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State of Michigan v Terry Lee George, Jr. |
Michigan Court of Appeals |
2007 |
Defendant argued that the trial court's reference to impaired driving as a "less serious offense" to operating while intoxicated misled the jury into believing that defendant would face a lesser penalty if they convicted him of impaired driving rather than OWI, when the penalties for the two offenses are the same. I tend to agree with this argument. The Court of Appeals disagreed, even though this instruction remains fundamentally flawed in the current standardized instructions. I have addressed this with members of the jury instruction committee, and I have won numerous motions to make a simple change to this instruction. Instead of characterizing the offense as “less serious,” courts will frequently change the term to “lesser included,” a simple yet effective fix. |
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State of Michigan v Jeffrey Clarence Davidson |
Michigan Court of Appeals |
2003 |
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People v Cutler |
Michigan Court of Appeals |
1978 |
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State of Michigan v Rita Ann Ruhana |
Michigan Court of Appeals |
1998 |
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State of Michigan v Brandon Howard Castro |
Michigan Court of Appeals |
2008 |
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State of Michigan v Bryan R. Bain |
Michigan Court of Appeals |
2011 |
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State of Michigan v Douglas Elmer Boughner |
Michigan Court of Appeals |
1995 |
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State of Michigan v Lawrence Lee Byard |
Michigan Court of Appeals |
2005 |
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State of Michigan v Stanley Alvon Chapman |
Michigan Court of Appeals |
1987 |
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State of Michigan v Trevor Daniel Piotrowski |
Michigan Court of Appeals |
2001 |
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