Opinion
SC 160281 COA 349174
04-04-2023
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. MAURICE JONES, Defendant-Appellant.
Wayne CC: 79-007182-FC
Elizabeth T. Clement, Chief Justice Brian K. Zahra David F. Viviano Richard H. Bernstein Megan K. Cavanagh Elizabeth M. Welch Kyra H. Bolden, Justices
ORDER
By order of July 16, 2021, the application for leave to appeal the September 4, 2019 order of the Court of Appeals was held in abeyance pending the decision in People v Poole (Docket No. 161529). On order of the Court, the case having been decided on July 28, 2022, 510 Mich. 851 (2022), the application is again considered. Pursuant to MCR 7.305(H)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we REMAND this case to the Court of Appeals for reconsideration in light of People v Parks, 510 Mich. 225 (2022), and People v Stovall, 510 Mich. 301 (2022).
We do not retain jurisdiction.
VIVIANO, J. (dissenting).
For the reasons stated in my dissent in People v Stovall, 510 Mich. 301, 362 (2022), I do not believe defendant has overcome the procedural bar to file a successive motion for relief from judgment and would deny leave to appeal under MCR 6.502(G). Even if defendant could overcome the procedural bar, for the reasons stated in Chief Justice CLEMENT's dissent in People v Parks, 510 Mich. 225, 278 (2022), I do not believe that a mandatory sentence to life without parole for a defendant who committed first-degree murder when he was 18 years old is unconstitutional. Therefore, I respectfully dissent and would deny leave to appeal.