Opinion
No. 122102.
May 22, 2003.
COA: 228565, Oakland CC: 00-170369-FC
On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal from the July 16, 2002, decision of the Court of Appeals is considered, and, pursuant to MCR 7.302(F)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we DIRECT the Oakland County Prosecuting Attorney to file an answer, within 28 days after the date of this order, addressing the issues of (1) whether conducting any part of a criminal trial in the absence of defense counsel is inherently both structural error not subject to harmless error analysis and a per se denial of effective assistance of counsel, and (2) whether the responses police gave, during interrogation, to defendant's questions about consulting an attorney violated defendant's right to counsel and right not to incriminatc himselt thereby rendering the confession inadmissible. The defendant's application remains under consideration.