Opinion
364985
07-20-2023
People of Michigan v. Darquarion Deonta Henderson
LC No. 2015-000579-FH
Jane E. Markey Presiding Judge Douglas B. Shapiro Kathleen A. Feeney Judges.
ORDER
Jane E. Markey Presiding Judge
The motion to waive fees is GRANTED for this case only.
The delayed 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).
Shapiro, J., would remand for an evidentiary hearing on plaintiff's claim of actual innocence and hold his application for leave to appeal in abeyance until the trial court rules on the motion for new trial at the conclusion of the hearing. The basis for my view is as follows: defendant previously filed a motion for new trial on grounds of actual innocence and new evidence in docket # 359107. He again seeks a new trial on the grounds of actual innocence and submits supplemented affidavits that provide an additional basis for his claim of innocence. In docket #359107, I concurred in the denial on the grounds that the record before us did not reveal whether defendant's plea was based on the force or coercion (the lack of which the affidavits of the victim and her mother attest to) or on some other grounds. After further review of the MCL 750.520c, however, I conclude that the only basis on which defendant's conviction could have rested was the use of force or coercion as he is plainly not a member of her family, not related to her, was not in a position of authority over her and was not a school employee or contractor. Given this, I conclude that defendant has demonstrated a "significant possibility that the defendant is innocent of the crime," MCR 6.502(G)(2), that as a matter of substantive justice he should be afforded the opportunity to present testimony and other evidence at an evidentiary hearing. I would remand for appointment of counsel and an evidentiary hearing on the motion for new trial.