Opinion
350343
12-09-2021
People v. Clarence Jeffrey Hunt
LC No. 18-008475-FH
David H. Sawyer, Jane M. Beckering Judges
ORDER
Douglas B. Shapiro Presiding Judge
On its own motion, this Court VACATES the trial court's August 25, 2021 Judgment of Re-Sentence and REMANDS the matter for further proceedings.
After this Court issued its opinion and a remand order, defendant filed an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court on March 15, 2021. The Supreme Court did not render a decision on defendant's application until October 8, 2021, and neither this Court nor the Supreme Court issued an order affecting the automatic stay of this Court's judgment. Thus, at the time the trial court conducted a resentence hearing and issued its Judgment of Re-Sentence on August 25, 2021, it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. MCR 7.305(6)(a) ("If the Court of Appeals decision is a judgment under MCR 7.215(E)(1), an application for leave to appeal stays proceedings on remand unless the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court orders otherwise."). See also People v Washington, __Mich__;__ N.W.2d__ (Docket No. 160707, issued July 29, 2021). Jurisdiction remained with the appellate courts until the Supreme Court's disposition of defendant's application for leave to appeal this Court's judgment. Washington, __ Mich. at, slip op 13-14. The trial court's Judgment of Re-Sentence was void because the existence of subject-matter jurisdiction goes to the trial court's very authority to bind the parties to the action at hand. Id., slip op. 18.
Proceedings on remand in this matter shall commence within 14 days of the Clerk's certification of this order, and they shall be given priority on remand until they are concluded. We affirm defendant's convictions, but we remand and direct the trial court to resentence defendant. If the court imposes a departure sentence, it shall articulate its rationale for the departure and the extent of the departure. We also instruct the trial court to make the necessary ministerial corrections to the presentence investigation report (PSIR) and to provide a corrected copy to the Department of Corrections. The PSIR should reflect 10 points for OV 4 and 0 points for OV 2. Despite the trial court's remarks on the record at the August 25, 2021 hearing indicating that the PSIR was being ministerially corrected, it remains uncorrected. The proceedings on remand are limited to these issues.
The parties shall promptly file with this Court a copy of all papers filed on remand. Within seven days after entry, appellant shall file with this Court copies of all orders entered on remand.
The transcript of all proceedings on remand shall be prepared and filed within 21 days after completion of the proceedings. This order is to have immediate effect. MCR 7.215(F)(2). We retain jurisdiction.