Constitutional right to present a defense; People v. Hayes; People v. Arenda; People v. Unger; Relevance; MRE 401 & 402; Exclusion of evidence defendant previously filed a civil suit against two of the investigating detectives; Harmless error; People v. Burns; People v. Lukity; Admission of other acts evidence; MRE 404(b)(1); People v. Martzke; People v. Knox; People v. Starr; People v. Watson; MRE 403’s balancing test; People v. Cameron; Felon in possession (FIP)

The court held that the trial court erred in excluding evidence that defendant previously filed a civil suit against two of the investigating detectives and in failing to engage in MRE 403’s balancing test as to other acts evidence. But it concluded that the errors were not outcome determinative in light of the independent evidence that overwhelmingly established his guilt. Thus, it affirmed his convictions of possession with intent to deliver 50 or more but less than 450 grams of heroin, possession with intent to deliver 450 or more but less than 1,000 grams of cocaine, possession with intent to deliver marijuana, FIP of a firearm, FIP of ammunition, and felony-firearm. The court concluded that the “fact that the detectives assaulted defendant some years previously, in an unrelated incident, and that defendant brought a civil lawsuit against them, could make it more probable than not that the detectives could be biased against” him, at least to the extent they were motivated to watch him more closely “for potential drug-trafficking activities. Where the detectives had been named in an assault lawsuit concerning defendant and settled the matter with him could lead to their predisposition against defendant and make him the target of investigation and surveillance to which he might not otherwise have been subjected. Allowing the defense to elicit testimony and otherwise introduce evidence concerning the civil lawsuit would not, as the trial court stated, lead to a ‘trial within a trial.’ Rather, the defense would simply be able to question the detectives” about any potential bias against defendant. Nonetheless, the court found the error harmless. When he was taken into police custody, defendant “had keys on his person that provided access to both the house and to an inoperable car in the garage. Inside the car, and on the premises, officers found more than 900 grams of cocaine, more than 100 grams of heroin, nearly 400 grams of marijuana, drug-packaging materials, firearms, ammunition, and numerous items bearing defendant’s name and connecting him to the premises. Given the quantity of narcotics and the packaging materials found, there was significant evidence indicating” he was guilty of the charged crimes. Evidence about his prior lawsuit would not have negated the fact that he “was found with keys to the car and home in which a significant quantity of drugs and drug-trafficking materials were found.”