People of Michigan v. Brian Keith Roberts, 327296

Two-year-old child died after a severe head injury on Dec. 31, 2013–Jan. 2, 2014; defendant admitted he pulled the child by the ankles causing a fall. Emergency imaging and autopsy showed acute subdural/subarachnoid hemorrhages and retinal hemorrhages; doctors noted evidence of an older subdural collection from Sept. 2013.
Prosecutors charged felony murder (based on underlying first‑degree child abuse), second‑degree murder, and first‑degree child abuse; prosecution’s experts testified the injuries required significant/violent force (analogized to car accidents) and were highly suspicious for abuse.
Defense counsel (Solis) did not call a medical expert at trial; he cross‑examined the prosecution’s experts and pursued an accidental short‑fall theory, though funds for a defense expert had been approved.
On post‑trial Ginther hearing, defense presented experts (Dragovic, Mack) who opined the CT/MR evidence could indicate preexisting subdural fluid that made the child more vulnerable and that lesser force could cause catastrophic injury; they disputed that the triad necessarily indicates abusive head trauma.
Trial court denied a new trial; the Court of Appeals reversed—holding counsel’s investigation and failure to secure defense expert testimony was professionally unreasonable and prejudiced the defense—vacating convictions and remanding for a new trial.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether defense counsel’s investigation into AHT/AHT-related medical controversy was reasonable	Solis made reasonable strategic choice to rely on cross‑examination and did some consultations	Counsel insufficiently investigated medical controversy and failed to secure expert to rebut prosecution	Counsel’s investigation was deficient; decision not to pursue experts was unreasonable under the circumstances
Whether counsel’s failures prejudiced the defense (Strickland prejudice prong)	Expert testimony was not outcome‑determinative; cross‑examination limited prosecution’s reach	Without a defense expert, jury lacked critical counter‑narrative; reasonable probability of different outcome if expert presented	Prejudice shown: reasonable probability result would differ; convictions vacated and new trial ordered
Double jeopardy note regarding multiple murder convictions	Prosecutor argues convictions arose from same victim but sentence practice allowed	Defendant argued second‑degree conviction duplicated first‑degree felony murder	Court observed second‑degree conviction should have been vacated earlier; not retained (trial court had declined to sentence on it)

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (establishes ineffective assistance standard)
People v. Ackley, 497 Mich. 381 (defense counsel deficient for failing to investigate and secure AHT expert)
People v. Trakhtenberg, 493 Mich. 38 (limits on calling strategy where investigation is inadequate)
People v. LeBlanc, 465 Mich. 575 (standards for reviewing Ginther hearing findings)
People v. Pickens, 446 Mich. 298 (deference to counsel’s strategic choices but not when investigation was incomplete)
People v. Ginther, 390 Mich. 436 (procedure for evidentiary hearing on ineffective assistance)