Opinion
371494
08-29-2024
PEOPLE OF MICHIGAN v. PERCY EDWARD TAYLOR
LC No. 16-004024-FC
Brock A. Swartzle Presiding Judge Kristina Robinson Garrett Allie Greenleaf Maldonado Judges
ORDER
Brock A. Swartzle Presiding Judge
The motion to waive the filing fees is GRANTED for this case only.
MCR 6.500 et seq., does not limit a trial court's ability to recognize a subject-matter jurisdiction error and remedy it. Thus, a trial court may take such action at any point in the proceedings- even on collateral attack-and by its own initiative or upon motion of the parties. People v Washington, 508 Mich. 107, 130-131; 972 N.W.2d 767 (2021). Defendant argues that his 1995 misdemeanor domestic violence conviction was obtained in violation of the right to counsel. This prior conviction was used as part of the factual predicate for defendant's convictions of third-offense domestic violence and his CSC-I under MCL 750.520b(1)(c) (sexual penetration during the commission of another felony) and his corresponding sentences. A challenge to the constitutional validity of a prior conviction under these circumstances on the ground that the prior conviction was obtained without counsel or a proper waiver of counsel raises a claim of a jurisdictional defect. See People v Carpentier, 446 Mich. 19, 23, 27-30; 521 N.W.2d 195 (1994); People v Moore, 391 Mich. 426, 441-442; 216 N.W.2d 770 (1974); People v Zinn, 217 Mich.App. 340, 342-343; 551 N.W.2d 704 (1996); People v Stratton, 148 Mich.App. 70, 80; 384 N.W.2d 83 (1985). The trial court erred when it recharacterized defendant's motion as a successive motion for relief from judgment and denied the motion for failure to satisfy the requirements of MCR 6.502(G). The November 15, 2023 order of the Jackson Circuit Court is VACATED. We REMAND this matter to the trial court for reconsideration of the merits of defendant's challenge to the constitutional validity of his 1995 conviction. This order has immediate effect. MCR 7.215(F)(2). We do not retain jurisdiction.