Opinion
SC: 152500 COA: 321303
11-16-2017
PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Christopher Wayne STOKES, Defendant-Appellant.
Order
By order of May 25, 2016, the application for leave to appeal the September 8, 2015 judgment of the Court of Appeals was held in abeyance pending the decisions in People v. Steanhouse(Docket No. 152849) and People v. Masroor(Docket Nos. 152946-8). On order of the Court, the cases having been decided on July 24, 2017, 500 Mich. 453, 902 N.W.2d 327 (2017), the application is again considered. Pursuant to MCR 7.305(H)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we VACATE Part II.A. of the Court of Appeals opinion addressing jury deliberations. Assuming arguendo that the juror experiment constituted an improper extraneous influence on the jury, given that the juror did not share the results of his experiment with the other jurors, it did not create "a real and substantial possibility that [it] could have affected the jury's verdict." People v. Budzyn, 456 Mich. 77, 88-89, 566 N.W.2d 229 (1997). 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.
Wilder, J., did not participate because he was on the Court of Appeals panel.