Opinion
SC: 157043 COA: 335491
11-05-2021
PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Donald Mackay HALE, Jr., Defendant-Appellant.
Order
By order of June 30, 2020, the application for leave to appeal the November 21, 2017 judgment of the Court of Appeals was held in abeyance pending the decision in People v. Washington (Docket No. 160707). On order of the Court, the case having been decided on July 29, 2021, ––– Mich. ––––, ––– N.W.2d ––––, 2021 WL 3201310 (2021), the application is again considered. Pursuant to MCR 7.305(H)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we VACATE the judgment of the Court of Appeals, we VACATE the September 9, 2016 order of the Kent Circuit Court, and we REMAND this case to the Kent Circuit Court to determine whether that court would have imposed a materially different sentence under the sentencing procedure described in People v. Lockridge , 498 Mich. 358, 870 N.W.2d 502 (2015). The circuit court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to make this determination while the defendant's prior application for leave to appeal was pending in this Court. MCR 7.215(F)(1)(a). In all other respects, leave to appeal is DENIED, because we are not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this Court.
Viviano, J. (dissenting).
For the reasons stated in my dissent in People v. Washington , ––– Mich. ––––, ––– N.W.2d ––––, 2021 WL 3201310 (2021) (Docket No. 160707), I dissent from the majority's decision to remand this case under People v. Lockridge , 498 Mich. 358, 870 N.W.2d 502 (2015), for a third sentencing despite the fact that no substantive errors have been identified in the trial court's previous sentencing. I concur in the denial of leave in all other respects.