Opinion
SC 1551913 COA 334915
01-31-2022
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. MICHAEL BENJAMIN WERNER, Defendant-Appellant.
Grand Traverse CC: 98-007739-FC
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
Bridget M. McCormack, Chief Justice
By order of July 27, 2018, the application for leave to appeal the December 21, 2016 order of the Court of Appeals was held in abeyance pending the decisions in People v Betts (Docket No. 148981), People v Tucker (Docket No. 152798), and People v Snyder (Docket No. 153696). On order of the Court, Betts having been decided on July 27, 2021, 507 Mich. 527 (2021), Tucker having been dismissed on September 5, 2018, 503 Mich. 854 (2018), 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 March 21, 2016 order of the Grand Traverse Circuit Court denying the defendant's motion to correct an invalid sentence insofar as it requested 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 1998 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 we are not persuaded that the remaining questions presented should be reviewed by this Court.