Opinion
SC: 162761 COA: 355609
02-02-2022
PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Timothy Treshaen RICE, Defendant-Appellant.
Order
By order of October 8, 2021, the prosecuting attorney was directed to answer the application for leave to appeal the February 4, 2021 order of the Court of Appeals. On order of the Court, the answer having been received, the application for leave to appeal is again considered. Pursuant to MCR 7.305(H)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we REMAND this case to the Wayne Circuit Court for reconsideration of the defendant's claims that trial counsel rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance for failing to interview and call at trial a res gestae witness, and that appellate counsel rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance for failing to obtain an affidavit from the witness in support of a motion to remand. Because the defendant has produced an affidavit from the witness, which he argues is new evidence that would make a different result probable on retrial, the trial court was not precluded from considering the defendant's claims under MCR 6.508(D)(2). In all other respects, leave to appeal is DENIED, because the defendant has failed to meet the burden of establishing entitlement to relief under MCR 6.508(D).