People v. Stokes
312 Mich. App. 181
| Mich. Ct. App. | 2015Background
- On July 10, 2013 Charles Jones was carjacked at gunpoint in Detroit; Christopher Stokes was charged with carjacking, armed robbery, and firearms offenses. A jury convicted Stokes of carjacking and armed robbery but acquitted him of firearms charges.
- Stokes’ defense chiefly was alibi: witnesses said he was tattooing at a salon party until midnight. Jones identified Stokes as the assailant; police later found Jones’s phone in Stokes’s home.
- After verdict, a juror disclosed conducting a private experiment (pointing his gun at a mirror) before deliberations ended; he did not disclose the experiment to other jurors.
- Defense claimed Brady violations (prosecutor failed to disclose Stokes’s cell phone and related data) and ineffective assistance for delayed requests for the phone and for failing to request certain jury instructions.
- At sentencing the trial court scored offense variables (OVs) for firearm use despite acquittal on firearm counts; Stokes was sentenced as a second habitual offender to concurrent 18–30 year terms. Stokes appealed.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Juror misconduct (private experiment) | Juror’s home experiment was an extraneous influence requiring a new trial. | Experiment was based on juror’s memory of trial evidence and not shared with jury; internal to deliberations. | Court: No misconduct warranting reversal; experiment was intrinsic to deliberations, not extraneous. |
| Brady production of cell phone / counsel delay | Prosecutor suppressed Stokes’s phone (and location/tracking/alibi data); counsel ineffective for late request. | Prosecutor offered phone access; record does not show suppression; no proof phone held material evidence; prejudice not shown. | Court: No Brady violation shown; no materiality or prejudice; ineffective assistance claim fails. |
| Sentencing—judicial factfinding increased mandatory minimum (Alleyne/Lockridge) | Trial court’s OV scoring for firearm facts (not found by jury) increased mandatory-minimum range; Sixth Amendment violated—remedy: resentence within lower grid. | (State argued guidelines scoring permissible; relied on pre-Lockridge framework). | Court: Sixth Amendment violation; sentencing remand required under Lockridge/Crosby procedure so trial court can decide whether it would impose a materially different sentence. |
| Right to present defense / closing argument & instruction failures | Trial counsel was ineffective for not requesting flight/alibi instructions and for being barred from naming alternate suspect ("Andre"). | Trial counsel’s tactical choices were reasonable; naming Andre specifically was disallowed but counsel argued inferences; any error harmless. | Court: No ineffective-assistance relief for instruction omissions (strategy/no prejudice). Trial court abused discretion in forbidding naming Andre, but error was harmless and did not deny right to present a defense. |
Key Cases Cited
- Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963) (prosecution must disclose favorable, material evidence to the defense)
- Alleyne v. United States, 133 S. Ct. 2151 (2013) (any fact that increases mandatory minimum is an element requiring jury finding)
- United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005) (held federal sentencing guidelines advisory to remedy Sixth Amendment errors)
- United States v. Crosby, 397 F.3d 103 (2d Cir. 2005) (procedures for remand to determine whether resentencing is required after guideline error)
- Doan v. Brigano, 237 F.3d 722 (6th Cir. 2001) (juror-conducted experiments can be extraneous influence if results are shared with jury)
- People v. Fletcher, 260 Mich. App. 531 (2004) (distinguishes extraneous influences from intrinsic deliberative conduct)
- People v. Budzyn, 456 Mich. 77 (1998) (jurors must consider only evidence introduced at trial)
- People v. Chenault, 495 Mich. 142 (2014) (defines Brady materiality standard)
- People v. Sabin (On Second Remand), 242 Mich. App. 656 (2000) (absence of alibi instruction not reversible when elements and burden were properly instructed)