People of Michigan v. Sebastian Theophilus Wilson, 330883

Defendant Sebastian Wilson, a chiropractor, was convicted of eight counts of felony health care fraud for billing Blue Cross Blue Shield for chiropractic services allegedly provided to his four children on June 2 and 9, 2014.
Plaintiff presented testimony from the children’s mother, a babysitter, and a BCBS fraud investigator showing the children were not in defendant’s custody and that his records did not show services provided on those dates.
Defendant moved for a new trial or a Ginther hearing claiming ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to subpoena twelve defense witnesses (including his children) and for failing to obtain phone records; the trial court denied the motion.
On appeal, defendant renewed the motion to remand for a new trial or Ginther hearing; the Court of Appeals denied and affirmed the convictions and denial of the new-trial motion.
The trial court found (and the appellate court agreed) that defendant’s assertions were speculative, that phone records showing calls would not prove physical presence needed to provide care, and that counsel’s tactical decisions were within the range of reasonable strategy.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether defense counsel was ineffective for failing to subpoena/present defense witnesses (including children)	Counsel’s choices were reasonable trial strategy and defendant failed to show prejudice	Counsel should have called the children and other witnesses to provide a substantial defense	No ineffective assistance; defendant’s claim speculative and not a substantial defense
Whether counsel was ineffective for failing to obtain phone records	Phone records would not show physical contact or opportunity to treat children; not material	Phone records would have impeached grandmother and aided defense	No prejudice: phone calls wouldn’t establish physical presence or opportunity to treat
Whether denial of new-trial motion based on ineffective assistance was an abuse of discretion	Denial was within principled range given lack of merit to ineffective-assistance claim	Denial was error and remand for Ginther hearing/new trial was required	No abuse of discretion; denial affirmed

LeBlanc v. People, 465 Mich. 575 (standard of review for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Dendel v. People, 481 Mich. 114 (mixed question review; factual findings for clear error)
Heft v. People, 299 Mich. App. 69 (two-part ineffective assistance test: performance and prejudice)
Stanaway v. People, 446 Mich. 643 (strong presumption counsel’s assistance was sound trial strategy)
Terrell v. People, 289 Mich. App. 553 (abuse of discretion standard for denying new trial)
Russell v. People, 297 Mich. App. 707 (failure to call witnesses requires showing deprivation of a substantial defense)