Opinion
SC: 156900 COA: 318329
09-30-2019
PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Alexander Jeremy STEANHOUSE, Defendant-Appellee.
Order
By order of May 4, 2018, the application for leave to appeal the December 5, 2017 judgment of the Court of Appeals was held in abeyance pending the decision in People v. Dixon-Bey . On order of the Court, leave to appeal having been denied in Dixon-Bey on July 29, 2019, 504 Mich. ––––, 931 N.W.2d 302 (2019), the application is again considered and, pursuant to MCR 7.305(H)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we VACATE that part of the Court of Appeals judgment remanding this case to the trial court solely for resentencing. The Court of Appeals determined that only one of three reasons articulated by the trial court for departing from the sentencing guidelines was valid, that it was unclear whether it would have departed solely on that basis, and that its reasoning for the extent of departure was difficult to ascertain. Rather than remanding only for resentencing, the Court of Appeals should have remanded for the trial court to either resentence or to further articulate its reasons for departure. See People v. Babcock , 469 Mich. 247, 258-259, 666 N.W.2d 231 (2003). We REMAND this case to the Wayne Circuit Court to either issue an order further articulating its reasons for guidelines departure, or to resentence the defendant.
We do not retain jurisdiction.