Opinion
363431
03-20-2023
People of Michigan v. David Wilson
LC No. 13-001466-01-FC
Kristina Robinson Garrett Presiding Judge Christopher M. Murray Anica Letica Judges
ORDER
The motion to waive fees is GRANTED for this case only.
The application for leave to appeal is DENIED because defendant has failed to establish that the trial court erred in denying the successive motion for relief from judgment. MCR 6.502(G). We note, however, that the trial court's opinion implies that the four-part test stated in People v Cress, 468 Mich. 678; 664 N.W.2d 174 (2003), applies to the procedural bar of MCR 6.502(G). It does not. People v Owens, 338 Mich.App. 101, 115; 979 N.W.2d 345 (2021). See also People v Swain, 499 Mich. 920 (2016) ("[T]he plain text of [MCR 6.502(G)] does not require that a defendant satisfy all elements of the [Cress] test"). However, once a defendant overcomes the procedural threshold of MCR 6.502(G), he or she must still establish entitlement to relief under MCR 6.508(D). At that stage, the Cress test applies. Owens, 338 Mich.App. at 122-123; People v Rogers, 335 Mich.App. 172, 193; 966 N.W.2d 181 (2020). In this case, the trial court ultimately reached the correct result, as the evidence proffered by defendant was largely not new evidence at all, and thus did not survive the procedural bar of MCR 6.502(G), and because to the extent any of the evidence could be considered "new," defendant failed to establish entitlement to relief from judgment under MCR 6.508(D) and Cress.