Opinion
No. 128209.
September 21, 2005.
Summary Disposition.
SC: 128209, COA: 250324.
Pursuant to MCR 7.302(G)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal we vacate the portion of the judgment of the Court of Appeals that rejected defendant's challenge to the trial court's instruction on his burden to show that his right to possess a weapon had been restored, and we remand this case to the Court of Appeals for reconsideration in light of people v. Perkins, 473 Mich 626 (2005). Perkins held that a defendant bears the burden of producing evidence to establish that the right to possess a firearm has been restored pursuant to MCL 750.224f(2)(b), but if the defendant fails to meet this burden of production, the prosecution is not required to prove lack of restoration beyond a reasonable doubt. This defendant claim that evidence exists from which to infer that his previous conviction was "expunged or set aside" within the meaning of MCL 750.224f(4), and that the trial court thus erred in instructing the jury that "[a] mere assertion by defendant that his rights to carry a firearm were restored is not enough evidence to shift the burden of proof to the prosecution to slow that the defendant's rights to possess a firearm were not restored." In all other respects, the application for leave to appeal is denied. We do not retain jurisdiction.