People v. Brown
| Decision Date | 27 November 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 82076,82076 |
| Citation | 415 N.W.2d 864,429 Mich. 877 |
| Parties | PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Basil W. BROWN, Defendant-Appellant. 429 Mich. 877, 415 N.W.2d 864 |
| Court | Michigan Supreme Court |
Prior Report 163 Mich.App. 273, 413 N.W.2d 766.
On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal and motions for immediate consideration and for stay are considered and are hereby DENIED for the reason that the Court is equally divided on the question whether relief should be granted.
RILEY, C.J., and LEVIN and CAVANAGH, JJ., would grant leave to appeal, continue the stay of proceedings, and set this case for argument and submission on January 7, 1988.
In late December 1986 or early January 1987, I noted that one of the parties, Basil Brown, was represented by an attorney, Stuart J. Dunnings, Jr., who was "of counsel" to my former law firm. I reviewed the Code of Judicial Conduct and relevant Michigan Court Rules, in particular, MCR 2.003(B)(4), which provides that a judge is disqualified if he was "a member of a law firm representing a party in the preceding two years." I concluded that, because the "of counsel" attorney was not a member of my former law firm I could participate in the consideration of Basil Brown's application for leave to appeal which would be considered by the Court on January 13, 1987. At conference on January 13 I voted to remand this case to the Court of Appeals for consideration as on leave granted. A majority of the Court voted for such remand and an order to that effect was entered on January 14, 1987. No member of the Court was shown as being in favor of denial on the order released January 14, 1987.
On January 15, 1987, the prosecutor filed a motion for reconsideration of this Court's January 14, 1987 order remanding this case to the Court of Appeals for consideration as on leave granted. The prosecutor asserted that I should have recused myself because I was alleged to have been present at a defense fundraiser for Basil Brown. If I had been at the fundraiser, it might indeed have created an appearance of impropriety. I was not, however, at the fundraiser.
On the evening in question I was at a Detroit College of Law Trustee dinner in the company of White House Counsel Fred Fielding and later attended the graduation ceremony for the students. A review of the television footage of the Basil Brown fundraiser revealed a person in attendance who may have been thought to resemble me.
Prior to declining to recuse myself, I presented a hypothetical question to Joseph Regnier, the Executive Director of the Judicial Tenure Commission, regarding an "of counsel" attorney to a judge's...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
In re Cadillac Wildwood Development Corp.
...Court of Appeals illustrate this point. They are Marlowe & Sons v. Farner, 159 Mich.App. 194, 406 N.W.2d 273 (1987), lv. appeal den. 429 Mich. 877 (1987) and Krause v. Griffis, 178 Mich.App. 111, 443 N.W.2d 444 (1989). The cases involved the business entity exception found in MICH.STAT.ANN.......
-
Ritter v. Wayne County General Hosp.
...sought leave to amend her complaint to add these claims. Jenkinson v. DNR, 159 Mich.App. 376, 380, 406 N.W.2d 302 (1987), lv. den. 429 Mich. 877 (1987). Plaintiff first contends that the trial court erred in failing to find that the Hill-Burton Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 291 et seq., obliged defen......
-
People v. Brown
...People v. Brown, 163 Mich.App. 273, 413 N.W.2d 766 (1987). On November 27, 1987, the Supreme Court denied leave to appeal. 429 Mich. 877, 415 N.W.2d 864 (1987). On November 30, 1987, defendant pled guilty to one count of delivery of cocaine under fifty grams and one count of delivery of mar......