People of Michigan v. Jeffery Alan Douglas

Summary

The Michigan Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the Court of Appeals' decision, holding that a new trial was warranted but that the prosecution's pretrial plea offer need not be reinstated. The trial court abused its discretion by admitting the child complainant's forensic-interview statements about the alleged fellatio — they were not her first corroborative statement under MRE 803A and failed the MRE 803(24) residual exception — and that hearsay, in a pure credibility contest with no physical or third-party evidence, more probably than not tipped the scales against the defendant; defense counsel was also ineffective for failing to object to three witnesses' improper vouching for the child's credibility. The Court nonetheless upheld the trial court's finding that counsel's misadvice about the 25-year mandatory minimum caused no Lafler prejudice, because the defendant's persistent protestations of innocence made it not reasonably probable he would have accepted either plea offer. Justice Viviano, joined by Justices Cavanagh and Markman, concurred in part and dissented in part, agreeing a new trial was warranted and that counsel was deficient but concluding the defendant showed prejudice and would have ordered the prosecution to reoffer its first plea.