Opinion
SC 156354 COA 336751
01-31-2022
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CHRISTOPHER CARSON SMITH, Defendant-Appellant.
Ingham CC: 92-064315-FH
Bridget M. McCormack, Chief Justice Brian K. Zahra David F. Viviano Richard H. Bernstein Elizabeth T. Clement Megan K. Cavanagh Elizabeth M. Welch, Justices
ORDER
By order of September 24, 2018, the application for leave to appeal the June 26, 2017 order of the Court of Appeals was held in abeyance pending the decisions in People v Betts (Docket No. 148981) and People v Snyder (Docket No. 153696). On order of the Court, Betts having been decided on July 27, 2021, 507 Mich. 527 (2021), and Snyder having been decided on October 8, 2021, __ Mich__ (2021), the application is again considered. Pursuant to MCR 7.305(H)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we VACATE in part the November 15, 2016 order of the Ingham Circuit Court denying the defendant's motion for relief from judgment insofar as it involves his removal from the sex offender registry under MCL 28.721 et seq. The retroactive application of 2011 PA 17 to the defendant, well after the 1992 offense that required him to register, violates the federal and state constitutional prohibitions on ex post facto laws. Betts, supra. We REMAND this case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with Betts. 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).