People v. Brown, 294 Mich. App. 377

MO (victim) born 2002; mother lived with defendant from 2007; MO stayed with defendant; MO described sexual acts by defendant to neighbor CL; MO’s statements referenced as 'humping game' and private parts; MO found in defendant’s bed during police visit and marijuana odor observed; seized electronic/media equipment; joint federal investigation into child pornography; KD testimony of past abuse; defendant testified denying sexual acts and noting prior convictions
Police investigation revealed defendant’s Illinois convictions for sexual misconduct involving minors; search and seizure produced laptops, video camera, Hi8 tapes, nudist videotapes; MO testified to sexual contact; video evidence admitted at trial
Defense and prosecution presented evidence of prior acts under MRE 404(b) and MCL 768.27a; detective Raymo and federal agent Raymo involved in digital evidence processing; trial included MO’s testimony and video footage depicting defendant with MO
Defendant argued ineffective assistance of counsel for not objecting to misconduct; court held overwhelming evidence supported conviction; no reversible error found
Sentence: life imprisonment without parole under MCL 750.520b(2)(c) for CSC-I with victim under 13; statute deemed proportional and constitutional; no departure from guidelines despite mandatory sentence; rights to trial and Eighth Amendment considerations addressed

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Prosecutorial misconduct preservation and impact	People asserts misconduct not preserved and, even if, did not affect fairness	Brown argues misconduct denied fair trial	No reversible plain error; verdict supported by MO’s testimony and video
Admission of other-acts evidence under MRE 404(b)/MCL 768.27a	People argues evidence probative and properly balancing under 404(b) and 768.27a	Brown contends evidence unfairly prejudicial and not sufficiently similar	Proper admission with balancing; remoteness weighed on weight, not admissibility; similarity supports probative value
Effective assistance of counsel regarding alleged misconduct	People contends no ineffective assistance given lack of prosecutorial misconduct	Brown claims counsel should have objected to misconduct	No ineffective assistance; overwhelming evidence of guilt renders outcome unlikely different
Right to trial and sentencing relationship	People argues no infringement; sentence mandated by statute	Brown contends punishment for exercising jury trial right	Sentence mandated by statute; not punishing exercise of trial right; constitutional challenges unpreserved
Cruel and unusual punishment / departure from guidelines	People contends statute-based sentence proportional	Brown argues Eighth Amendment violation or improper departure	Legislatively mandated sentence proportional; no departure invalidated; no cruel-and-unusual concern

People v Carines, 460 Mich 750 (1999) (plain-error review when no preservation of error)
People v Dobek, 274 Mich App 58 (2007) (prosecutorial misconduct review in context of trial)
People v Knox, 469 Mich 502 (2004) (MRE 404(b) balancing test for other-acts evidence)
People v McGhee, 268 Mich App 600 (2005) (remoteness affects weight, not admissibility)
People v Williams, 189 Mich App 400 (1991) (presumptively proportional for legislatively mandated sentences)