Joinder; MCR 6.120(B); People v. Williams; United States v. Harris; People v. Gaines; Ineffective assistance of counsel; Failure to make a futile objection; People v. Ericksen; Whether improper joinder constitutes a due process violation; United States v. Lane; "Other acts" evidence; MRE 404(b)(1); People v. Sabin (After Remand); People v. Mardlin; Evidence of a single plan or scheme; People v. Steele; People v. Waclawski; Unfair prejudice; People v. Blackstone; People v. Mills; People v. Crawford; Waiver; People v. Chapo; Admission of other acts evidence otherwise excluded by MRE 404(b)(1) in CSC cases involving minors; MCL 768.27a(1); People v. Smith; People v. Watkins; Harmless error; People v. Lukity; Due process; Reed v. Reed; Estelle v. McGuire; Prosecutorial misconduct; People v. Unger; Donnelly v. DeChristoforo; People v. Bahoda; People v. Dobek; People v. Jones; People v. Kennebrew; Whether the prosecution can question a witness about his or her religious beliefs; People v. Calloway; Facts not in evidence; People v. Stanaway; Presumption that the trial court's instruction to the jury cured any error; People v. Mesik (On Reconsideration); Appealing to a juror's sense of civic duty; Commenting on the credibility of other witnesses; People v. Buckey; Eliciting sympathy for the victim(s); People v. McGhee

The court held that the trial court did not plainly err when it permitted a joint trial on charges involving all four of the defendant's victims. It also held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the testimony of other acts witnesses, and that its failure to individually analyze the testimony of these witnesses was harmless. Finally, it held that his prosecutorial misconduct challenges were meritless. He was convicted of CSC I and three counts of CSC II for sexually abusing several young boys in his neighborhood. He was sentenced as a second-offense habitual offender to serve concurrent terms of 300 to 600 months' imprisonment for his CSC I conviction and 107 to 270 months' imprisonment for his CSC II convictions. On appeal, the court first held that defendant was not prejudiced by joinder of the charges, noting that the "most prejudicial evidence - that of the complainant witnesses and the other MCL 768.27a witnesses - would have been admissible at each of [his] trials, had those trials been separate." Further, his trial counsel "was not ineffective for failing to move to sever the trials" because such a challenge would have been futile, and there was no due process violation. The court next rejected his argument that the trial court erred by admitting the evidence of so many other acts witnesses, noting that the evidence was "admissible for the proper purpose of showing his plan or scheme for exploiting isolated boys and young men over whom he had authority" and "highly relevant because it tended to show" an absence of mistake or accident in defendant's various contacts with the victims. Further, the fact that the evidence also reflected on his character did not render it irrelevant, and "the other witnesses' testimonies were not so shocking or salacious that there was a danger the jury would give the other-acts evidence preemptive weight." Moreover, "the trial court properly instructed the jury on the proper use" of the evidence, and his counsel was not ineffective for failing to challenge the evidence. The court also rejected his argument that the trial court erred by admitting the MCL 768.27a witnesses' testimony because it was "cumulative, unduly prejudicial, and confusing." It found that "the trial court struck a balance between admitting enough evidence to show propensity while excluding cumulative" evidence, and thus "did not err on these grounds." And while it agreed with defendant that the trial court erred when it failed to separately evaluate each piece of this evidence, it found the error harmless. Finally, the court rejected each of defendant's claims of prosecutorial misconduct, and his counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to any of the alleged incidences. Affirmed.