One Court of Justice

On Friday, November 13, 2009, the Michigan Supreme Court took substantive action in the following cases:

• Coblenz v. City of Novi:  The Court peremptorily reversed in part the Court of Appeals’ decision affirming the trial court’s award of case evaluation sanctions in this long-running FOIA dispute.  The trial court did not apply the analysis required by Smith v. Khouri, 481 Mich. 519, 751 N.W.2d 472 (2008), to determine whether the attorney fees requested by the plaintiff were reasonable.  Instead, the trial court relied on a number of factors not found in FOIA or Smith v. Khouri.  Accordingly, the Michigan Supreme Court remanded the case to the trial court for additional proceedings consistent with Smith v. Khouri.  The Court’ s decision is here.
• People v. Mills:  The Court remanded the case to the Court of Appeals for consideration as a direct appeal because of ineffective assistance of the defendant’s appellate counsel.  The defendant’s appellate attorney failed to make a timely appeal thus depriving the defendant of a judicial proceeding (i.e., appeal to the Court of Appeals).  The Court’s order is here.
• People v. Gusman:  The Court remanded this case to the Court of Appeals as on leave granted to consider both applications for leave to appeal filed by the defendant.  The Court’s order is here.

The Court also denied leave to appeal in two cases including a second appeal in Coblenz v. City of Novi.