People of Michigan v. Joseph Christopher Mazzio, 334213

Defendant Joseph Mazzio was convicted by a jury of assault with intent to murder and originally sentenced to 7 years 4 months to 30 years.
On direct appeal, this Court affirmed; the Michigan Supreme Court held the case in abeyance pending Lockridge and later remanded for the trial court to determine whether it would have imposed a materially different sentence under Lockridge.
At resentencing (after a Crosby proceeding), the trial court reduced the minimum term to 6 years but again scored 25 points for Offense Variable (OV) 3 (life‑threatening or permanent incapacitating injury).
Defendant challenged OV 3 scoring as impermissible judicial fact‑finding and argued the score should be zero or otherwise unconstitutional under Lockridge.
The evidence showed the victim suffered multiple stab wounds near the jugular, which a medical professional testified were life‑threatening; the trial court relied on that evidence in scoring OV 3.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether OV 3 may be scored by judicial fact‑finding	OV 3 can be scored based on judge‑found facts when guidelines are advisory	Judicial fact‑finding to increase guideline scoring violates jury trial right under Lockridge	Court held Lockridge made guidelines advisory; judge‑found facts may be used to score OVs when guidelines are advisory
Whether OV 3 should receive 25 points (life‑threatening injury)	Evidence supports life‑threatening injury, so 25 points required under statute	OV 3 should be scored lower or zero	Court held 25 points proper because stab wounds near jugular were life‑threatening and statute requires highest score
Whether zero points was an available option for OV 3	Not applicable	Zero points applies only if no physical injury occurred	Court held zero unavailable because multiple stab wounds constituted physical injury
Whether judicial fact‑finding alone creates constitutional error after Lockridge	No constitutional error where guidelines advisory and scoring still required	Judicial fact‑finding that increases mandatory minimums violated Sixth Amendment pre‑Lockridge	Court held no Lockridge violation because guidelines are advisory and judicial fact‑finding to score OVs is permissible when not mandatory to increase a required minimum

People v Lockridge, 498 Mich 358 (held Michigan sentencing guidelines unconstitutional to the extent they required judge‑found facts to raise floor of mandatory guideline range; made guidelines advisory)
People v Houston, 473 Mich 399 (held highest OV3 points required where life‑threatening injury occurred and zero points not an option if any physical injury exists)
People v Hardy, 494 Mich 430 (explained standard of review: trial court factual findings for guideline scoring reviewed for clear error and must be supported by preponderance)
People v Biddles, 316 Mich App 148 (explained Lockridge remedy makes guidelines advisory and judicial fact‑finding to score OVs remains permissible)
United States v Crosby, 397 F.3d 103 (Crosby hearing procedure referenced for plea/resentencing procedures)