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No. 132421
| The People of the State of Michigan, |
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Jeffrey Caminsky |
Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross-Appellee, |
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(Appeal from Ct of Appeals) |
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(Wayne, Hathaway, M.) |
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| Bernard Chauncey Murphy, |
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Robin M. Lerg |
| Defendant-Appellee-Cross-Appellant. |
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| __________________________________________ |
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Click to view briefs in Adobe format:
Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross-Appellee's Brief on Appeal>>
Defendant-Appellee-Cross-Appellant's Brief on Appeal>>
Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan's Amicus Curiae Brief>>
Background
Christopher Holman and Tammy Isaac were driving to the Thanksgiving Day Parade in Detroit when their car was struck from behind by a pickup truck. While Holman inspected the car for damage, two men, one holding a sawed-off shotgun, got out of the truck. The two men robbed Holman and Isaac and left. Early the next morning, another motorist was robbed in a similar way by men driving the same type of truck that had been used in the Thanksgiving Day robbery. A police officer spotted the suspects’ vehicle at a gas station and called for backup; the truck was stopped by police a short distance away. Shotgun shells were found in the truck, and similar shells were found in a trash receptacle at the gas station where the suspects were spotted. A sawed-off shotgun was discovered in the back of the gas station. Murphy, who was identified by one of the victims, was charged with two counts of armed robbery and one count of felony-firearm. The victims also told the police that the shotgun found at the gas station looked like the one used by the men who robbed them. Shortly before the trial, the prosecutor asked the trial judge to admit into evidence the shotgun shells and the shotgun. The trial court ruled that the shotgun shells could be admitted into evidence, but not the shotgun. The prosecutor filed an emergency interlocutory application for leave to appeal in the Court of Appeals, seeking to have the shotgun admitted. Murphy’s trial attorney did not respond to this emergency appeal. The Court of Appeals ruled in the prosecutor’s favor, and the case proceeded to trial, with the shotgun admitted into evidence. Murphy was convicted of two counts of armed robbery and one count of felony-firearm. He was sentenced to concurrent 15-to-30-year terms of imprisonment on the robbery convictions and a consecutive two-year term of imprisonment on the felony-firearm conviction. Murphy appealed, arguing that his trial counsel’s failure to respond to the prosecutor’s emergency appeal amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel. In an unpublished opinion, the Court of Appeals agreed and granted Murphy a new trial, finding that Murphy’s trial counsel was ineffective for failing to oppose the prosecutor’s emergency appeal. As a result, Murphy was denied counsel at a critical stage of the proceedings, the appellate panel held. The prosecutor appeals.
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