because defendant admits the prior felony-firearm conviction.

i

Armed with a gun, defendant robbed a Detroit grocery store in April 1992. He was charged with armed robbery1 and with possession of a firearm during the commission of that felony.2 The presentence report stated that he faced a two-year consecutive prison term for the felony-firearm charge.

[93]*93In February 1993, defendant pleaded guilty as charged. This was a negotiated plea, and the terms of the bargain were placed on the record. During the plea proceeding, the trial court told defendant that he would serve two years in prison for felony-firearm.

In preparation for the March 1993 sentencing, the trial court received a presentence report that listed no prior felony-firearm conviction for defendant. Neither party challenged this portion of the report.

The trial court then sentenced defendant to a term of six to fifteen years in prison for armed robbery.3 Believing that it was defendant’s first felony-firearm conviction, the court imposed the two-year mandatory consecutive term.

Six weeks later, an employee of the Department of Corrections sent a letter to the trial court stating that defendant had previously been convicted of felony-firearm. The employee stated that, as a second felony-firearm offender, defendant should be serving a five-year term rather than a two-year term.

The trial court informed the Department of Corrections that it could not locate a record of a prior felony-firearm conviction. In response, the department provided a docket number, a date, and the name of the sentencing judge.

In the meantime, defendant had timely requested the appointment of appellate counsel. In April 1993, the court entered an order appointing counsel.4

[94]*94The trial court then entered an amended judgment of sentence, providing that defendant would serve a five-year term of imprisonment for felony-firearm.5 The amended judgment was entered without notice to either party and without a resentencing hearing.

On appeal, defendant argued that he should be resentenced,6 but the Court of Appeals affirmed.7 This Court granted defendant’s application for leave to appeal.8

n

The question presented is whether the trial court had the authority to modify defendant’s felony-firearm sentence from two to five years, sua sponte and without a resentencing hearing, when it learned after sentencing that defendant had previously been convicted of felony-firearm.

Defendant does not challenge the existence of the prior felony-firearm conviction. Instead, he argues that he is entitled to resentencing because the trial court should have been required to reconsider the length of his consecutive indeterminate sentence when it enhanced defendant’s felony-firearm sentence to five years. The prosecutor correctly characterizes defendant’s appeal as an attempt to raise the question whether a trial court should consider the effect of the length of a mandatory sentence when setting a consecutive indeterminate sentence.

[95]*95Although this issue has been addressed by the Court of Appeals, this Court has not addressed this question directly. The Court of Appeals in People v Warner, 190 Mich App 734; 476 NW2d 660 (1991), held that where a defendant receives consecutive sentences and neither sentence exceeds the maximum punishment allowed, the aggregate of the sentences will not be disproportionate under People v Milbourn, 435 Mich 630; 461 NW2d 1 (1990).9 In effect, Warner treats each sentence separately under Milboum’s principle of proportionality.10 Under Administrative Order Nos. 1994-4 and 1996-4, 445 Mich xci and 451 Mich xcii, Warner is controlling. We find Warner’s reasoning persuasive and hold that a sentencing court need not consider the length of a consecutive or concurrent mandatory sentence when setting an indeterminate sentence.11

In so holding, we overrule People v Davis, 196 Mich App 597; 493 NW2d 467 (1992), to the extent that it held a sentencing court must consider the effect of the length of the sentence of a mandatory felony-firearm conviction when sentencing the underlying felony. Davis’ attempt to distinguish Warner is not persuasive. Id. at 602, n 2.

[96]*96III

Although the authority of the court over a defendant typically ends when a valid sentence is pronounced, the court may correct an invalid sentence after sentencing. In re Jenkins, 438 Mich 364; 475 NW2d 279 (1991); People v Barfield, 411 Mich 700; 311 NW2d 724 (1981); People v Fox, 312 Mich 577; 20 NW2d 732 (1945). This established rule is restated in MCR 6.429(A):

The court may correct an invalid sentence, but the court may not modify a valid sentence after it has been imposed except as provided by law.

Thus, it is necessary to address whether the underlying sentences were invalid.

A

A sentence is invalid when it is beyond statutory limits, when it is based upon constitutionally impermissible grounds, improper assumptions of guilt, a misconception of law, or when it conforms to local sentencing policy rather than individualized facts. People v Whalen, 412 Mich 166, 169-170; 312 NW2d 638 (1981). This Court has also repeatedly held that a sentence is invalid if it is based on inaccurate information. People v Triplett, 407 Mich 510, 515; 287 NW2d 165 (1980); Whalen, supra at 170; People v Eason, 435 Mich 228, 233; 458 NW2d 17 (1990).

In this case, the information in the presentence report was inaccurate because it failed to disclose defendant’s prior felony-firearm conviction. A line of Michigan cases hold that sentences based on inaccurate information are invalid. People v Lauzon, 84 Mich App 201; 269 NW2d 524 (1978) (the trial court [97]*97erred when it sentenced the defendant under the mistaken belief that he had committed a burglary while out on bond); People v Corlin, 95 Mich App 740; 291 NW2d 188 (1980) (the presentence report erroneously stated that the defendant had pleaded guilty of possession, which carried a maximum penalty of two years, rather than delivery, which carried a maximum penalty of seven years); People v Hale (After Remand),

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Bluebook (online)
559 N.W.2d 299, 454 Mich. 90, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-miles-mich-1997.