Postconviction motions; Relief from judgment; MCR 6.508(D)(1); Pending appeal; MCR 7.208(A); Abandoned motion for new trial claim; People v Payne; Sentencing credit; MCL 769.11b; People v Seiders; Unrelated out-of-state sentence; People v Adkins; Mandatory felony-firearm sentence; MCL 750.227b(1); Consecutive sentence rule; People v Givans

The court held that the trial court properly denied defendant’s postconviction motions and did not err by refusing to credit his Michigan felony-firearm sentence with time served in Tennessee on unrelated offenses. Defendant was convicted in 2007 of possession of less than 25 grams of a controlled substance and felony-firearm. He absconded before sentencing, was later incarcerated in Tennessee from 2014 to 2022, and was not arrested again in Michigan until late 2023. On appeal, the court first held that the trial court could not grant defendant relief from judgment because his direct appeal was already pending, and MCR 6.508(D)(1) bars relief where the conviction and sentence are still “subject to challenge on appeal.” The court also noted that defendant had acknowledged the procedural error below and therefore could not take a contrary position on appeal. As to the motion for new trial, the court deemed the argument abandoned because defendant “merely states that the motion was improperly denied” without discussing the motion, the order, or relevant authority. The court next held that he was not entitled to credit for his Tennessee incarceration because MCL 769.11b applies only when a defendant served time in jail before sentencing because he was “denied or unable to furnish bond” for the offense of conviction, and it did “not entitle defendant to additional credit” for time served on separate, unrelated offenses. The court also rejected defendant’s discretionary-credit argument because felony-firearm carries a mandatory two-year sentence, leaving the trial court without authority to reduce it. Affirmed.